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Ganja (city)

Ganja
Gəncə
City & Municipality
Montage of Ganja city 2016.jpg
Official seal of Ganja
Seal
Nickname(s): Red City
Ganja is located in Azerbaijan
Ganja
Ganja
Coordinates: 40°40′58″N 46°21′38″E / 40.68278°N 46.36056°E / 40.68278; 46.36056
Country  Azerbaijan
Government
 • Mayor Elmar Valiyev
Area
 • Total 170 km2 (70 sq mi)
Elevation 408 m (1,339 ft)
Population (2015)
 • Total 325,200
 • Density 2,848/km2 (7,380/sq mi)
 • Population Rank in Azerbaijan 2nd
Demonym(s) Ağali,Lələ,Küçəli
Time zone GMT+4 (UTC+4)
 • Summer (DST) GMT+5 (UTC+5)
Area code(s) (+994) 22
Vehicle registration 20 AZ
Website www.ganca.net
Ethnic groups in Ganja
Year Azerbaijanis  % Armenians  % Russians  % Others 1  % TOTAL
1886
11,139
54.9
8,914
43.9
131
0.6
110
0.5
 20,294
1892
13,392
51.8
10,524
40.8
1,842
7.2
 25,758
1897
17,426
51.8
12,055
35.9
2,519
7.5
1,625
4.8
 33,625
1926
30,878
53.8
16,148
28.1
4,470
7.8
5,897
10.3
 57,339
1939
49,755
50.3
27,121
27.4
16,992
17.2
4,626
4.7
 98,494
1959
63,258
54.5
32,371
27.9
16,545
14.2
4,039
3.5
 116,122
1970
122,973
64.9
40,588
21.4
22,022
11.6
3,929
2.1
 189,512
1979
167,251
72.4
40,354
17.5
19,822
8.6
3,639
1.6
 231,066
1999
294,876
98.5
32
0.01
2,814
0.9
1,620
0.5
 299,342
2009
311,813
99.5
6
0
895
0.3
535
0.2
 313,249
1 Georgians, Jews, Ukrainians etc.

Ganja (Azerbaijani: Gəncə, Ҝәнҹә [ˈgænd͡ʒæ]) is Azerbaijan's second largest city with a population close of about 325,200. It was named Elisabethpol (Russian: Елизаветпо́ль, tr. Yelizavetpol; IPA: [jɪlʲɪzəvʲɪtˈpolʲ]) in the Russian Empire period. The city regained its original name, Ganja, in 1920 during the first part of its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, its name was changed again in 1935 to Kirovabad (Russian: Кироваба́д; IPA: [kʲɪrəvɐˈbat]) and retained that name through most of the rest of the Soviet period. In 1989, during Perestroika, the city regained its original name.

Even though some sources from medieval Islamic time attribute the building of the town to a Muslim Arab ruler, modern historians believe that the fact that the name Ganja derives from the New Persian ganj ("treasure") and in Arabic source the name is recorded as Janza (from the Middle Persian ganza) suggests that the city existed in pre-Islamic times and was likely founded in the 5th century. The area in which Ganja is located was known as Arran from the 9th to 12th century; its urban population spoke mainly in the Persian language.

According to medieval Arabic sources, the city of Ganja was founded in 859-60 by Muhammad ibn Khalid ibn Yazid ibn Mazyad, the Arab governor of the region in the reign of the caliph al-Mutawakkil, and so-called because of a treasure unearthed there. According to the legend, the Arab governor had a dream where a voice told him that there was a treasure hidden under one of the three hills around the area where he camped. The voice told him to unearth it and use the money to found a city. He did so and informed the caliph about the money and the city. Caliph made Muhammad the hereditary governor of the city on a condition that he would give the money he found to the caliph.


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