The Shemakha uezd was a county (uezd) within the Baku Governorate of the Russian Empire, and then of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and Azerbaijan SSR until its formal abolishment in 1929. The county was located in central part of the Baku Governorate, bordering the Javad uezd to the south, Baku uezd to the east, Geokchay uezd to the west and Kuba uezd to the north. The administrative centre of the county was the city of Shemakha (present-day Shamakhi).

Administrative divisions

The prefectures (участки, uchastki) of the Shemakha uezd in 1917 were as follow:

Name	Administrative centre	1912 population	Area
Abdulyanskiy prefecture (Абдульянский участок)	Chernovodsk	28,814	2,055.28 square versts (2,339.04 km; 903.11 sq mi)
Kabristanskiy prefecture (Кабристанский участок)	Marazy (Gobustan)	45,726	3,121.22 square versts (3,552.14 km; 1,371.49 sq mi)
Koshunskiy prefecture (Кошунский участок)	Shemakha (Shamakhi)	53,734	1,449.49 square versts (1,649.61 km; 636.92 sq mi)

History

The county was established in 1840 and was initially made part of the Caspian Oblast, and later became the capital of the Shemakha Governorate in 1846. But due to an earthquake in 1859, the city and most of the county suffered great damage. Subsequently, capital of the Shemakha Governorate was moved from Shemakha to Baku and the governorate was renamed Baku Governorate.

Demographics

Russian Empire Census

According to the Russian Empire Census, the Shemakha uezd had a population of 121,842 on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 64,732 men and 57,110 women. The majority of the population indicated Tatar to be their mother tongue, with significant Armenian, Russian, and Tat speaking minorities.

Linguistic composition of the Shemakha uezd in 1897

Language	Native speakers	%
Tatar	89,840	73.73
Armenian	14,283	11.72
Russian	11,275	9.25
Tat	4,517	3.71
Jewish	1,104	0.91
Persian	149	0.12
Lithuanian	143	0.12
Avar-Andean	126	0.10
Polish	101	0.08
Ukrainian	86	0.07
Kyurin	73	0.06
Kazi-Kumukh	62	0.05
Georgian	49	0.04
German	13	0.01
Turkish	9	0.01
Mordovian	2	0.00
Belarusian	1	0.00
Greek	1	0.00
Other	8	0.01
TOTAL	121,842	100.00

Kavkazskiy kalendar

According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Shemakha uezd had a population of 161,552 on 14 January [O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 86,659 men and 74,893 women, 159,621 of whom were the permanent population, and 1,931 were temporary residents:

Nationality	Urban		Rural		TOTAL
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Sunni Muslims	8,605	31.01	68,569	51.25	77,174	47.77
Shia Muslims	12,522	45.12	28,010	20.93	40,532	25.09
Armenians	4,534	16.34	17,816	13.32	22,350	13.83
Russians	1,737	6.26	17,656	13.20	19,393	12.00
Jews	136	0.49	1,305	0.98	1,441	0.89
North Caucasians	214	0.77	303	0.23	517	0.32
Asiatic Christians	0	0.00	139	0.10	139	0.09
Other Europeans	4	0.01	2	0.00	6	0.00
TOTAL	27,752	100.00	133,800	100.00	161,552	100.00

Soviet census (1926)

In 1926, the population of the county declined to 91,185.

See also

• Shirvan Khanate