# Gadabay District

Gadabay District (Azerbaijani: Gədəbəy rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country and belongs to the Gazakh-Tovuz Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Dashkasan, Shamkir, Tovuz. Its administrative center is the city of Gadabay and it has been a major settlement for nearly 2,000 years. It is part of the ancient culture of Khojaly and Gadabay. As of 2024, the population of the district is 101.062

## Etymology

The toponym is derived from the ancient Turkish words "ket", "gedik"(hill) and "bek" (guard, watchman). Another possibility is that the word Dadabay was deformed and became Gadabay. in the Middle Ages, part of this district was divided between Atabay, Shakarbay, Gadabay - father and sons. Gadabey was the son of Atabey. There are still villages named Atabay and Shakarbay in the ragion. İn connection with the word "bek" - tepe, it is necessary to mention the Gadabay oykonimi. Gadabey is formed from the old turkish words "ket" - guard, guardian and turkish "bek" - hill and means guard, watchman.

## Geography

In the west, Azerbaijan's border upon Armenia stretches for a distance of 123 kilometres (76 mi).
Gadabay District is located in a zone of midlands and highlands of the Lesser Caucasus. Its territory includes the northern parts of Shahdagh Mount, a part of Bashkend-Dastafur concavity and Shamkir massif.
The highest heights are Goshabulag (3549m) and Godzhadagh (3317m).
The drainage of the district is significantly poor. Akhinja, Zayam and Shamkir are the largest rivers. Mountain-forest, mountain-meadow and other grounds spread here. Mountain shrubland and rare forest meadows in midlands, broad-leaved forests, subalpine and alpine meadows at the top of mountains occupy the greatest territory of the district.
Depositions of the Jurassic, Paleogene, Quaternary and other periods cover the surface of district. Gadabay district is rich of its underground resources such as gold, uranium, copper and other mineral resources. Goldfield in Soyudlu was explored by the Siemens brothers until arrival of Red Army soldiers in 1920. At present there is opened a factory producing gold, where work about 2000 workers. Gadabay District is also famous for its mineral waters, such as “Narzan”, “Mor-Mor”, “Chaldash”, “Turshsu” and “Soyudlu narzani” (in Soyudlu village).
Gadabay is within the middle and high mountain ranges of the Small Caucasus. The region of Gadabay covers the northern incline of the Shahdagh Ridge, the Bashkand-Dastafur basin and some part of the Shamkir mountain range. Goshabulak (3549 m.), Gocadagh (3317 m.) and others are the highest peaks. Within the area Jurassic, Tabashir, Paleogene and Anthropogenic sediments are spread. There are black and white marble stones. Summer is dry and there is mild heat and in the winter there is a dry mountainous tundra climate. The waterway network is tight. The Akhyncachay and Zayam waterways stream through this region. Within the south-western border of the area, the upper stream of Shamkirchay flows through. Gray mountain forest, meadow soils are spread. The region contains a well-known Red State Nature Reserve and four natural monuments - Govdu, Godakdara, Gamish and Shamlik. There is a beautiful waterfall at Kechidarasi cliff. Goat, sparrows, roe deer and Ayubbulaq as well as Chaldash, Gizilca Narzan, Mor-Mor mineral water springs can also be observed. Within the mountains, in the forests and valleys of the locale, animal and plant life is very rich. Gadabay locale is in the middle and high mountain ranges of the Small Caucasus. The district is located in the northern part of the Shahdagh ridge, the Bashkend-Dizafur depression and the Shamkir mountain range.

## History

As an administrative unit, Gadabay District originated on August 8, 1930, Gadabay district is one of the oldest human settlements in Azerbaijan. Historical cultural monuments in the region have entered our history as part of the Khojaly-Gadabay culture, which spans the 14th-8th centuries BC. In the mid-19th century, copper ore deposits were discovered in Gadabay region and in 1855-1856 a copper smelting plant was built by local entrepreneurs. Later the same plant was bought by the german company "Siemens" and rebuilt in 1865. In 1883, the "Siemens" company built the Galakand steel plant and in 1879, for the first time in Transcaucasia, a 28 km long railway was built between Gadabey and Galakand. On this railway 4 locomotives and 33 wagons moved. even today the bridges built on this road are historical monuments. In 1883, the first hydroelectric power plant on the territory of Tsarist Russia was built in the village of Galakand and copper was smelted by electrolysis at the Galakand copper smelter. At that time, kerosene lamps were used in the Central European cities of London, Paris and St. Petersburg, while electric light was used in Gadabay. at that time, archaeological excavations were carried out in the Gadabay region by German scientists. The results of the archaeological excavations were published by the German scientific publishing house "Folker Shpis" in Berlin in the scientific work "Galakend. During the nagorno-karabakh war, on august 8, 1992, two villages of the district, motudara and kasimagali, were destroyed by the armed forces of Armenia villages, including 78 residential houses, 1 school and 2 medical centers were burned. currently, a school and a medical center, 74 residential houses have been restored in those villages, and the restoration of other residential houses is ongoing.

## Geological structure

Jurassic, Tabashir, Paleogene and Anthropogenic sediments are spread. The granite-rich metamorphic rocks, Gadabayit, was first studied in Gadabay Copper-Cholerite bed (1903).

## Rivers and water basins

The waterway network is tight. Gadabay is rich in minerals and table water springs such as Mormor, Turshsu, Koroglu, Shahzadeh, Narzan, and others. The main waterways are Akimca, Zayam, Inakbogan, Shamkir and others.

## Population

Population of the district by the year (at the beginning of the year, thsd. persons) :
| | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
| Gadabay region | 87,1 | 88,0 | 88,5 | 89,1 | 89,9 | 90,6 | 91,4 | 92,1 | 92,8 | 93,6 | 94,2 | 95,0 | 95,4 | 96,0 | 96,8 | 97,6 | 98,4 | 99,2 | 99,8 | 100,4 | 100,9 | 101,1 |
| urban population | 8,7 | 8,8 | 9,0 | 9,2 | 9,4 | 9,7 | 9,8 | 9,9 | 10,0 | 10,2 | 10,1 | 10,6 | 11,0 | 11,2 | 11,3 | 11,4 | 11,6 | 11,6 | 11,7 | 11,7 | 11,7 | 11,7 |
| rural population | 78,4 | 79,2 | 79,5 | 79,9 | 80,5 | 80,9 | 81,6 | 82,2 | 82,8 | 83,4 | 84,1 | 84,4 | 84,4 | 84,8 | 85,5 | 86,2 | 86,8 | 87,6 | 88,1 | 88,7 | 89,2 | 89,4 |

## Notable people

* Natig Gasimov (1971–1992), First Nagorno-Karabakh War fighter and recipient of the gold star medal
* Saribek Chilingaryan, soldier
* Aramais Sahakyan, Armenian poet

## Demographics
### Ethnic groups

* Azerbaijanis 99.29%
* Other 0.71% (mostly ethnic Russians, some of whom belong to the Molokan and Doukhobor religious minorities, living in villages such as Slavyanka)

### Religion

* Muslim 99.9%
* Other 0.1%

### Language

* Azerbaijani Language 99%
* Russian 0.9%
* Other 0.1%