Goychay ( az, Göyçay, russian: Геокчай) is a city, municipality and the capital of the

Goychay District Goychay District ( az, Göyçay rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the centre of the country and belongs to the Central Aran Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Agdash, Qabala, Ismayilli, Kurdam ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. The municipality includes the city of Goychay and the nearby village of Qızılqaya. As of December 2016 the urban population of Goychay was estimated at 42,500, an increase of around 20% since 2004 when the population was recorded as being 35,344.

History

The settlement dates back to the late 1850s following the devastating 1859 earthquake in

Shemakha Shamakhi ( az, Şamaxı, ) is a city in Azerbaijan and the administrative centre of the Shamakhi District. The city's estimated population was 31,704. It is famous for its traditional dancers, the Shamakhi Dancers, and also for perhaps giving it ...

, though the town was only officially incorporated as such in 1916. Goychay was the administrative center of the Geokchay Uyezd of the

Baku Governorate The Baku Governorate, known before 1859 as the Shemakha Governorate, was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its center in the booming metropolis and Caspian Sea port of Baku. Area (1897): 34,400 sq ...

. During the Soviet era, the city was often known by its Russian pronunciation as used in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, Geokchay. On 2 June 2018 the main bridge carrying the M4 highway across the Goychay River near the city's Olympic Centre was washed away, leading to criminal accusations against several business leaders associated with its construction.

Climate

Göyçay has a

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: ''BSk'').

Notable natives

Anvar Mammadkhanli Anvar Gafar oglu Mammadkhanli ( az, Ənvər Qafar oğlu Məmməmədxanlı; 6 February 1913 – 19 December 1990) was a prominent writer and screenwriter, script writer, translator and art worker. Anvar Mammadkhanli since 1938 is a member of Aze ...

— writer, Honored Art Worker of Azerbaijan SSR. *

Mirza Khazar Mirza Karim oghlu Mikayilov ( az, Mirzə Kərim oğlu Mikayılov), known as Mirza Khazar ( az, Mirzə Xəzər, 29 October 1947 – 31 January 2020), was an eminent Azerbaijani author, political analyst, anchorman, radio journalist, publisher, an ...

— prominent radio journalist, essayist, translator of the Bible in

Azeri language Azerbaijani () or Azeri (), also referred to as Azeri Turkic or Azeri Turkish, is a Turkic language from the Oghuz sub-branch spoken primarily by the Azerbaijani people, who live mainly in the Republic of Azerbaijan where the North Azerbaijan ...

. *

Rasul Rza Rasul Rza (real name Rasul Ibrahim oghlu Rzayev – az, Rəsul İbrahim oğlu Rzayev) (1910 – 1981 in Baku), was an Azerbaijani writer, Hero of Socialist Labour (1980), People's Poet of Azerbaijan, Laureate of Soviet State Award and the Chair ...

— writer, People's Poet of Azerbaijan (1960). * Rauf Atakishiyev – singer, pianist, People's Artist of Azerbaijan (1967). * Sadykh bey Aghabekov — general in the Russian Imperial Army, founder and reformer of Azerbaijani Police, Major General, Orientalist.

Twin towns – sister cities

Goychay is twinned with: *

Lida Lida ( be, Лі́да ; russian: Ли́да ; lt, Lyda; lv, Ļida; pl, Lida ; yi, לידע, Lyde) is a city 168 km (104 mi) west of Minsk in western Belarus in Grodno Region. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuani ...

, Belarus *

Valmontone Valmontone is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about southeast of Rome. Geography The historic part of the town is situated on a tuffaceous hill, above sea level, part of a mor ...

, Italy (2014)

References

External links

* Populated places in Goychay District Baku Governorate {{Goychay-geo-stub