Lachin District

39°38′0″N 46°33′0″E / 39.63333°N 46.55000°E / 39.63333; 46.55000

Lachin District (Azerbaijani: Laçın rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the west of the country, belonging to the East Zangezur Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Kalbajar, Khojaly, Shusha, Khojavend, Qubadli, and the Syunik Province of Armenia. Its capital and largest city is Lachin. As of 2020, the district had a nominal population of 78,600.

The territory of the district was established in 1930 and given the status of a district. The district was occupied by the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh from 1992 until late 2020, when the district was surrendered to Azerbaijan per the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement which ended the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War. A small part of the district, excluding its capital, called the Lachin corridor was controlled by a Russian peacekeeping force until 2024.

In 1936, from a total of 20,356 people:

In 1979, from a total of 47,261 people:

In 1981, the population was 51,000, counting 121 settlements. 9 of these settlements were Kurdish.

In 1989, the population was a total of 47,339 people.

It was originally known as Abdalyar or Abdallyar (after the Turkic Abdal tribe). It was granted town status in 1923 and renamed Lachin (a Turkic first name meaning falcon) in 1926. Between 1923 and 1929, Lachin was established as the Kurdistan Uyezd, an autonomous Soviet district.