Kajaran

:*For the veelage juist sooth o Kajaran, cried Kajaran an aw, see [[Kajaran (veelage)]].*

**Kajaran** ( ; Romanisit as **Qajaran**, **K’ajaran**, **Qacaran**, **Kadjaran**, an **Kadzharan** an aw, umwhile, **Gajaran**) is a ceety in the sooth o Armenie in the Syunik Province. The name translates frae Armenie as "the place o the brave". It is locatit 356&nbsp;km awa frae Yerevan, 25&nbsp;km away frae Kapan, the regional center, an 50&nbsp;km frae the mairch o Armenie an Iran.  Qajaran forms an urban commonty (municipality).  The Naitional Statistical Service o the Republic o Armenie (ARMSTAT) reportit its population wis 8,498 in 2010, up frae 8,439 at the 2001 census.

## History
The aurie o Kajaran haes been occupee'd bi dwallers syne the 3rd-2nt millenaries B.C. The pagan temple foond in the aurie testifies that metal wis processed here syne the Bronze Age.

The first capper mines o the aurie wis biggit in 1850 an wirkit till 1910. Efter the discovery o huge capper deposits in 1930, the Soviet govrenment proposed tae big a copper-molybdenum plant whilk wis pit in service 1952, becomin ane o the biggest enterprises o the USSR at that time. Syne, a toun wis biggit in the aurie o Verin Haund an Okhchi veelages an its name wis derivit frae the nearhaun veelage o Kajarants. The majority o the population o Kajaran wur immigrants frae Kapan an Karabakh.
 
Thir days, the toun haes 5 public eddication schuils, 4 nursery schuils, sax libraries, a cultural centre, an a fitbaa stadium.

## Geografie an climate
### Geografie
Kajaran occupee's a pairt o Dzork coonty o historical Syunik province. The toun is locatit on the mairch o twa naitural landscaps, alpine an heichland forests an 1750-1800m abuin sea level, on the banks o river Voghji, atween Zangezour an Meghri muntain ranges. The heichest peak o Zangezour range, Mt. Kaputjugh (3905m) is locatit tae the wast o Kajaran. The relief is componed o plicate rock strata o river Araks basin an is characterisit bi active erosion.

### Climate
Kajaran is locatit in an alpine climate zone. The average annual temperatur is +6,9C, wi the absolute maximum o +33,5C an the absolute minimum o -18.5C. Annual precipitation level is 600-705mm, maistly occurrin in Mey-Juin, when it reaches 99-104mm, wi maximum daily level o 66mm. The average humidity is 69% wi Mey bein the maist humid month o the year (74%).

### Mineral resources

Syunik is rich in mineral resoorces, includin stane an ore resoorces. Armenie's biggest copper an molybdenum mine is locatit in Syunik. The mine wis prospected in 1931, the exploitation stairtit in 1952. The ore mainly conteens molybdenite, chalcopyrite, magnetite an pyrite. It conteens valuable accompanyin elements lik gowd, siller, rhenium, selenium an bismuth. Thick (up tae 5m) quartz veins, containin significant amoonts o molybdenum an capper are quite common an aw. The mine o Kajaran conteens 87% o capper an 8% o molybdenum deposits o the region. The ceety is hame tae the Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine.

### Watter resources
Kajaran belangs the Sooth Watter Basin Management aurie. River Voghji (the lenghth is 82&nbsp;km, the catchment aurie is 1175sq.km) rins throuch the ceety; it stairts frae the confluence o Kajarants an Kaputjugh rivers, 6&nbsp;km awa frae the Kajaran. Voghji is a teepical muntain river wi ramgunshoch stream bed an developit hydrografic netwirk. It feeds baith frae thawin snaw runaffs an grundwatters, wi prevalence o ane o its tributaries, Tzaghkari. It then rins intae Arax river, at an altitude o 350m abuin sea level.

### Land resources
The commonty is locatit at an altitude o up tae 2100m abuin sea level. The soil is maistly gray an broun. Soothren slopes is covered bi teepical alpine scrub grasslands wi waik alpine turf soil. The tot laund aurie o the commonty is 1412ha, o whilk 1342.59ha are awned bi the commonty wi the rest is public laund.

### Biodiversity
Kajaran is a pairt o Holarctis floristic province, Zangezur region, Voghji-Geghi aurie, characterisit bi prevalence o mesophytic, eurivalent an xerophytic plants.
The aurie aroond the toun is maistly covered bi deciduoud forests. The prevailin tree species is aik an hornbeam. Subalpine an alpine flora is representit bi Gramieae, Poaceae Papilionacenae an Cyperaceae (feather-gress, brome-gress, cereals, sedge). The vegetation period is short. heich humidity contributes tae humus formation. Currently thare aboot 877 descrived plant species frae 4 classes (Equisetophyta, Polipodiophyta, Pinophyta, Magnoliophyta), 57 faimilies an 33 genera. The analysis o the local plant species confirmit that thae include 4 Caucasie endemic an 2 Armenie endemic species.
The hapitats o the fauna in the aurie aroond the ceety include forests, sub-alpine an alpine zones wi thair characteristic flora. Accordin tae Dahl (1954) this aurie is a hame tae 2 describit amphibia, 8 reptile, 52 bird an 16 mammal species.
Deciduous forests is predominantly indwellt bi sma rodents; thare beirs, roes, wildcats, bats an ither ainimals an aw.

## Socioeconomic conditions
### Population an Social Security
Accordin tae 2001 census, the population o Kajaran wis 8439. Men comprise 48%, weemen 52% o the population.
Accordin tae the municipality data, the unemployment rate is 8.3%, o whilk 85% is weemen an 15% is men. Thare 700 job seekers, whilk comprise 14% o the tot labour force. The heich level o female unemployment is due tae the closur o weavin, relay an condenser manufacturin facilities, which uised tae employ the majority o weemen in the ceety.

Insufficient supply o hoosin in residential blocks forces the population tae purchase apairtments ootside Kajaran, in the nearbi commonties. The influx o job seekers creates pressur on the hoosin mercat an aw. Thare are 120 fowk registered as job seekers in the need o hoosin.

The labour mercat is rather lopsidit. The industry sector employs 41% o the labor force. Fowk frae Kapan, Goris an Nagorno-Karabakh come tae Kajaran in sairch o employment. Thare 1120 retired ceetizens in Kajaran. The average pension size is AMD 12000. 94 hoosehaulds is beneficiaries o the faimily benefit seestem. Thare 216 registered fowk wi disabilities, includin 19 wi service-incurred disabilities an 64 wi congenital disabilities.

### Economy an business
The key economic sector is minin. Kajaran is the venue o ane Armenie's industrial giants, the Copper-Molybdenum Plant, in operation syne 1951. The plant initially uised subsurface minin method; in 1959 it shiftit tae open-pit minin an uised it in the central section o Kajaran moly-mine tae extract ore an produce capper an molybdenite concentrates. The plant currently produces 10 million ton o concentrate annually. The capper concentrate is transportit tae Alaverdi metallurgical plant an Armenie Molybdenum Production company in Yerevan for faur processin. Feenal treatment o molybdenite takes place at Yerevan Clear Iron Plant. The Copper-Molybdenum Plant employs 3800 fowk.

## Notable fowk
* Vahe Hakobyan (b. 1977), memmer o Naitional Assembly o Armenie

## References

*UNDP/REC Caucasus. Local Environmental Action Plan (LEAP) for Kajaran. 2007