Lerik District

Lerik Rayon is a rayon located near the Iranian border in southern Azerbaijan, between the tall mountains of the Talysh Mountains and the agricultural plain of the Lankaran Lowland.

Lerik District
Rayon
Map of Azerbaijan showing Lerik Rayon
Country Azerbaijan
RegionLankaran
CapitalLerik
Area
 • Total1,083.6 km2 (418.4 sq mi)
Population
 (2019)
 • Total85,765
Postal code
AZ4300
Telephone code(+994) 25[1]
Websitelerik-ih.gov.az

History

Lerik district was established in August 1930. It was called Zuvand District until January 1938. 29 municipalities operate in the district. The district includes a city and 161 villages with a total area of 1084 square kilometer. In accordance with the presidential decree dated June 13, 2008, the settlement of Lerik was granted the status of a city.

The territory of the Lerik district is one of the oldest settlements in Azerbaijan. There exist some caves which are considered to belong to the Bronze Age. These caves are located in the foothills of the mountains.

Different items belonging to the Stone Age were found in Lerik district. The cave called “Buzeyir” is the oldest settlement in the territory of Azerbaijan. In the 18th-19th centuries, French archaeologist Jacques de Morgan, K. Schaffer and his brother Henri called this territory "archeological paradise" during archaeological excavations. Morgan has conducted archaeological excavations at the Gizilbashlar cemetery in the village of Veri of Lerik.[2][3]

Professor Asadulla Jafarov, head of the Archeology and Ethnography Department of the History Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, conducted scientific researches in the territory of Lerik region and for the first time discovered an ancient human camp belonging to the Middle Paleolithic Age in the Buzeyir cave.

People

Lerik is mainly famous for the longevity of some of its citizens. It is known for myths of human longevity; a man named Shirali Baba Muslimov, born in the village of Barzavu, who was reported by the Guinness Book of Records to have been aged 168 when he died, and was believed to have lived between 1805 and 1973.[4] The population of the Lerik rayon is evenly divided between Azeris and Talysh - both populations are spread across both sides of the border.

Population
Population of district by the year (at the beginning of the year, thsd. persons) [5]
Population 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
Lerik region 64,3 65,3 66,2 67,3 68,3 69,6 70,9 72,0 73,2 74,3 75,2 76,4 77,5 78,7 79,7 80,8 81,9 82,8 83,8
urban population 6,8 6,8 6,9 7,0 7,1 7,2 7,2 7,2 7,2 7,3 7,3 7,5 7,9 8,0 8,0 8,1 8,2 8,3 8,4
rural population 57,5 58,5 59,3 60,3 61,2 62,4 63,7 64,8 66,0 67,0 67,9 68,9 69,6 70,7 71,7 72,7 73,7 74,5 75,4

Travel

Located in Lerik is a local history museum and the Karabakh war memorial, located between of the parade ground and the modest city hall.

Lerik can be reached from Lankaran using the A323 road. It is a very scenic route along the Lankaran river and the Hirkan National Park. Buses run regularly to Lankaran and Baku. The maximum annual precipitation in Lerik and the Talysh Mountains is between 1,600 mm to 1,800 mm, which along the Lankaran Lowland is the highest precipitation in the country.

Geographical position

The Lerik region territory is surrounded by Talysh mountain range.  Lerik region is bordered by Yardimli in the south and south-west, in the north-east Lankaran, in the north-west Masalli, and in the south-east Astara. The Talysh mountain range  extends along the border with the Islamic Republic of Iran  and in the north beyond the Peshtasar and Bouravar mountain ranges. The length of the border is 49.5 kilometers with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Zuvand (Diabar) Trench is located between the Talysh and Buddhist ridges. The Komurgoy (2492 m) and Gizyurd (2433 m) are the highest peaks in the Talysh Range. It mostly consists of pallogene volcanogenic-sedimentary rocks. The region covers  40.3 thousand hectares of forest.

The Zuvand State Reserve is located in Zuvand. In the Botanical Research Center of the National Academy of Sciences studies of  the Fauna and Flora is operating here.[6]

Climate
Climate data for Lerik
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 4.1
(39.4)		 4.2
(39.6)		 7.1
(44.8)		 14.3
(57.7)		 18.8
(65.8)		 23.3
(73.9)		 26.0
(78.8)		 30.5
(86.9)		 20.9
(69.6)		 18.1
(64.6)		 10.7
(51.3)		 6.5
(43.7)		 15.4
(59.7)
Average low °C (°F) −4.1
(24.6)		 −3.8
(25.2)		 −1.4
(29.5)		 3.8
(38.8)		 8.2
(46.8)		 11.8
(53.2)		 14.2
(57.6)		 9.6
(49.3)		 10.4
(50.7)		 5.2
(41.4)		 2.2
(36.0)		 −1.5
(29.3)		 4.6
(40.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 24
(0.9)		 33
(1.3)		 40
(1.6)		 43
(1.7)		 44
(1.7)		 24
(0.9)		 18
(0.7)		 25
(1.0)		 44
(1.7)		 62
(2.4)		 39
(1.5)		 33
(1.3)		 429
(16.7)
Source: Climate-Data.org[7]

Economy

The district is mainly occupied by mountainous relief, where the population is mainly engaged in agriculture. Annually 2790 tons of grains from 1454 hectares are planted in the region.

Education

There are 107 secondary schools in the district. About 1269 teachers work in the schools. 

Health

Lerik Region Central Hospital provides medical care to 82 thousand people.

Cultural heritage

There are 27 architectural monuments of local importance, memorial monuments, and 78 decorative monuments in the territory of lerik district. A historical museum, as well as the museum of “Longevity”, and an art gallery operates in the city.[8]

Ancient mansion "Qizyurdu"l, Baba Isa tomb in the village of Mondigah, Mausoleum of Khalifa Zechariah, Mosque in Lulekaran village (XIX century) Jabir Mausoleum (XII-XIV centuries) and so on are the most famous monuments in the region.

Among historical places the Boy and Girl castles are very famous in the territory. These castles were constructed with the purpose of defense. In one legend it is said that these castles were the houses of ancient Albanians. There are still Albanian cemeteries near the castles.

During the Safavid rule, Shah Ismayil also sent his faithful people to Lerik region. The Babagil mausoleum, which turned into a sanctuary, is the hallmark of those times.

There are 11 cultural centers, 64 libraries (one central library in the city, one children's library), 55 clubs, 1 painting gallery, 2 primary music schools in the district.

303700 copies of political, artistic and scientific literature have been collected in the branches of the centralized library system of the district. 24 thousand people benefit from this fund.

Notable persons

• Boyukagha Mirsalayev - Second Secretary of the Central Committee of Transcaucasia KP (b).

• Iqbal Mammadov - Doctor of Philosophy in Economics, Member of the Milli Mejlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

• Huseynbala Miralamov - doctor of technical sciences, professor, well-known writer, deputy of Milli Majlis

• Novruz Novruzov - a writer-publicist, head of executive power

• Mammadhuseyn Aliyev - writer and playwright.

• Eldar Isgandarzadeh - poet-dramatist, screenwriter.

Photos
  • Lerik, Azerbaijan
  • Lerik, Azerbaijan
  • Lerik, Azerbaijan

See also

The Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests ecoregion is an area of lush lowland and montane forests (subtropical and temperate rainforests) that covers the Lerik rayon. In southeast Azerbaijan, this ecoregion includes the Lankaran Lowland and the Talysh Mountains.

References
  1. "Şəhərlərarası telefon kodları". Aztelekom MMC. Aztelekom İB. Retrieved 19 August 2015. (in Azerbaijani)
  2. "Azärbaycan arxeologiyası: Daş dövrü".
  3. "LATE BRONZE AND IRON AGE STONE BOX, KURGAN GRAVES AND SETTLEMENTS OF SOUTHEAST REGION OF AZERBAIJAN".
  4. Lerik - Azerbaijan - Azerb.com
  5. Political division, population size and structure: Population by towns and regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan. "Population | The State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan". The State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  6. "Coğrafi mövqeyi - LERİK RAYON Icra Hakimiyyəti". lerik-ih.gov.az. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
  7. "Climate: Lerik". Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  8. "LERIK'S UNIQUE MUSEUM OF LONGEVITY".

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