Lerik, Azerbaijan

38°46′31″N 48°24′55″E

Lerik Lik
Lerik
Coordinates: 38°46′31″N 48°24′55″E
Country	Azerbaijan
District	Lerik
Established	1916
Elevation	1,096 m (3,596 ft)
Population  (2021)
• Total	8,657[1]
Time zone	UTC+4 (AZT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+5 (AZT)
Area code	+994 157

Lerik (Talysh: Lik) is the capital city of Lerik District in the southern area of Azerbaijan not far from the Iran border. It is located in the Talysh Mountains, a northwestern subrange of the Alborz (Elburz) mountain range. The majority of the population is Talysh.

History

Lerik is considered one of the ancient settlements of Azerbaijan. There are imprints of ancient people who were living In the caves. Nowadays there are settlement imprints which belong to bronze-Neolithic ages.^[2]

Lerik became a center of Zuvand Region of Azerbaijan SSR. In 1930 this region was renamed as Lerik.

According to census back in 1939 main population of Lerik were Talysh people.^[3]

Historical monuments

One of the main sights near Lerik is the Buzeir cave. In the 19th century Jacques de Morgan discovered examples of human imprints belonging to the Neolithic era.^[2]

Population

Lerik city population 1939 (approximately after 10 years of rename by Azerbaijan SSR):^[3]

Ethnic group	Quantity	Percentage
Talysh	996	68.7%
Azerbaijani	303	20.9%
Russian	107	7.4
Armenian	11	0.8%
Other	32	2.2%
Total	1 449	100%

Demographics now (according to 2009 census)^[4]

Ethnic group	Quantity	Percentage
Talysh	72228	96.92%
Azerbaijani	2281	3.06%
Russian	11	0.01%
Other	2	0.00%

The vast majority of the city's population are Talysh, while the rest are Azerbaijanis and other ethnicities.

Zuvand State Reserve

The Zuvand State Reserve was created in Lerik region to maintain the flora and fauna. The reserve covers 40.3 hectares of land.  National academy has settled Botanical Research center, where active observations and researches are made. These forests are habitats for wolves, bears, foxes, wild cats, boars and other animals.^[5][3]

Gallery

• 
  Center of Lerik
• 
  Haydar Aliyev Center
• 
  Flag of Azerbaijan in Lerik
• 
  A street of Lerik
• 
  Lerik District Executive Power

References

1. Azərbaycan Respublikasının Dövlət Statistika Komitəsi: Lerik rayonu
2. Zardabli, Ismail. THE HISTORY OF AZERBAIJAN: from ancient times to the present day. ISBN 1291971319.
3. "Лерикский район 1939". www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
4. Samadov (www.anarsamadov.net), Anar. "Lerik rayonu". Azərbaycan Respublikasının Dövlət Statistika Komitəsi (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 2020-10-08. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
5. "Azerbaijan". www.azerbaijan.az. Retrieved 2019-05-05.

External links

• Lerik at GEOnet Names Server
• World Gazetteer: Azerbaijan^{[dead link]} – World-Gazetteer.com