Azerbaijan Districts

Azerbaijan sits where the Greater Caucasus drops to the Kura lowlands and the Caspian Sea, with Russia and Georgia to the north and west, Armenia and Iran to the south, and Nakhchivan cut off from the rest of the country by Armenian land. The country is divided into districts (rayons) and into cities with the rank of a district, and together they cover the whole of it, Nakhchivan included.

The quiz: Name to place, on the map
Grouped by: The 14 economic regions, in force since July 2021
In the game: 78 district or cities

Start

What you are looking at

The districts and the cities that stand apart from them, drawn inside the borders Azerbaijan is recognised to have, with the districts of Karabakh and East Zangezur among them. Where a city and the district around it share a name they are two answers: Shaki, Lankaran, Yevlakh and Shusha each appear once as the district and once as the city, written "City" for the small one. The other cities, such as Baku, Ganja and Sumqayit, are written plainly.

The groups are the 14 economic regions the state has planned and reported on since a decree of 7 July 2021, which replaced the ten it had before. They run in blocks of neighbours, so a region is a good way to learn the map a piece at a time. Aghdara is part of the Karabakh region but has no polygon of its own in the boundaries the game draws.

How to place one

Start on the coast. The Absheron peninsula points into the Caspian with Baku at its tip, Sumqayit just north of it, and Guba, Khachmaz and Qusar running up the shore to Russia.
Follow the Greater Caucasus. Zaqatala, Balakan, Qakh, Shaki, Oghuz and Qabala sit along the northern edge, with Ismayilli and Shamakhi below them.
Cross the Kura lowlands. The flat middle of the country is a grid of mid-sized districts, from Agdash and Kurdamir down to Salyan and Neftchala at the river's mouth.
Climb to the west and the south. Ganja, Gadabay and Tovuz lie against Georgia and Armenia, and Lankaran, Lerik and Astara fill the south east corner against Iran.
Do Nakhchivan last. It is a separate block in the lower left, and its seven districts and city are a small quiz of their own.

Every district, by group

Baku1 district: Baku
Absheron-Khizi3 districts: Absheron, Khizi, Sumqayit
Guba-Khachmaz5 districts: Khachmaz, Quba, Qusar, Shabran, Siyazan
Shaki-Zagatala7 districts: Balakan, Oghuz, Qabala, Qakh, Shaki, Shaki City, Zaqatala
Mountainous Shirvan4 districts: Agsu, Gobustan, Ismayilli, Shamakhi
Central Aran8 districts: Agdash, Goychay, Kurdamir, Mingachevir, Ujar, Yevlakh, Yevlakh City, Zardab
Mil-Mughan4 districts: Beylagan, Imishli, Saatly, Sabirabad
Shirvan-Salyan5 districts: Bilasuvar, Hajigabul, Neftchala, Salyan, Shirvan
Lankaran-Astara7 districts: Astara, Jalilabad, Lankaran, Lankaran City, Lerik, Masally, Yardymli
East Zangezur5 districts: Jabrayil, Kalbajar, Lachin, Qubadli, Zangilan
Karabakh10 districts: Agdam, Aghjabadi, Barda, Fuzuli, Khankendi, Khojaly, Khojavend, Shusha, Shusha City, Tartar
Ganja-Dashkasan6 districts: Dashkasan, Ganja, Goranboy, Goygol, Naftalan, Samukh
Gazakh-Tovuz5 districts: Agstafa, Gadabay, Qazakh, Shamkir, Tovuz
Nakhchivan8 districts: Babek, Julfa, Kangarli, Nakhchivan, Ordubad, Sadarak, Shahbuz, Sharur

Worked examples

Absheron

The peninsula

Absheron is the district that wraps round Baku to the west and north, so the capital, on the tip of the peninsula, is the answer inside its curve. Sumqayit, the small city on the coast, touches nothing but Absheron.

Kalbajar

The largest

Kalbajar is the biggest district on the map, a block of high ground in the west that reaches from the Georgian and Armenian borders towards the Kura valley.

Nakhchivan

The exclave

Nakhchivan, the city, is a speck in the middle of the exclave, and the only district it touches is Babek, which surrounds it on the other sides.

Frequently asked questions

How many districts does Azerbaijan have?

The state counts 66 districts and a number of cities with a district's rank. The game draws all of them, which is why it has more answers than the 66.