Askeran Province () was a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of the breakaway

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 ...

, ''de jure'' part of the Khojaly District of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It was in the center of Artsakh, surrounding the capital,

Stepanakert Stepanakert officially Khankendi is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. It was the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in ...

. It was notable for containing the Tigranakert of Artsakh.

Settlements

There are 42 communities in the province of which 1 is considered urban and 41 are considered rural.

Geography

Askeran adjoins Martakert Province on the north, Aghdam District of Azerbaijan on the east.

Hadrut Province Hadrut Province () was a province of the Republic of Artsakh. The provincial capital was Hadrut city. The last governor was Valery Gevorkian. The province was captured by the armed forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan during the 2020 Nagorno-Ka ...

and Shushi Province in the south,

Martuni Province Martuni Province (, ) was a province of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh, ''de facto'' and ''de jure'' part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. History The territory was formed from the Soviet-era raion of Martuni District within the former Na ...

in the south east and

Kashatagh Province Kashatagh Province () was a Administrative divisions of the Republic of Artsakh, province of the Republic of Artsakh. It was the largest province by area (3,376.60 km2). The population as of 2013 was 9,656. Its capital was Lachin, Berdzor. ...

on the west. Stepanakert, the capital of the Republic of Artsakh, is located south-west of the province.

History

During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

the western part of the Askeran Province was part of

Principality of Khachen The Principality of Khachen ( Modern Armenian: ) was a medieval Armenian principality on the territory of historical Artsakh (present-day Karabakh).''Abū-Dulaf Misʻar Ibn Muhalhil's Travels in Iran (circa A.D. 950)'', ed. and trans. Vladi ...

and the eastern part was part of the Principality of Varanda, the center of which was Avetaranots, located in the south of the region. Following the formation 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 ...

raion A raion (also spelt rayon) is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet states. The term is used for both a type of subnational entity and a division of a city. The word is from the French (meaning 'honeycomb, department'), and is c ...

was formed which was centered on Stepanakert. In 1978, Askeran became its center, and the raion was renamed to Askeran. A total of 52 settlements were registered in 1979. As the Karabakh conflict started, the Azerbaijani government began to implement a plan to create a new district center. From 1988 to 1990 the population of Khojaly village was increased from 2135 to 6000 residents. These mainly consisted of immigrants from Central Asia (more than 2000 Meskhetian Turks) and Armenia (about 2000). In April 1990, Khojaly received city status, becoming a regional center.

References

Subdivisions of the Republic of Artsakh Askeran Province 2023 disestablishments in Azerbaijan {{azerbaijan-geo-stub