Shaki-Zagatala Economic Region ( az, Şəki-Zaqatala iqtisadi rayonu) is one of the 14

economic regions An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

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 ...

. It borders

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

to the north and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

to the west, as well as the economic regions of Quba-Khachmaz, Mountainous Shirvan, Central Aran, and Ganja-Dashkasan. The region consists of the districts of Balakan, Zagatala,

Gakh Qakh District ( az, Qax rayonu; ka, კახის რაიონი, K′akhis raioni; Tsakhur: Къахын район) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the north of the country and belongs to the Shaki-Zagatala E ...

, Shaki, Oghuz and

Qabala Qabala ( az, Qəbələ) is a city and the administrative centre of the Qabala District of Azerbaijan. The municipality consists of the city of Gabala and the village of Küsnat. Before the city was known as Kutkashen, but after the Republic of ...

. It has an area of . Its population was estimated to be at 630.4 thousand people in January 2021.

Geography

Shaki-Zagatala has an area of . The territory is divided into three parts: the southern slope of

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...

, the Ganikh-Haftaran Valley and the Central Kur Highland (Ajinohur and Turud-Sarica plain, the mountainous part of Shaki). The altitude ranges from , the peak of Mount Bazardüzü, which is the tallest mountain in Azerbaijan and

Rivers and lakes

The region includes the following important rivers: Kish, Shin, Balakanchay, Katekh, Damiraparan, Mazım, Mukhakh, Ganikh, Ayrichay, Alijan and

Turyan The Turyan ( az, Türyan), also called Turyanchay ( az, Türyançay) is a river of Azerbaijan. It flows through Qabala Rayon, Qabala and Goychay Rayon, Goychay raions. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . Overview Turyanchay starts off at R ...

. Rich sources of thermal and mineral waters are available at Oghlanbulag, Gizbulag, Hamambulag, Budusshor, Aghbulag and Khalkhal. Nohur (Qabala) and Ajinohur (Gakh) are the major lakes.

Climate

The region gets 2,200-2,400 hours of sunlight annually. According to the median temperature in the coldest months, the winters in the area vary between mild (0;-5 C) and extremely mild (5-2.5 C). Feasible evaporation in the warm months (April–October) is around 400–1000 mm. The number of days without precipitation ranges between 5 and 25 days in June–September. The frost-free period extends for 150–250 days or more, while the number of days with below freezing temperatures is 20–150. Days with snow cover fluctuate between 20 and 120. At altitudes of the climate is subtropical, while at higher elevations it is mild and cool; the climate becomes colder with increasing altitude. The region holds second place after the Lankaran-Astara zone for the range of annual rainfall amounts.

Land cover and biodiversity

The most common landscapes are meadows, mountains and forest areas, with a range of forest and mountain soils. The area is characterized by a diverse landscape, more densely forested than other regions of Azerbaijan. Alder (''

Alnus Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

'' sp.) Caucasian wing nut ('' Pterocarya pterocarpa''), hybrid poplar (''

Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar (), aspen, and cottonwood. The we ...

''), and long-stem oak (''

Quercus longipes ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus ...

'') are all dominant species of trees in flatland forests. Forests of juniper (''

Juniperus Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

'' sp.), Turkish terebinth (''

Pistacia ''Pistacia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae. It contains 10 to 20 species that are native to Africa and Eurasia from the Canary Islands, all of Africa, and southern Europe, warm and semidesert areas across Asia ...

'' sp.) and Iberian oak (''

Quercus iberica ''Quercus iberica'', the Georgian oak, is a deciduous tree native to the Caucasus (including regions of coastal northeastern Turkey, Asia Minor and Iran).''Georgian State (Soviet) Encyclopedia.'' 1986. Book 10. p. 483. The Georgian oak is a ...

'') occupy the

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

plateau areas. The dominant

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

of the down mountain forest zone () are Iberian oak and eastern hornbeam (''

Carpinus orientalis ''Carpinus orientalis'', known as the Oriental hornbeam, is a hornbeam native to Hungary, the Balkans, Italy, Crimea, Turkey, Iran, and the Caucasus. and occurs usually on hot dry sites at lower altitudes in comparison to the ''Carpinus betulus' ...

''). The middle mountain forest zone mainly consists of beech (''

Fagus Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

'' sp.) forests. The

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

of the region is characterized by mammals such as the brown bear (''

Ursus arctos The brown bear (''Ursus arctos'') is a large bear species found across Eurasia and North America. In North America, the populations of brown bears are called grizzly bears, while the subspecies that inhabits the Kodiak Islands of Alaska is kno ...

'').

Natural resources

The region is rich in minerals. Most of the copper reserves of Azerbaijan, 90 percent of the sulfur arthroplasty, 97 percent of

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

, 99 percent of sinks are extracting in this region. Filizchay, one of the largest polymetallic deposits in the

Caucasus region The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

, is located in the region. There are gravel, sand and other building material resources in mountainous and foothills. About 27 percent of the Shaki-Zagatala economic region is forested. The majority of them are in the territory of Balakan and Zagatala. The economic region has rich water resources. There are 9 underground water reservoirs in the region.

Demography

As of January 1, 2018, the population of the Shaki-Zagatala economic region was 621,400. or 6.2% of the country's population. 27.6% of the population of the economic region live in the cities, while 72.4% live in rural areas.

Economy

The region's economy is based on agriculture. According to the countrywide division of labor on agricultural products, the Shaki-Zagatala economic-geographical region is represented by tobacco growing, sericulture, tea cultivation,

floriculture Floriculture, or flower farming, is a branch of horticulture concerned with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and for floristry, comprising the floral industry. The development of new varieties by plant breeding is ...

paddy cultivation A paddy field is a flooded field (agriculture), field of arable land used for growing Aquatic plant, semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in sout ...

, fruit cultivation, grain cultivation,

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

sheep breeding Sheep farming or sheep husbandry is the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. It is a branch of animal husbandry. Sheep are raised principally for their meat (lamb and mutton), milk (sheep's milk), and fiber (wool). They also yield sheepskin a ...

. More than 75% of tobacco, 17% of grain, 35% of barley, and 2% of green tea leaf in Azerbaijan are produced in this economic region. The production of livestock products in the Shaki-Zagatala economic region constitutes more than 10% of these products throughout the country. The industry of the Shaki-Zagatala economic region is relatively weak and unilaterally developed. Only 3% of the country's industrial product falls into this region's share. The industry of the economic region is mainly specialized in the light and food industries, which process agricultural products. These areas produce more than 95% of the industrial production of the economic region. The food industry is mainly developed in horticulture, tobacco and livestock products processing. Shaki food factories and wine factories, Gabala, Gakh, Balaken, Nij fruit and vegetable canning plants, Zagatala hazelnut and rose oil plants, tea factory, and Shaki meat factory are the main enterprises of the food industry. In addition, small businesses that produce domestic bakeries, eastern sweets and non-alcoholic beverages are also operating in the economic region. The light industry is based on sericulture. There are various sewing industry enterprises in all rayon centres in the region. Tobacco fermentation plants are operating in Shaki, Gabala, Balaken and Zagatala. Other sectors of the industry of the region include the Zagatala furniture factory, the brick plant, the Balakan field enterprise, etc. The beautiful nature allows the region to be one of the major recreation and tourism regions in Azerbaijan. Recreational tourism enterprises operate in Gabala, Shaki and Zagatala.

Transport

The transport network of the Shaki-Zagatala economic-geographical region consists of railways and highways, partly airways and pipelines. The region is located on the Yevlakh-Balaken railroad and highways. This railway was commissioned in 1986. About 20-25% of cargo and 12-15% of passengers are transported with this railway. The railway runs mainly through four administrative regions (Shaki, Zagatala, Gakh and Balakan). 62 km or 38% of the railway line is passing through Shaki, 38 km or 24% Zagatala, 40 km or 24.5% Gakh, 22 km- i or 13.5% Balakan region.

Highways

Baku-Yevlakh-Balaken and parallel to 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 ...

- Ismayilli- Gabala- Balakan highways occupy an important place in the region. The total length of roads in the region is 1,921 km. The international significance of the Balakən-Lagodekhi highway (the continuation of the Yevlakh-Balakan highway) has increased since Azerbaijan gained independence. The economic-geographical region joins the South Caucasus and

TRACECA TRACECA (acronym: Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia) is an international transport programme involving the European Union and 12 member states of the Eastern European, Caucasus and Central Asian region.