Nakhchivan (Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic)
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The city's official Azerbaijani spelling is "Nakhchivan" (Naxçıvan). The name is transliterated from Persian as Nakhjavan. The city's name is transliterated from Russian as Nakhichevan' (Нахичевань) and from Armenian as Nakhijevan.
The city was first mentioned in Ptolemy's Geography as Naxuana (Ναξουὰνα, Naxuana). The older form of the name is Naxčawan (Նախճաւան). According to philologist Heinrich Hübschmann, the name was originally borne by the city and later given to the surrounding region. Hübschmann believed the name to be composed of Naxič or Naxuč (probably a personal name) and awan, an Armenian word (ultimately of Iranian origin) meaning "place, town".
In the Armenian tradition, the name of the city is connected with the Biblical narrative of Noah's Ark and interpreted as meaning "place of the first descent" or "first resting place" (as if deriving from նախ and իջեւան) due to it being regarded as the site where Noah descended and settled after the landing of the Ark on nearby Mount Ararat. It was probably under the influence of this tradition that the name changed in Armenian from the older Naxčawan to Naxijewan. Although this is a folk etymology, William Whiston believed Nakhchivan/Nakhijevan to be the Apobatērion ("place of descent") mentioned by the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in connection with Noah's Ark, which would make the tradition connecting the name with the Biblical figure Noah very old, predating Armenia's conversion to Christianity in the early fourth century.
Map - Nakhchivan (Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic)
Map
Country - Azerbaijan
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| Flag of Azerbaijan | |
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in 1918 and became the first secular democratic Muslim-majority state. In 1920, the country was incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Azerbaijan SSR. The modern Republic of Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1991, shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the same year. In September 1991, the ethnic Armenian majority of the Nagorno-Karabakh region formed the self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh. The region and seven surrounding districts are internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan pending a solution to the status of the Nagorno-Karabakh through negotiations facilitated by the OSCE, although became de facto independent with the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994. Following the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, the seven districts and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh were returned to Azerbaijani control.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| AZN | Azerbaijani manat | ₼ | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| HY | Armenian language |
| AZ | Azerbaijani language |
| RU | Russian language |