Gədəbəy

Gadabay (Azerbaijani: Gədəbəy, Armenian: Գետաբեկ, romanized: Getabek) is a city and the administrative center of the Gadabay District of Azerbaijan. The distance between Gadabay and Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, is 444 km. The population of the city consists of 9,161 people according to the 2010 census.[2]

Gadabay
Gədəbəy
City & Municipality
Gadabay
Coordinates: 40°33′56″N 45°48′58″E
Country Azerbaijan
DistrictGadabay
Elevation
1,467 m (4,813 ft)
Population
 (2010)[1]
 • Total9,161
Time zoneUTC+4 (AZT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+5 (AZT)
Area code(s)+994 232

Etymology

According to Azerbaijani folklore, the name Gədəbəy comes from the name of a person named Gədəbəy, who settled in the region. In the Middle Ages, some of these lands were distributed among the father and sons: Atabey, Shekerbey, and Gədəbəy. There are currently villages in called Atabey and Shekerbey in Azerbaijan. According to another myth, the name is formed from the words "ket", "gedik" (hill) and "bek" (guard, guardian) in the Turkic languages.

However, it is the consensus view that the ancient name of Gadabay is Getabak.[3] The 13th-century Armenian historian Vardan Areveltsi mentions the toponym in the form Getabaks.[3] According to the hypothesis of the German scientist G. Hubschman, the toponym comes from the Armenian գետ (get), meaning river, and բակ (bak), meaning yard.[3] The name thus means river yard in Armenian and has since become known by a corrupted form, Gadabay.

History

Armenian sources suggest that the settlement had a significant Armenian minority or even plurality; ultimately, not much census information prior to Soviet times is available.[4] According to the 1989 census, about 5000 people lived in Gadabay. It received its city status in the same year.[5]

In the middle of the nineteenth century, copper ore deposits were discovered in the region and a copper plant was built by local entrepreneurs in 1855–1856. Later this plant was purchased by the German company Siemens and rebuilt in 1865. The Galakend copper plant was built by Siemens in 1883 and 1879. The Trans-Caucasus gas pipeline of 28 km was constructed between Gadabay-Galakend. There were 4 locomotives and 33 wagons on this railroad. In 1883, the first hydroelectric power plant was built in the village of Galakend in the territory of Tsarist Russia and copper was melted by electrolysis in Galakend copper plant.[5]

An orthodox church, build by Georgian monk Ilarion Jashi (ილარიონ ჯაში) in Gadabay (then Kedabek), together with a chapel in Slavyanka village, served as a christian center of the Georgian Exarchate of the Russian Church during the XIX c.[6]

Geography and climate

Gadabay lies at the northern foot of the Shahdagh Range, at an altitude of 1460 meters, on the coast of the Mis River. The city is located in the middle and high mountainous areas of the Lesser Caucasus (also called Little Caucasus). The air temperature in July is ranging from +10 C to +20 C, and in January to -2 C to -10 C.

Notable Natives

References
  1. The state statistical committee of the Azerbaijan Republic
  2. "WESTERN ROUTE: BAKU - HAJIGABUL - KURDEMIR - YEVLAKH - TERTER - NAFTALAN - GANJA - GOYGOL - DASHKESEN - SHEMKIR - GEDEBEY - TOVUZ - AGSTAFA - GAZAKH".
  3. H. Hübschmann (1904). Die Altarmenischen Ortsnamen. Mit Beiträgen zur historischen Topographie Armeniens und einer Karte. Verlag von Karl J. Trübner. p. 418.
  4. "Northern Artsakh". www.raa-am.org. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  5. "Gadabay". Archived from the original on 2013-09-07.
  6. Duxovnii Vestniki Gruzinskago Ekzarxata, Tiflis, 1899, N18, p. 2
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