CC BY
13UDC 911.3
STUDY OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF LEZGINS POPULATING IN THE
REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN
HUSEYNOVA BAYIMKHANIM ALIRZA
Doctoral student of the Institute of Geography named after H.A.Aliyev, Baku, Azerbaijan
Annotation. The article presents the demographic situation of Lezgin, one of the minority ethnic groups living in Azerbaijan. The main goal of the research work is to look into the changes in the dynamics and other demographic indicators of the Lezgins and their causes. The database of the research work is based on field studies and statistical materials. As a result of the conducted research, it was found that there was a serious change in the demographic indicators of the Lezgins, this change manifested itself mainly in the lower age groups. So, due to population mobility and other factors, the share of those in the lower age group decreased slightly over the research period. This affected other demographic indicators as well.
Keywords: Azerbaijan, ethnic minority, Lezgins, demographic indicators.
Introduction. Azerbaijan is among the countries distinguished by the diversity of its ethnic composition. There are almost 20 ethnic and national minorities living within the territory of the republic. One of them is the Lezgins. The Lezgins are one of the 10 Caucasian-speaking minority ethnic groups settling in Azerbaijan. The Lezgins are considered to be one of the peoples who historically lived in the territory of Azerbaijan [1, p.34]. It is even believed that the Lezgins are descendants of the "Leg" tribes, one of the tribes that constituted Ancient Caucasian Albania. However, since the northern and northwestern borders of the country are subject to change from time to time, it is difficult to determine within which borders of Azerbaijan the Lezgins live. Although the Lezgins, which are the ancient dwellers of the Caucasus region, are considered autochthonous peoples of the Guba-Khachmaz economic region of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the migration of the Lezgins to other territories of Azerbaijan, including the territory of the Shaki-Zagatala economic region, coincides with the later years, that is, the beginning of the 19th century. The migration of the Lezgins, who are mainly engaged in cattle breeding, to these areas was mainly related to the acquisition of new grazing areas [3, p.49]. According to Javadov, at the end of the 19th century, there were 5 Lezgin villages in the Nukha district (part of the Sheki-Zagatala economic region) namely Filfili, Kusnet, Laza, Chodurja, and Shin [4, p.247]. Currently, Lezgins are settled mainly in the Shaki-Zagatala, Guba-Khachmaz, and Daghlig (Mountainous) Shirvan economic regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan. But their number is more in the Gusar, Khachmaz, Gabala, Oghuz, and Ismayilli districts [2, p.72; 4, p.247].
Lezgins have a special role in the national-ethnic composition of the population of Azerbaijan. Because the share of Lezgins among the total population ranks first right after Azerbaijanis with 2,0%. The study of the demographic characteristics of the Lezgins living in Azerbaijan is of particular importance in regulating the ethno-demographic situation of the country.
The main purpose of the research is to study the modern-day settlement area of the Lezgins, to examine their dynamics, and other demographic indicators, including the gender-age composition, the gender composition of those who are married, and so on. In order to achieve the goal of the research work, the following tasks have been set:
1. Determine the current settlement areas of the Lezgins.
2. Study the dynamics of the Lezgins and determine the factors affecting it.
2. Investigate the dynamics in the share of the gender-age composition, married people, and students and reveal the factors affecting it.
Historical, mathematical-statistical, comparative analysis and field research methods were used during the research work. The methodological base of the study is based on fond and statistical
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materials. In this respect, G.J. Javadov (2000), Z.N. Eminov (2005), Sh.M. Muradov (2013), B.A.Huseynova (2021, 2022) and others' scientific works are substantial sources.
Research result. The first large-scale study of the ethnic composition of the population in the Republic of Azerbaijan is related to the census held in 1897 in the territory of the USSR. However, in that year, the national-ethnic composition of the population was not related to the population's affiliation, but according to the mother tongue. For this reason, significant differences were recorded between the figures. In 1897, it was indicated that more than 60 thousand Lezgins lived in the territory of the country. About 21,000 of them spoke in Avar, more than 13,000 in Dargin, 7,000 in Udi, and 9,000 the in Lak dialect. In 1926, the number of Lezgis was 37,263. However, in 1939, this number increased again to 111,666 people. This was mainly due to the fact that the main part of the Avars living in Balakan, and the part of the Tsakhurs living in Zagatala and Gakh districts were registered as Lezgin in that year. Although in 1959 the number of Lezgins decreased below 100 thousand people, starting from 1970 this number increased continuously (Figure 1) [5, p.78].
According to the 1999 census materials, 178,000 people, or 2,2% of the country's population, and in 2009, these figures were 180,000 people, or 2,0%, respectively. Despite the increase in the total number of Lezgins in the country, their share saw a slight decrease [6; 7].
200000 180000 160000 140000 120000 100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0
Figure 1. The dynamics of the Lezgins in Azerbaijan from 1926-2009
Note: Since the 2019 census materials have not been published, the latest materials are given for 2009.
If we look at the changes in the sex-age pyramid of Lezgins in 1999-2009, the share of women in the 0-19 age group decreased by 3,9%, and the share of men decreased by 3,3%. In the next age group, the share of women saw a 1,1% fall, while this figure for men increased by 0,8%. However, in the 40-59 age group, the share of both sexes rose. Thus, this increase was 4,8% for men and 4,6% for women. However, the percentage of those aged 60 and over experienced a decline for both sexes (Figure 2). The decrease in the share of young people among the general population was mainly owing to the rapid migration processes and the mixing of the population with Azerbaijanis. In such a situation, the share of those in the 40-59 age group increased, which is due to the immigration of people who reach a certain age and the decrease in the share of young people in the total population.
180300
37263
1897 1926 1939 1959 1970 1979 1989 1999 2009
40
Females
5.5 6.3
13.3
8.5
15.7
16.8
16 19.9 0-19 20,5 17,2
30 20 10
1999 2009
Males
60+ 40-59 20-39
5 4,1
7,7 12,3
15,2
I
16
10 20 30 1999 2009
40
0
0
Figure 2. The changes in the share of the sex-age composition of the Lezgins in 19992009
Note: Since the 2019 census materials have not been published, the latest materials are given for 2009.
If we look at the change in the number of married people by gender-age composition, the ratio of early marriages decreased as a positive demographic phenomenon, but this decline was not serious. Thus, the percentage of women in the 0-19 age group decreased by 0,1% to 1%, and the share of men decreased by 0,2% to 0. As a result of population mobility and the change in the way of thinking among young people about getting married, the share of married women in the 20-39 age group fell by 5,2%, and the share of men by 4,1%. However, due to the descend in the proportion of young people in the 40-59 age group, the share of married people of both sexes increased, and this indicator was 6,7% and 7,5% for women and men, respectively. Among those 60 and over, the share of both sexes decreased due to the increase in widowhood (Figure 3).
Females Males
4.8 6.2 21.9 15.2
22.6 27.8
1 1.1
60 40 20 0
1999 2009 1999 2009
Figure 3. The changes in the share of married Lezgins by sex-age composition from
1999-2009
Note: Since the 2019 census materials have not been published, the latest materials are given for 2009.
The alterations in the number of population and other demographic indicators affected the number of students. The ratio of girls studying at educational institutions in the 6-19 age group dropped by 2,2%, while the percentage of boys diminished by 0,1%. This was due to the decrease in the share of young people, the decrease in the number of marriages, and other factors. On a positive note, the share of women studying at educational institutions in the 20-39 age group underwent 1,0% growth, whereas
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60+ 9,7 7 40-59 16,5 24
20-39 22,8 18,7
0-19 0,2,__0
0 20 40 60
this figure was more than that of the former seeing a 1,2% rise. This was at the expense of young people who pursued their education. Interestingly, the share of educated women aged 40 and over increased from 0% to 0,1% (Figure 4).
Females
0.1 —0 2.2 —1.2
45.9 48.1
150 120 90 60 30 0
1999 2009
Males
40+ 0 0 20-39 11,6 2,8 6--19
49,1 49
0 30 60 90 120 150
1999 2009
Figure 4. The changes in the share of Lezgins studying in educational institutions by sex-age
composition from 1999-2009
Note: Since the 2019 census materials have not been published, the latest materials are given for 2009.
Table 1. Dynamics of distribution of householc s by Lezgins
1999 2009
The number of households 31443 32632
including,
1 member 1930 2120
2 members 2525 2729
3 members 3406 3793
4 members 6104 7945
5 members 7130 7068
6 and more members 10348 8977
An average number of households 4,8 4,6
Note: Since the 2019 census materials have not been published, the latest materials are given for 2009.
Turning to the variance in the number of households among Lezgins, in 1999-2009, the number of households in general increased, but a change was recorded in the number of families with different numbers of members. Thus, although the number of families with 1, 2, 3, and 4 members increased, the number of families with more members saw a decline. This was also related to the replacement of complex families with simple families. Generally, the average number of households decreased by 0,2% (Table 1).
Conclusion. Until the years of independence, the total number of Lezgis increased, but in some years there was a sharp fluctuation in their number. This was also related to the registration of a part of Avars and Tsakhurs as Lezgin in 1939. In the censuses conducted during the years of independence (1999-2009), although there was a rise in the total number of Lezgins, their share among the total population diminished by 0,2%;
Although there are no significant differences in the gender composition of the Lezgins, the ratio of those in the lower age group declined, and the percentage of those in the 40-59 age group surged again;
As a positive demographic phenomenon, the percentage of early marriages dwindled from 1999-2009. Due to the mobility of the population, the proportion of those in the 20-39 age group fell as well. On the contrary, this percentage increased in the 40-59 age group;
The decrease in other demographic indicators of the population led to a decrease in the number of students in lower age groups. The share of both women and men studying in the 20-39 age group soared because of a decrease in the share of those pursuing their education and those studying in the lower age group;
As for households, extended families were replaced by nuclear families.
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