The Lenkoran uezd was a county (''

uezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the ea ...

'') within 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 ...

of 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. ...

, and then of the

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic), or simply as Azerbaijan in Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920,''Bulletin d'Information de l'Azerbaidjan'', No. I, September 1, 1919, pp. 6–7''125 H.C.Debs.'', 58., February 24, 1920, p. 1467. Caucasian Az ...

and the

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

until its formal abolishment in 1929. The ''uezd'' was located on the southern part of the governorate, bordering

Caspian sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

to the east, Javad uezd to the north, and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

to the southwest. The administrative center of the ''uezd'' was the city of Lenkoran (present-day

Lankaran Lankaran ( az, Lənkəran, ) is a city in Azerbaijan, on the coast of the Caspian Sea, near the southern border with Iran. As of 2021, the city had a population of 89,300. It is next to, but independent of, Lankaran District. The city forms a dis ...

Administrative divisions

The subcounties (''

uchastok An uchastok (russian: yча́сток}, plural russian: yча́стки, translit=uchastki, label=none), or dilyanka in Ukrainian usage ( uk, ділянка, plural uk, ділянки, translit=dilyanki, label=none), was a territorial-administrat ...

s'') of the Lenkoran uezd in 1912 were as follows:

History

The uezd was established on 10 April 1840, by the name Talyshinsky uezd on the basis of

Talysh Khanate Talysh Khanate or Talish Khanate ( fa, خانات تالش, Khānāt-e Tālesh) was a khanate of Iranian origin that was established in Persia and existed from the middle of the 18th century till the beginning of the 19th century, located in the ...

. It was initially made part of the

Caspian oblast Caspian can refer to: *The Caspian Sea *The Caspian Depression, surrounding the northern part of the Caspian Sea *The Caspians, the ancient people living near the Caspian Sea *Caspian languages, collection of languages and dialects of Caspian peopl ...

on 1840, and later renamed Lenkoran uezd in 1845 and made part of the Shamakhi Governorate in 1846. Due to an earthquake in Shamakhi in 1859, the centre of the Shamakhi Governorate was moved from

Shamakhi 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 ...

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

and the governorate was renamed

. In 1918, after the collapse of the Russian Empire, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic gained brief independence. Bolshevik Baku Commune was in control of Baku at the time, and they were trying to spread their control over other places in Azerbaijan, such as Lenkoran uezd. This led to the creation of the

Mughan Soviet Republic The Mughan Soviet Republic was a short-lived pro-Bolshevik state that existed in present-day southeastern Azerbaijan from March to June 1919. It was founded in opposition to the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in Baku. It was proclaimed mostly by th ...

in the territories of the Lenkoran uezd on 25 April 1919, but the republic was short-lived and it collapsed 3 months later, on 27 July 1919. Subsequently, the uezd was integrated into Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. After the

Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan The Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan, also known as the Sovietization or Soviet invasion of Azerbaijan, was a military campaign carried out by the 11th Army of Soviet Russia in April 1920 to install a new Soviet government in the Azerbaijan Democ ...

in 1920, Azerbaijan was integrated into the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

and the uezd was abolished by Soviet authorities in 1929.

Demographics

According to the "Code of statistical data on the population of the Transcaucasian region" from 1886, the population of the uezd was 109,340 people, of which 50,887 (46.5%)

Talysh Talysh may refer to: *Talysh people * History of Talysh *Talysh language *Talysh Khanate, in existence from 1747 to 1828 *Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic, a self-declared autonomy, which existed briefly in the south of Azerbaijan in 1993 *Talysh ...

, 50,510 (46.2%) were

Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; az, Azərbaycanlılar, ), Azeris ( az, Azərilər, ), or Azerbaijani Turks ( az, Azərbaycan Türkləri, ) are a Turkic people living mainly in northwestern Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan. They are the second-most numer ...

, 7,634 were

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

and 273 (0.2%) were

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

Russian Empire census (1897)

According to the

Russian Empire census The first general census of the population of the Russian Empire in 1897 ( pre-reform Russian: ) was the first and only nation-wide census performed in the Russian Empire (the Grand Duchy of Finland was excluded). It recorded demographic data as ...

of 1897, the Lenkoran uezd had a population of 130,987, including 72,492 men and 58,495 women. The majority of the population indicated Tatar (later known as Azerbaijani) to be their mother tongue, with significant

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

speaking minorities. The significant share reduction of the Talysh population in comparison with the data of 1886 cannot be explained by natural demographic processes and is a consequence of the registration of Iranian-speaking Talysh as Azerbaijanis (“Caucasian Tatars”). After 1886, the Talysh did not move out and did not die out. It is clear that a significant part of the Talysh, on the basis of their language, are ranked among the Azerbaijanis (“Caucasian Tatars”).

Caucasian Calendar (1917)

According to the 1917 publication of the ''Caucasian Calendar'', the Lenkoran uezd had 203,319 residents in 1916, including 106,891 men and 96,428 women, 195,247 of whom were the permanent population, and 8,072 were temporary residents:

Soviet census (1926)

In 1926, the population of the uezd rose to 208,479.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * Geographic history of Azerbaijan States and territories established in 1840 1840 establishments in the Russian Empire 1929 disestablishments in the Soviet Union Uezds of Baku Governorate Uezds of the Soviet Union States and territories disestablished in 1929 History of Talysh {{coord, 38, 45, 13, N, 48, 51, 04, E, display=title