Goygol (city)
| Goygol | |
|---|---|
| City & Municipality | |
  Goygol | |
| Coordinates: 40°35′13″N 46°18′57″E / 40.58694°N 46.31583°ECoordinates: 40°35′13″N 46°18′57″E / 40.58694°N 46.31583°E | |
| Country |
 Azerbaijan |
| Rayon | Goygol |
| Founded | 1819 |
| Elevation | 697 m (2,287 ft) |
| Population (2010)[1] | |
| • Total | 37,280 |
| Time zone | AZT (UTC+4) |
| • Summer (DST) | AZT (UTC+5) |
| Area code(s) | +994 230 |
Goygol (also, Xanlar, Chanlar, Elenendorf, Helenendorf, Khanlar, Kol-Yelendorf, and Yelenendorf) is a city and municipality and the capital of the Goygol Rayon in northwestern Azerbaijan. It is about 10 km south of Ganja, Azerbaijan's second largest city. The city of Goygol has a population of 19,000 (est, 2008). The municipality includes the city of Goygol and the village of Qızılqaya.[2]
History
There was a settlement here as early as the Bronze Age. An extensive cemetery was excavated in the 1990s, with many bronze weapons (swords, daggers, axes), some jewelry (rings, bracelets, necklaces), and clay black dishes with the geometric designs,[3] some of which are on display at the local museum.
The city of Goygol was founded as Helenendorf in 1819 by Germans from Württemberg, brought as a colony under orders of Czar Alexander to help settle the region that had just been acquired from Persia under the Treaty of Gulistan of 1813.[4]
In 1935–1941 the German population was deported to Siberia on Joseph Stalin's orders. Traces of the German settlement can be seen in the school buildings and the parish church built in 1854.
The town was renamed to Khanlar in 1938 in honor of the Azerbaijani labor organizer Khanlar Safaraliyev.[3] It was renamed in 2008 after a nearby lake, Göygöl.
Economy
The Agropromvinkombine machinery plant is located in Khanlar, as was a state-owned cattle-breeding farm (1990).[3]
Notes
- ↑ The state statistical committee of the Azerbaijan Republic
- ↑ Belediyye Informasiya Sistemi
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 (Russian) Great Soviet Encyclopedia. Khanlar.
- ↑ "Xanlar şəhəri". Retrieved 1 May 2011.
References
- This article is based in part on material from the German Wikipedia.
- Ulrich Mohl: Schwäbischer Pioniergeist im Kaukasus - Die russlanddeutsche Kolonie Helenendorf. In: Schwäbische Heimat. Heft 2002/3, ISSN 0342-7595
External links
- "Helenendorf: Azerbaijan's First German Settlement" Azerbaijan International , a magazine;
- Satellite view of Khanlar City, Khanlar Raion, Azerbaijan from GoogleMap
