Khojaly District () is one of the 66

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. It is located in the west of the country in the

Karabakh Economic Region The Karabakh Economic Region () is one of the 14 economic regions of Azerbaijan. It borders Iran to the south, as well as the economic regions of East Zangezur, Ganja-Dashkasan, Central Aran, and Mil-Mughan. The region consists of the distric ...

. The district borders the districts of

Kalbajar Kalbajar ( ; ) is a city and the capital of the Kalbajar District of Azerbaijan. Located in the Tartar Valley, it is away from the country's capital city Baku. Before the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, the city had a population of 7,246 people. I ...

Lachin Lachin (, , ; ) is a town in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Lachin District. It was located within the strategic Lachin corridor, which used to link the Nagorno-Karabakh region with Armenia. The town was under control of Armen ...

Shusha Shusha (, ) or Shushi () is a city in Azerbaijan, in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Situated at an altitude of 1,400–1,800 metres (4,600–5,900 ft) in the Karabakh mountains, the city was a mountain resort in the Soviet Union, Soviet ...

Agdam Aghdam () is a town and the nominal capital of the Aghdam District of Azerbaijan. Founded in the 18th century, it was granted city status in 1828 and grew considerably during the Soviet period. Aghdam lies from Stepanakert at the eastern foot ...

and Khojavend. Its capital and largest city is Khojaly. As of 2020, the district had a nominal population of 28,800. The centre of the district, the town of Khojaly, was also the site of the

Khojaly Massacre The Khojaly massacre (, ) was the mass killing of Azerbaijani civilians by Armenian forces and the 366th CIS regiment in the town of Khojaly on 26 February 1992. The event became the largest single massacre throughout the entire Nagorno-Ka ...

, the largest massacre throughout the whole

Nagorno-Karabakh conflict The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is an ethnic and territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, inhabited mostly by ethnic Armenians until 2023, and seven surrounding districts, inhabited mostly by Azerbai ...

. Following the massacre, most of the district was captured and made part of the

Askeran Province Askeran Province () was a province of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, ''de jure'' part of the Khojaly District of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It was in the center of Artsakh, surrounding the capital, Stepanakert. It was notable for containin ...

of the self-proclaimed

Republic of Artsakh Artsakh ( ), officially the Republic of Artsakh or the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ( ), was a breakaway state in the South Caucasus whose territory was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Between 1991 and 2023, Artsakh cont ...

. Following the

2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War was an armed conflict in 2020 that took place in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding occupied territories. It was a major escalation of an unresolved conflict over the region, involvi ...

, Azerbaijan recaptured some villages in the district, while most of the district, including its capital, was put under Russian peacekeeping control. After the

2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh Between 19 and 20 September 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military offensive against the political status of Nagorno-Karabakh, self-declared breakaway state of Republic of Artsakh, Artsakh, a move seen as a violation of the 2020 Nago ...

, the entire district fell under the control of Azerbaijan after the capitulation of the

Artsakh Defence Army The Artsakh Defence Army () was the defence force of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh. Established in 1992, it united previously disorganized defence units which were formed in the early 1990s. It was disbanded on 20 September 2023 under t ...

in the area.

History

Khojaly district was established on the basis of the Askeran District of the

Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was an Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union, autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923. Its capital was the city of Stepanakert. The majori ...

in 1991. It was captured by Armenian forces in 1991–1992. The district consists of 1 city, 2 settlements and 50 villages in the district. It was once a site of prehistoric Khojaly-Gadabay culture.

Geography

Khojaly district is located in

Nagorno-Karabakh Nagorno-Karabakh (, ; ) is a region in Azerbaijan, covering the southeastern stretch of the Lesser Caucasus mountain range. Part of the greater region of Karabakh, it spans the area between Lower Karabakh and Syunik Province, Syunik. Its ter ...

. The territory of the district is mountainous. The highest altitudes are Qirkhqiz and Gizgala, the main rivers are Gargar and Badara. The climate is mild-hot except the mountainous area.

Notable figures

Ramil Usubov Ramil Idris oglu Usubov (, born 1948) is the incumbent Secretary of the Security Council of Azerbaijan. Before that, he served as the Minister of Internal Affairs (Azerbaijan), Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, in office from 1994–2019 ...

– the former Minister of Internal Affairs of Republic of Azerbaijan.; *

Elman Mammadov Elman Mammadov (; born October 18, 1950) is an Azerbaijani politician who serves as the Member of National Assembly of Azerbaijan from 124th ''Shusha- Fizuli- Khojali- Khojavend'' district. He's a veteran of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. Earl ...

–

i politician who serves as the Member of National Assembly of Azerbaijan from 124th ''

- Fuzuli-Khojaly- Khojavend'' district. He's a veteran of the

First Nagorno-Karabakh War The First Nagorno-Karabakh War was an ethnic conflict, ethnic and territorial conflict that took place from February 1988 to May 1994, in the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in southwestern Azerbaijan, between the majority ethnic Armenians of Nag ...

. * Alif Hajiyev – Azerbaijani

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

Commandant Commandant ( or ; ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ...

of Khojaly Airport and

National Hero of Azerbaijan The National Hero of Azerbaijan () is the highest national title in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The title was named on 25 March 1992, and the "Qizil Ulduz" Medal awarded as a sign of receiving this title was established by a separate law on 15 J ...

. * Tofig Huseynov – Azerbaijani army commander. *

Pele Pughi Pele Pughi (; 1731 – 1810) was an 18th-century Armenians, Armenian satirist and fabulist from Karabakh. Biography Pele Pughi was born in 1731 in either Chanakhchi, Khojaly, Avetaranots or Shosh, Nagorno-Karabakh, Shosh in the Melikdom of ...

– 18th century Armenian satirist and fabulist.

References

{{Authority control Districts of Azerbaijan

History

Geography

Notable figures

See also

References