Agstafa () is a town, municipality (assigned in 1941) and the capital of the

Aghstafa District Aghstafa District () is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. Located in the northwest of the country, it belongs to the Gazakh-Tovuz Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Qazakh, Tovuz, as well as the Kakheti and Kvemo Kartl ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

. Agstafa district was established in 1939, abolished in 1959 and merged with Gazakh district, and made into an independent district again in 1990.

History

Historical reference books of Agstafa indicate that the city appeared in the second half of the nineteenth century, essentially built as a new town around the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi railway. The town was known initially as Elisavetinka, for the Russian royal, though the station did take its name from a pre-existing small village of Agstafa, which grew more important from 1914 as the junction stop for a new branch line to Yerevan. In 1920, with the region still rocked by the fallout of the 1920 Ganja Revolt, the

Treaty of Agstafa The Treaty of Agstafa, also known somewhat misleadingly as the 1920 Georgia-Azerbaijan Trade Agreement, was a peace agreement between the newly formed Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan and the pre-soviet Democratic Republic of Georgia. Pr ...

was negotiated here between the newly Sovietised

Republic of Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russi ...

and the then still-independent

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა, tr) was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia (country), Georgia, which exist ...

. Agstafa received city status in 1941.

Geographical position

There is one city (Aghstafa), 9 settlements (Vurgun, Poylu, Shekarli, Jeyranchol, Saloglu, Soyugbulag, Soyugbulag, Hazi Aslanov, Garayazy) and 29 villages in the region. These settlements are managed by 29 administrative territorial representations and 29 municipalities.

Population

Of the Agstafa region population of 88,458 as of January 2020, as many as 21,817 people live in the city and 66,562 in villages. 43,562 men and 44,817 women make up the population of the region.

Transport

Agstafa has a large urban transport system, mostly managed by the Ministry of Transportation.

Air

Aghstafa Airport, is not fully functioninal.

Rail

The city sits on one of the Azerbaijani primary rail lines running east–west connecting the capital,

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, with the rest of the country. The Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway runs along the line through the city. The railway provides both human transportation and transport of goods and commodities such as oil and gravel. Agstafa's Central Railway Station is the terminus for national and international rail links to the city. The Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway, which will directly connect

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, Georgia and

, began to be constructed in 2007 and is scheduled for completion in 2015. The completed branch will connect the city with

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

in Georgia, and from there trains will continue to

Akhalkalaki Akhalkalaki ( ka, ახალქალაქი, tr ; ) is a town in Georgia (country), Georgia's southern region of Samtskhe–Javakheti and the administrative centre of the Akhalkalaki Municipality. Akhalkalaki lies on the edge of the Javakheti ...

, and

Kars Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.� ...

in Turkey.

Railway Gazette International ''Railway Gazette International'' is a British monthly business magazine and news website covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Available by annual subscription, the magazine is read in over 140 countries by tran ...

February 2009 p54 with map

References

External links

*
World Gazetteer: Azerbaijan
– World-Gazetteer.com Populated places in Aghstafa District {{Agstafa-geo-stub