| Aghstafa District | |
| Type: | District |
| Parts Type: | Settlements[1] |
| Parts: | 39 |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | 24 April 1990 |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Azerbaijan |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Gazakh-Tovuz |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Population Total: | 88500 |
| Area Total Km2: | 1500 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Leader Title: | Governor |
| Leader Name: | Seymur Orujov[3] |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 0500 |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Aghstafa |
| Timezone: | AZT |
| Utc Offset: | +4 |
Aghstafa District (Azerbaijani: Ağstafa rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. Located in the northwest of the country, it belongs to the Gazakh-Tovuz Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Qazakh, Tovuz, as well as the Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions of Georgia. Its capital and largest city is Aghstafa. As of 2020, the district had a population of 88,500.
Aghstafa District was created on 24 January 1939 as an independent administrative unit out of the larger Qazakh region of Azerbaijan. On 4 December 1959, the status of the district was abolished and it was incorporated into Qazakh District. On 14 April 1990, by the decree of the Council of Deputies of Azerbaijan SSR, it was split from Qazakh District and was again re-established as a separate district. The regional center of the district is its capitalAghstafa. The district is located in the northwestern part of the country, between Qabirri basin and Lesser Caucasus mountain range, and Ganja-Gazakhlowlands and Ceyrançöl highlands. It is sandwiched by Qazakh District in the west and Tovuz District in east, and borders Armenia on the southern frontier and Georgia on the northern.The area of the district is 1,503.7 km2. There are 36 villages in the district. There are 39 secondary schools, lyceum, musical school, 2 museums, 38 cultural clubs, State Arts Gallery, 49 libraries, 3 city and 10 village hospitals functioning in the district. Ganja, Qazakh and Qarayazi lowlands make up most of the district's area, whilst its southwestern and northeastern parts comprise lesser mountain sites.
The area's name comes from the name of the Oghuz Turks which include mainly the population of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Turkmenistan.Ağstafa is a merger of two words: Oğuz + tayfa (Oghuz + tribe). However, some people argue that it is a merger of the other two words which are: Oğuz + təpə (Oghuz + hill).[4]
The region is rich with bentonite, sand, raw cement material (volcanic ash) and other resources which are considered a core of the Aghstafa economy. The Kura River passes through the region. Lower sections of Aghstafa and Həsənsu rivers also flow through the district. Aghstafa has always been in the spotlight because of the historic Silk Way trade which went through the region. Caravans from and to Georgia and Iran would stop in Aghstafa. It was therefore named the "Camel route". In the 1990s, the caravan route was re-established within the TRACECA project initiated by Heydar Aliyev administration. Then Aghstafa gained importance when it became a transit route on the Baku-Tbilisi railroad built in 1881. A railroad junction at Aghstafa was built in 1914 thus creating leading to construction of Aghstafa city.[5] In addition to the existing railway, the geostrategic importance of Aghstafa was enriched by Baku-Gazakh-Tbilisi gas pipeline, Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline.[4]
During the first nine months of 2013, the cost of total product output in Aghstafa region was AZN 90.9 million, an increase of 8.0 percent in comparison with the same period last year. During the first nine months of 2017, total volume of total product output on the region of Aghstafa increased by 43.6 percent and reached 143.7 million manat. The total volume of industrial production increased by 38.3 percent, agriculture - by 0.9 percent, transport services - 3.3 percent, communication services - 4.3 percent, trade - 0.4 percent and construction - thtee times in comparison with the same period last year. The volume of investments directed to fixed assets increased 2.7 times and amounted to more than 68.7 million manat.
The population of Aghstafa district is 78,983. The most populated villages are Dağ Kəsəmən, Köçəsgər, Muğanlı and AşağıKəsəmən and the town of Aghstafa.
The territory of Aghstafa district is 1504 km2, with the population of 83.3 thousand people registered for 01.10.2013. According to the information on January 1, 2017, the population of the district was 86,529. 21,205 lived in the city, 65,0324 lived in the villages.
The region lives in 21,205 mini-cities, 65,324 mini-villages. The population of the region is 42 651 thousand men and 43 878 thousand women.
The number of people currently employed are 43481, as well as, the number of employees working in the agricultural sector are 17,856 people, employees working in the industry are 330 people, employees working in the education field are 3726.
Seventy-seven families (223 people) from Nagorno-Karabakh and other territories temporarily settled in Aghstafa region. The total number of refugees settled in the region are 457 families, 1698 people.
According to the State Statistics Committee, the population of city recorded 87,200 persons as of 2018, which increased by 12,700 persons (approximately 17 percent) from 74,500 persons in 2000.[6] 43,000 of total population are men, 44,200 are women.[7] More than 26,4 percent of the population (about 23,100 persons) consists of young people and teenagers aged 14–29.[8]
| Aghstafa region | 74,5 | 75,1 | 75,5 | 76,0 | 76,6 | 77,3 | 78,0 | 78,6 | 79,3 | 80,2 | 80,6 | 81,4 | 81,9 | 82,7 | 83,6 | 84,6 | 85,7 | 86,6 | 87,2 | 87,9 | 88,5 | 88,8 | |
| urban population | 14,7 | 14,8 | 14,9 | 15,0 | 19,7 | 19,9 | 20,1 | 20,1 | 20,0 | 20,2 | 20,2 | 20,2 | 20,3 | 20,4 | 20,6 | 20,8 | 21,0 | 21,2 | 21,3 | 21,4 | 21,6 | 21,6 | |
| rural population | 59,8 | 60,3 | 60,6 | 61,0 | 56,9 | 57,4 | 57,9 | 58,5 | 59,3 | 60,0 | 60,4 | 61,2 | 61,6 | 62,3 | 63,0 | 63,8 | 64,7 | 65,4 | 65,9 | 66,5 | 66,9 | 67,2 |
There are 39 libraries, 13 culture houses, one musical school, three museums, a painting gallery and 25 clubs in the region. A Central Hospital, one rural hospital, and 15 rural health posts serve to the population of the district.
There are 39 schools, four pre-school and 34 kindergartens in the district.
Aghstafa district was established on January 24, 1939, as one of the administrative districts of Azerbaijan. The Area of Aghstafa district, which is 1.74 of the territory of the Republic, is 1504 km2. The territory of the Aghstafa district joined the Gazakh district on December 4, 1959, and it was separated and became an administrative district from April 14, 1990.
There is one town (Aghstafa town), nine settlements (Vurgun, Poylu, Shakarli, Jeyranchol, Saloglu, Soyuqbulag, Soyuqbulaglar, Hazi Aslanov, Garajazi) and 29 villages in the district.
The administrative center of the district is Aghstafa. The status of the city was given to Aghstafa in 1941. According to the 2017's information, the population of the city where located 300 meters above sea level on the right bank of Aghstafa River, is 86529 people. The distance from Baku is 450 km.
Forested areas account for 3,510 hectares of the district's territory. The main part of the forests is Tugai forest. Covering a territory of 3,510 hectares, a number of plants and birds are protected in the Garayazi State Reserve, the names of which are listed in the IUCN Red List.
The region is located in the western part of Azerbaijan, on the border with Georgia and Armenia. The Kur River, the largest river in Azerbaijan, and the Kura branch - Aghstafachay, as well as several small rivers flow from this region. Candargol Lake is also located in this region. The surface of the district mainly consists of plain such as Ganja-Gazakh and Garayazi plains. Sediments belonging to the Cretaceous, Paleogene, Quaternary are spread in the region. There are minerals such as saw stone, bentonite clay, pebble, sand, cement raw material, etc.[9]
Several important archaeological sites in Aghstafa District belong to the prehistoric Shulaveri–Shomu culture. Among them are Soyuqbulaq, Agstafa, Poylu, Agstafa, and Böyük Kəsik. Also should be included here Toyra Tepe andGargalar sites. Research in this area emerged especially in the 21st century. Shomu-Tepe, the type site of the Shulaveri–Shomu culture, is also located in the Agstafa District.
Other ancient archaeological sites in the area include: