Ganja, Azerbaijan

For the city in Tajikistan, see Panj.

Ganja IPA: [gæn'ʤæ] (Azerbaijani: Gəncə, Persian: گنجه/Ganj-ja) is Azerbaijan's second largest city.

The city, first mentioned in Armenian early medieval sources, was most likely founded in the 5th century AD by Armenians; it is is known among them as Gandzak (Գանձակ).^[1] To explain the etymology of "Ganja", people refer either to the Armenian word gandz (գանձ: treasure, riches), Persian word ganj (گنج: "treasure, treasury", of Persian origin), or to the genç ("young"), which is of either Kurdish or Turkic origin.

Historically an important city of Iran (Persia), Ganja is also the birthplace of the famous classical Persian poet Nizami. People of Ganja experienced cultural decline after an earthquake in 1139 and the Mongol invasion in 1231. The city was revived after the Safavids came to power. For a short period of time, Ganja was renamed Abbasabad by Shah Abbas I.^[2] In 1747, Ganja became the capital of the independent Ganja Khanate. In October 1813, the Gulistan Treaty transferred the city to the Russians after Persia's defeat in the Persia-Russia wars. It was renamed Elizavetpol after the wife of Alexander I of Russia, Elizabeth.

In 1918, Ganja became the temporary capital of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (which renamed it Ganja again), until Baku was recaptured from the British backed Centro Caspian Dictatorship. In 1920, the Red Army conquered Azerbaijan and in 1935 Joseph Stalin renamed the city Kirovabad after Sergei Kirov. In 1991, Azerbaijan became independent, and the ancient name of the city was re-established.

Today Ganja is the second largest city in Azerbaijan. ^{[citation needed]} The population is about 500,000. ^{[citation needed]} It has an airport, and is home to the Nizami Mausoleum, built in 1991.

Ganja is home to four major institutes of post-secondary education.

• Ganja State University
• Azerbaijan State Agricultural Academy
• Azerbaijan Technological University
• Azerbaijan Teachers Institute, Ganja Branch
• Azerbaijan teachers Institute

Ganja is known for its famous people:

• Kirakos Gandzaketsi - Կիրակոս Գանձակեցի, 1201-1271, author of the History of Armenia
• Mkhitar Gosh - Մխիթար Գոշ, c. 1130–1213, author of Armenia's Code of Laws
• Grigor Paron-Ter - Գրիգոր Պարոն Տեր, 1560-1645, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem
• Mahsati Ganjavi
• Nizami Ganjavi
• Javad Khan
• Mirza Shafi Vazeh
• Mirza Topchubashov
• Israfil Mammadov
• Fikrat Amirov
• Nigar Rafibeyli

• Iranica article on Ganja
• Ganja - The memories of stones
• Ganja Automobile Factory
• Ganja at the Azerbaijan Development Gateway
• Historical Monuments of Ganja
• Article about the last days of the Armenian community of Gandzak/Ganja

Template:Azerbaijan