Population of Karabakh, East Zangezur exceeds 70,000

More than 70,000 people are living in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh and East Zangazur economic regions as of early January this year, the State Statistical Committee has said.

The Committee said 26,014 people returned to their native homes under the Great Return state program, Caliber.Az writes.

“The total number of people residing in the liberated territories amounted to 73,514,” the State Statistical Committee said.

For the record, the Great Return initiative aims to resettle formerly internally displaced persons (IDPs) — displaced during the 1990s conflict — back to territories regained following the 2020 Second Karabakh War and subsequent developments. The first phase targets resettling around 140,000 IDPs across approximately 100 rebuilt settlements by the end of 2026, with a second phase planned for 2026–2040 to achieve full restoration and integration.

By Khagan Isayev