Lankaran District

Lankaran District (Azerbaijani: Lənkəran rayonu) is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the south-east of the country, in the Lankaran-Astara Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Astara, Lerik, Masally, and Neftchala. Its capital and largest city is Lankaran, although the city is technically not part of the district and is subordinate to the Republic. As of 2020, the district had a population of 232,000.

Archaeological excavations indicate that people have lived in the region since at least the Bronze Age (3rd or 2nd millennia BC). The area around Lankaran has fertile soil, rich water reserves and a humid subtropical climate with a maximum annual precipitation of 1,600 to 1,800 mm, the highest precipitation in Azerbaijan, leading to abundant agriculture, cattle-breeding, gardening, fishing, bee-keeping and silk production. Blacksmith, copper-smith, pottery and other trades have long been well established too. The area's development was also aided by its location as a point of communication between ancient empires, leading to caravan trade funnelled along the Caspian Sea coast.

Between 1747 and 1813, Lankaran was the main city of the Talysh Khanate. Following the 1813 Gulistan Treaty, the northern area of the khanate was occupied by Russia, and the remainder was seized in the final Russo-Persian war of 1826–1828. The 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay left the area within the Russian empire and the khanate was abolished. During the 19th century, Lankaran exported rice, silk, vegetables, wood and fish to Russia. During the 20th century, the tea-cultivation and processing industry became important in the district.

The area was briefly the centre of a Bolshevik-inspired Mughan Soviet Republic during 1919. A similar separatist autonomous region was briefly created in 1993 again, with the capital being Lankaran. During the period of instability that followed Azerbaijan's 1991 independence from the USSR, Lankaran and surrounding districts were briefly declared the Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic, but this only survived between June and August 1993. Today the region is an integral part of the Azerbaijan Republic.

Lankaran district was established as an administrative district on August 8, 1930. The district's tea industry struggled post-independence due to increased competition from exports and the results of land redistribution: the break-up of Soviet-era collective farms into small personal plots having rendered most tea-cultivation unprofitable. The district also suffered severely from the rising level of the Caspian Sea, most notably at Narimanabad where many waterfront properties were washed away.

The region has a vast area of national parks, where a variety of fauna and flora are preserved. Gizil-Agach State Reserve hosts over 250 kinds of plants, 30 species of fish and more than 220 kinds of birds. Lankaran is also known for Parrotia persica, or ironwood. It is naturally grown in the region and could be seen in Hirkan National Park. Local myth has it that it is the only wood that sinks in water, hence the name (ironwood). Historically it has been used for heating since it burns for a long time and is not easily extinguished. The Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolous), a subspecies of the leopard, lives in the national park as well.

Some measures have been undertaken to improve the drinking water supply of the city and to reconstruct the city's sewage system. The reconstruction of the Lankaran water supply and sewerage system began in August 2011. A water purification system, one water reservoir with a capacity of 10000 m3, 252 km of water lines with different diameter, 12,000 Smartcard water meters, 21 km of sewer line have been installed and 12 km of micro tunnel layout are planned in Khanbulan village of Lankaran by the company.

Ten Smartcard electricity meters, 154 electronic single-phase electricity meters were installed and 191 defective meters were changed during 3 months of 2017 in the Lankaran district. Totally 16892 Smart card electricity meters have been installed in the district. Currently[data missing], government carry out work of energy sales and exploitation to settlements and villages of the district including 47,914 individual subscribers, 46 refugees, 3052 trade and services, 891 productions, transport and construction, 155 budgets and 157 other consumer groups.