Qabala District

thumb|A waterfall in Gabala district of Azerbaijan

thumb|Nohur lake in Gabala district of Azerbaijan

thumb|Nohur lake

thumbnail|Rainy day in Qabala

thumb|Forest close to the town of Qabala

Qabala District () is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north of the country in the Shaki-Zagatala Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Oghuz, Shaki, Agdash, Goychay, Ismayilli, Quba, Qusar, and the Russian Republic of Dagestan. Its capital and largest city is Qabala. As of 2020, the district had a population of 107,800.

Rivers

The mountainous relief forms and high humidity of the climate in the Gabala district are the primary reasons for the formation of a thick river network in this region. The length of 486 rivers out of 8359 running in Azerbaijan territory is more than 10 km and 12 of them, and also 2 of 23 having a length of more than 100 km flowing from the south slope of the Greater Caucasus, are located in Gabala. Gara, Tikanli, Bum Hamzali, Damiraparan, and Vandam are considered the main rivers running in Gabala, which are the branches of the Turyanchay and Goychay rivers. The water supply of these rivers consists of subsoil water (40-50%), rainwater (25-30%), and snow water (20-30%) depending on seasons. In 2015, over the different branches of the economy the total value of production was in the amount of 203,517 manat, compared to the same period of last year gross output in industry increased by 130 thousand AZN or 0.5%, agriculture 3.244 AZN or 5,6%, construction - 25.222 thousand AZN or 40.4%, transport - 246 thousand AZN or 7.3%, communication - 13 thousand AZN or 1.2%, trade - 457 thousand AZN or 1.97% in Gabala region. Also in 2016, construction and installation works were completed in the ski centre and the "Tufandag" hotel being part of the "Tufandag" Winter-Summer Tourism Complex.

Events

Gabala International Music Festival is the major event held annually in August in Gabala, beginning in 2009 with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and organized by Azerbaijan's Culture and Tourism Ministry and Music Union. During this festival, musicians perform in the open air. The musicians participating in the festival, come from Europe, the US, and Israel, as well as republics of the former Soviet Union. Jazz and mugham evenings and piano competitions were held within the festival. Farhad Badalbeyli and Dmitry Yablonsky are the artistic directors of the event. Until now, Tbilisi City Hall Jazz Orchestra "BIG-BAND of Georgia, Jóvenes Clásicos Del Son of Cuba, Baku Chamber Orchestra of Azerbaijan, Budapest Gypsy Band of Hungary, and Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra of Israel have participated in this festival. Mugham, as well as classic, chamber, jazz, flamenco, and vocal music, are usually performed.

The International Jam Festival is another event that takes place in the Gabala district on a regular basis. It was started to be held in 2013 locally, and only the 11 regions attended in that year. Since 2014, the audience of the event has increased, and more than 20 cities and districts of Azerbaijan and foreign countries have participated in the festival. In 2015, the festival is attended by seven foreign countries (Russian Federation, Chuvashia Republic and Sakha Republic of Russian Federation, Serbia, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Turkey) together with 30 cities and regions of Azerbaijan. In 2015, the festival is sponsored by the World Association of Culinary Organizations and the International Organization of Folk Arts. In 2016, participants from Turkey, Iran, Russia, Northern Cyprus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, China, as well as participants from 30 cities and regions of Azerbaijan, attended the festival and demonstrated jams prepared from various fruits, vegetables, and even flowers, such as cherry, blackberry, strawberry, quince, walnut, apricot, rose, plum, violets, mint, rose hips, corn, wild green plum, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, yellow raspberries, aubergines, and melons. There are several competitions at the International Jam Festival, including “best presentation,” “best jam,” “variety of jam types,” “the most unusual jam”, "the greatest number of species jam", etc. The 5th V International Jam Festival was attended by teams from 25 foreign countries along with companies engaged in the industrial manufacture of jams from over 35 regions of Azerbaijan.

Tourism

thumb|Hotel in [[Vandam]]

The natural climatic conditions, numerous historical monuments, sightseeing places, and artifacts in the ancient capital of Caucasian Albania creates great tourism opportunities, which have caused the rapid increase in the number of tourism-recreational complexes in the private sector. Today, more than 100 large and small tourism objects are operating in Gabala. Currently, the number of tourism objects in Gabala has increased to 18, which is 5 times more compared to the past.

Climate

Qabala has a humid subtropical climate that is mild with no dry season, constantly moist (year-round rainfall). Summers are hot and muggy with thunderstorms. Winters are mild with precipitation from mid-latitude cyclones. Seasonality is moderate. (Köppen-Geiger classification: Cfa). As with other parts of northern Azerbaijan near the Caucasus Mountains, rainfall is moderate to heavy throughout the year. The total annual precipitation is 795mm.

According to the Holdridge life zones system of bioclimatic classification, Qabala is situated in or near the warm temperate thorn steppe biome.

The mean annual temperature is 10.9 degrees Celsius (51.6 degrees Fahrenheit). Average monthly temperatures vary by 22.8 °C (41 °F). This indicates a continental type of climate.

Ethnic composition

The rayon has a population of 93,770 people, 13,175 of whom live in the regional town centre Qabala and 80,595 reside in the villages. The density is estimated at 60.49 people per square kilometer. An average living age is 70 years. 73,235 residents of Qabala rayon are Azerbaijanis, 16 020 are Lezgins, 4,640 are Udi, 209 are Turks and 37 are of other nationalities.

Culture

There are 16 culture houses, 31 clubs, a history culture preserve, 69 libraries, an art school, a picture gallery, a culture and recreation park, the H. Aliyev Museum, Historical Ethnography Museum, Martyrs Museum and memorial house-museum of I.B. Gutgashinli which are branches of Historical Ethnography Museum according to Gabala region Culture and Tourism Sector.

The main theater is a branch of the House of Culture and named after C. Mammadguluzada. There are performances such as “Chinar” instrumental ensembles in Region culture house, “Zop-Zopu” dance ensemble acts in the Bum settlement culture house, and “Changi” (Udi) folklore dance ensemble acts in the Nij settlement culture house.

There are 93 historical-cultural immovable monuments in the local area under state protection according to order #132 dated 02.08.2001 by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan. One of them is included in the list of Qabala city's world-important archaeological monuments according to its degree of importance. 8 architectural monuments and 53 archaeological monuments are included in the list of country important monuments; 9 architectural monuments, 16 archaeological monuments, 2 monumental and memory monuments, 4 decorative applied art monuments is included in the list of historical-cultural monuments having local importance. There are 122 cultural institutions in the structure of the Qabala region Culture and Tourism Sector; among them are the Historical Ethnography Museum, H. Aliyev Museum, Picture Gallery, Art School, Centralized Library System, and Historical-Cultural Preserve.

Population

According to the State Statistics Committee, as of 2018, the population of the city recorded 105,500 persons, which increased by 21,400 persons (about 25.4 percent) from 84,100 persons in 2000. Of the total population, 53,700 are men and 51,800 are women. More than 27,3 percent of the population (about 28,900 persons) consists of young people and teenagers aged 14–29.

{| class="wikitable"

|+The population of the district by the year (at the beginning of the year, thousand persons)

References