East Zangezur Economic Region
{{Short description|Economic region of Azerbaijan}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = East Zangezur Economic Region
| type = Economic region
| official_name =
| native_name = {{native name|az|Şərqi Zəngəzur iqtisadi rayonu}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = Azerbaijan
| image_map = East Zangezur Economic Region.svg
| map_caption = East Zangezur Economic Region in Azerbaijan
| established_title = Established
| established_date = 7 July 2021
| area_total_km2 = 7448
| population_total = 343,500
| population_as_of = 2021
| population_density_km2 = auto
|blank_name_sec2 = HDI (2022)
|blank_info_sec2 = 0.706{{Cite web|title=Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab|url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/AZE/?levels=1%2B4&interpolation=1&extrapolation=0&nearest_real=0&years=2022|access-date=|website=hdi.globaldatalab.org|language=en}}
{{color|#0c0|high}} · 9th
}}
The East Zangezur Economic Region ({{langx|az|Şərqi Zəngəzur iqtisadi rayonu}}) is one of the 14 economic regions of Azerbaijan. It borders Iran to the south and Armenia to the west, as well as the economic regions of Karabakh, and Ganja-Dashkasan. The region consists of the districts of Kalbajar, Lachin, Qubadli, Zangilan, and Jabrayil.{{cite web |title=New economic regions of Azerbaijan – LIST |url=https://report.az/en/domestic-politics/new-economic-regions-of-azerbaijan-list/ |website=Report News Agency |date=7 July 2021 |access-date=24 April 2022 }} It has an area of {{convert|7,448|km2|sqmi}}. Its population (the refugees and IDPs living outside the economic region in Azerbaijan) was estimated to be at 343.5 thousand people in January 2021.
History
East Zangezur Economic Region was established on 7 July 2021 as part of a reform of the economic region system of Azerbaijan. Its territory mostly corresponded to the Kalbajar-Lachin Economic Region before 2021, which included the districts of all of its current districts, except Jabrayil.{{cite web |title=Azərbaycan Respublikasında iqtisadi rayonların yeni bölgüsü haqqında Azərbaycan Respublikası Prezidentinin Fərmanı |url=https://president.az/articles/52389 |website=president.az |language=az}}
According to researcher Laurence Broers, the region's new name, East Zangezur, is motivated by Azerbaijani irredentism; it borders Armenia's Syunik province, implying that there is a "Western Zangezur"—that is, Syunik itself.{{Cite web |last=Broers |first=Laurence |date=5 August 2021 |title=Augmented Azerbaijan? The return of Azerbaijani irredentism |url=https://eurasianet.org/perspectives-augmented-azerbaijan-the-return-of-azerbaijani-irredentism |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221117050734/https://eurasianet.org/perspectives-augmented-azerbaijan-the-return-of-azerbaijani-irredentism |archive-date=17 November 2022 |access-date=16 May 2022 |website=Eurasianet}} A few days after the Eastern Zangezur Economic region was created, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev announced in a speech: "Western Zangezur is our ancestral land … we must return there, and we will return."
References
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{{coord|39|39|33.6|N|46|28|21.8|E|display=title}}
{{Economic Regions of Azerbaijan}}