Sharp differences in the population growth rates continued in the 20s and 30s, particularly in
the 50s and 60s of the 20
th
century (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4). At present, the population of Baku is 6.6
times larger than the population of the second most populated city of Azerbaijan which is still
Ganja (320.7 thousand people). There were many problems in the development of the regions
while Baku became a large industrial center (Davidovich 1971).
Looking through the scale of the former USSR, it also should be mentioned that the social-
economic and demographic development rates of the cities of the USSR were depending on
their socio-political and economic function, economic structure, geographic position and
climate. State agencies were controlling the social and economic development, the supply of
housing and work places, the passport registrations and the employment based on this
registration. The management of the cities was implemented through different administrative
ways and measures. This allowed maintaining the equilibrium in the economic and social-
demographic development but the problems of city planning impeded the effective solving of
the cities’ issues. The surrounding areas of the cities were covered with living districts in the
conditions of large areas full of old buildings previously constructed in the center. The territories
of cities were increasing due to the arising of new living blocks at the edges. Significant amount
of financing was needed in order to demolish the old buildings in the centers, and to rebuild
new housing, socio-cultural and educational facilities. The central apparatus was not interested
to find solutions to the problems at the expense of financial allocations
Many features of the development of cities in the former USSR were typical for Azerbaijan and
its capital city as well. There are many problems in the regulation of the population distribution
in Baku and its settlements concerning the water supply, rendering natural gas, energy
provision and meeting the communal needs of the population.
The period after 1988 may be characterized as a special stage in the social-economic and
demographic development of Baku. Although the number of settlements (9) outside Baku did
not increase in 1989-1999, the number of urban-type settlements reached to 51 by 1999 due to
the concentration of army refugees and mass migration of population from other regions. There
were 704.4 thousand people living in those urban-type settlements outside Baku by the shown
year (Table 1). This is 39.4% of the population living in the territorial unit of Baku city.
Economic and Geographic Factors Affecting the Development of Greater Baku
209
Fig. 3 –
The development of Greater Baku
during 1913-1939
Fig. 4 –
The development of Greater Baku
during 1939-1990
Notes: The population of Greater Baku and the surrounding areas includes also the rural
settlements according to the data of 1842-1913. The data of the following years is given taking into
account only the population of the settlements. In 1926, 53246 villagers, and in 1939, 21.1 thousand
people lived in Greater Baku. This decrease is related to the status of urban settlements given to clusters.
The data on settlements by 2009 includes the inner ones too (i.e. the settlements of Keshla and Ahmadli).
The population number behind the boundaries of Greater Baku is very small and therefore not given by
1939.
Sources: The data by 1842 is given based on Berezin's book "Travelling in Dagestan and
Caucasus” (Petersburg 1850); the statistics by 1873 and 1913 is based on V. A. Afandiyev’s book “The
planning of the Baku agglomeration zones” (1985: 42-46) and his PhD thesis; the data by 1886 is based
on Svod
Statisticheskikh
(1893); the data by 1926 is based on Muradov's “İnsan potensialı” (2004: 51);
the data by 1939 and 1959 is based on Itogi 1963 (p.15); the data by 1970-1999 is based on Z. N.
Eminov’s “Azərbaycanın əhalisi” (2005, p. 369) and Itogi 1981; and the data by 2009 and 2012 is based on
“Azərbaycanın əhalisi-2011” (2012: 63-67).
The population of the settlements of Baku increased by 100.0 thousand people despite the
mass migration of Russians, Armenians and other Russian-speaking populations after 1989
(Azərbaycan Respublikasi 2000). The number of Russians decreased from 295.5 thousand to
119.4 persons. The number of Armenians fell from 180.0 thousand to 400 persons. The
number of Jews also became 20.0 thousand lesser in Baku city within 1989-1999. Most
Azerbaijani refugees expelled from Armenia in 1988 (200 thousand people) settled in
Absheron. This process accelerated the concentration of the population in this territory. The
population of the settlements in the Absheron region and Sumgait city increased by 85.2
thousand people. The population of Sumgait increased up to 256.8 thousand people. In 1999,
the total population of the agglomeration was of 2130.9 thousand people, 342.0 thousand
people or 16.1% of which were the population living outside Greater Baku (Eminov 2005).
Vusat AFANDIYEV, Zakir EMINOV, Saleh NAGIYEV
210
Table 1
The population growth in the cities and settlements of Baku agglomeration
Year
Population (thousand people)
City population
(percentage)
Baku
Agglo-
meration
Ab-
sheron
and
Sumgait
Greater
Baku
of which
Baku
Sur-
round-
ing
settle-
ments
Ab-
sheron
and
Sum-
gait
Greater
Baku
Share within
Greater Baku,
(percentage)
Baku
Sur-
rounding
areas
1842
33.5
-
33.5
6.0
27.5
-
-
17.9
82.1
1873
66.2
-
66.2
15.1
51.1
-
-
22.8
77.2
1886
141.4
-
141.4
86.6
54.8
-
-
61.2
38.8
1897
193.7
-
193.6
112.0
81.6
-
-
57.9
42.1
1913
361.9
-
361.9
214.7
147.2
-
-
59.3
40.7
1926
567.3
-
567.3
453.3
114.0
-
-
79.9
20.1
1939
794.6
19.8
774.8
544.0
230.8
2.5
97.5
70.2
29.8
1959
1039.9
68.8
971.1
642.5
328.6
6.6
93.4
66.2
33.8
1970
1422.1
156.6
1265.5
851.6
413.9
11.0
89.0
67.3
32.7
1979
1798.8
249.0
1549.8
1022.0
527.8
13.8
86.2
65.9
34.1
1989
2104.5
309.6
1794.9
1190.3
604.6
14.7
85.3
66.3
33.7
1999
2130.9
342.0
1788.9
1084.5
704.4
16.1
83.9
60.6
39.4
2009
2512.7
466.9
2045.8
1140.9
904.9
14.6
81.4
55.8
44.2
2012
2602.5
480.2
2122.3
1194.8
927.5
18.5
81.5
56.3
43.7