Stepanakert

"Xankəndi" redirects here. For other uses, see Xankəndi (disambiguation).

Stepanakert / Khankendi
Ստեփանակերտ
Xankəndi
City
From top left: Holy Mother of God Cathedral Renaissance Square • Downtown Stepanakert Stepanakert Airport • Stepanakert skyline Park Hotel Artsakh  • We Are Our Mountains Artsakh University  • Stepanakert Memorial
From top left:
Holy Mother of God Cathedral
Renaissance Square • Downtown Stepanakert
Stepanakert Airport • Stepanakert skyline
Park Hotel Artsakh  • We Are Our Mountains
Artsakh University  • Stepanakert Memorial
Stepanakert / Khankendi is located in Azerbaijan
Stepanakert / Khankendi
Stepanakert / Khankendi
Location of Stepanakert/Khankendi in Azerbaijan and its Karabakh Economic Region.
Stepanakert / Khankendi is located in Karabakh Economic Region
Stepanakert / Khankendi
Stepanakert / Khankendi
Stepanakert / Khankendi (Karabakh Economic Region)
Coordinates: 39°48′55″N 46°45′7″E / 39.81528°N 46.75194°E / 39.81528; 46.75194
CountryAzerbaijan
RegionKarabakh
City status1940[1]
Government
 • President's special representativeElchin Yusubov[2]
Area
 • Total
29.12 km2 (11.24 sq mi)
Elevation
813 m (2,667 ft)
Population
 (2021)[3]
 • Total
75,000
 • Density2,600/km2 (6,700/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+4 (GMT+4)
Area code+994 26
Sources: Stepanakert city area and population[4]

Stepanakert (Armenian: Ստեփանակերտ, romanized: Stepʻanakert, Eastern pronunciation: [stɛpʰɑnɑˈkɛɾt]) or Khankendi (Azerbaijani: Xankəndi, pronounced [xɑncænˈdi] ⓘ) is a city in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The city was under the control and the capital city of the breakaway Republic of Artsakh prior to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in the region. The city is located in a valley on the eastern slopes of the Karabakh mountain range, on the left bank of the Qarqarçay (Karkar) river.[5]

The area that would become Stepanakert was originally an Armenian settlement named Vararakn.[6] During the Soviet period, the city was made the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast, becoming a hub for economic and industrial activity.[1] In addition, the city became a hotbed for political activity, serving as the center for Armenian demonstrations calling for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. Stepanakert suffered extensive damage following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the outbreak of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War and passed into the hands of local Armenians with the establishment of the Republic of Artsakh. During the control by the Armenians, the city was a regional center of education and culture, being home to Artsakh University, musical schools, and a palace of culture. The economy was based on the service industry and had varied enterprises, food processing, wine making, and silk weaving being the most important.[5] As of 2021, the population of Stepanakert was 75,000.[7]

In September 2023, Azerbaijani authorities took control of the city, with almost the entire Armenian population forced to flee to Armenia ahead of the advancing Azerbaijani forces.[8] It was an abandoned ghost city[a] for a year; Azerbaijan began settling new permanent residents in the city in September 2024 with the opening of Karabakh University.[13]

  1. ^ a b Hewsen 2001, p. 265
  2. ^ "Xankəndi, Ağdərə və Xocalıda Azərbaycan Prezidentinin xüsusi nümayəndəsi təyin edilib". report.az (in Azerbaijani). 7 March 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Figures" (PDF). stat-nkr.am. 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 September 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  4. ^ "General Characteristics of the NKR" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  5. ^ a b Baranchikov 2016, p. 225
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Vararakn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Khachatryan, Karen (13 August 2021). Stepan Kocharyan (ed.). "Drought leads to "unprecedented" water crisis in Stepanakert city". armenpress.am. Stepanakert: Armenpress. Archived from the original on 2 July 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Armenians describe journey to safety after fall of their homeland". The Independent. 29 September 2023. Archived from the original on 30 September 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
  9. ^ "Nagorno-Karabakh's abandoned capital transforms under Azerbaijani rule". Eurasianet. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024. It was once the seat of a de facto government. Now it's a ghost town that plays host to projections of its conquerors' power
  10. ^ Nechepurenko, Ivan (17 November 2023). "What's Left When a Long War Suddenly Ends". The New York Times. ISSN 1553-8095. …the Nagorno-Karabakh city of Stepanakert, also known as Khankendi, a ghost town after its ethnic Armenian residents fled in fear as Azerbaijani troops captured the area.
  11. ^ Barseghyan, Arshaluys; Aghayev, Ismi (2 October 2023). "UN mission arrives to empty streets in Nagorno-Karabakh". OC Media. Reporting from the regional capital Stepanakert, Al Jazeera describes a 'ghost town' with no one left.
  12. ^ Gunter, Joel (3 October 2023). "Deserted Nagorno-Karabakh reveals aftermath of lightning-fast Armenian defeat". BBC. The few images that have emerged from Khankendi since the takeover show a ghost town, where possessions appear to have been abandoned in the streets as residents fled.
  13. ^ Hajiyeva, Gunay (24 September 2024). "Classes Begin at Karabakh University in Khankendi". Caspian News. Retrieved 14 November 2024.


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