Nakhchivan

Nakhchivan's valleys have been settled since prehistory: the Gamigaya rock carvings in the Ordubad mountains and Bronze Age sites along the Aras valley are among its earliest remains. Local tradition links the land with Noah — one popular story interprets the name as "place of the first descent" — and Nakhchivan city keeps a mausoleum said to be his.

The medieval high point came in the 12th century, when Nakhchivan was a capital of the Eldiguzid atabegs, who ruled much of the region under the Seljuks. Their architect Ajami Nakhchivani built the Yusuf ibn Kuseyir mausoleum in 1162 and the Momine Khatun mausoleum in 1186 for the mother of the ruler Jahan Pahlavan. Mongols, Timurids — whose armies besieged Alinja for years — Safavids and Ottomans followed. In the 18th century a local khanate formed, and Russia took it in 1828 under the Treaty of Turkmenchay.

The years 1918–21 brought war between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, with outside powers also involved; the Treaty of Kars of 1921 made Nakhchivan an autonomous territory under Azerbaijan. In the Soviet era its once-large Armenian minority dwindled, and the medieval Armenian cemetery at Julfa, with its carved cross-stones, was destroyed between the late 1990s and 2006, according to satellite images and international observers; Azerbaijan denies this.

Heydar Aliyev, born in Nakhchivan, led the exclave in 1991–93 before returning to power in Baku. Since the war of the early 1990s its rail and road links through Armenia have been cut; a transit route across southern Armenia was agreed in principle in 2025 but has not yet opened.

Nakhchivan's population is almost entirely Azerbaijani, and its isolation has bred a strong local identity: Nakhchivanis are known across the country for their loyalty to the Aliyev family, which comes from here, and for a disciplined, orderly public life. The exclave is tidier and more tightly controlled than the mainland, and political dissent is rare in public.

Turkey's influence is felt everywhere, from trade goods and television to the bridge over the Aras at Sadarak that links the two countries. Shia Islam predominates, and religious observance is somewhat more visible than in Baku.

Culture centres on poetry, carpets and music: Nakhchivan carpets belong to the Tabriz–Nakhchivan weaving school, the region has produced a long line of writers and scholars, and mugham and ashiq minstrel music are heard at weddings. Novruz is celebrated with bonfires, and hospitality follows the national pattern of tea, sweets and an insistent host.

About 450,000 people live in the autonomous republic, with around 90,000 in Nakhchivan city, a neat capital of rebuilt boulevards, parks and government buildings. Ordubad, Julfa, Sharur and Shahbuz are the other towns.

The economy is agriculture — grain, fruit, vegetables, livestock and silk in the Ordubad area — together with salt, mineral water from springs such as Badamli and Sirab, construction and a large public sector. Trade runs mostly through Turkey and Iran, since the land route to Baku is closed, which makes many goods more expensive and ties families to flights and the long road through Iran.

Daily routines are quiet: markets in the morning, tea houses in the afternoon, and early nights. Emigration to Baku, Turkey and Russia is common among the young, and many hope that reopened transit routes will end the exclave's long isolation.

Nakhchivan's cooking follows the Azerbaijani table, with a strong link to Iranian Azerbaijan across the Aras. Lamb dominates: bozbash soup with chickpeas, kebabs grilled over vine wood and dolma of vine or cabbage leaves are staples, and flatbread is baked in clay tandir ovens in village yards.

The dry valleys produce excellent fruit. Apricots, mulberries, grapes, quinces and pomegranates are eaten fresh or dried for winter, and dried apricots and mulberries are sold by the sackful in the markets; Ordubad is known for its many varieties of grapes. Sheep's cheese and yoghurt are made in the mountain villages.

The local mineral waters, Badamli and Sirab, are drunk across Azerbaijan, and tea, strong and black with jam, closes every meal.

Nakhchivan city holds the finest medieval monuments: the Momine Khatun mausoleum, a tall tomb tower covered in brick patterns and Kufic inscriptions, and nearby the smaller Yusuf ibn Kuseyir mausoleum by the same architect. Noah's Mausoleum, the khan's palace and a string of museums complete the city. A short drive away, the Duzdag salt cave, an old salt mine, houses a physiotherapy treatment centre.

Southeast of the city in Julfa district, Alinja fortress crowns a steep rocky summit; the climb to its ruins is hard but rewarding, with views over the Aras valley. Ilandag, the notched peak associated with Noah's Ark, rises near the road towards Julfa.

Further east, Ordubad keeps its old quarters, Friday mosque and shaded streets, with the Gamigaya rock carvings in the mountains of the district. In the north, Shahbuz district has the Batabat lakes on the high pastures, and the mountains along the Armenian border rise to Gapıjıq, the highest peak of the exclave.