Population of Karabakh, East Zangezur reaches 62,000 people

More than 60,000 people are now living in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh and East Zangezur economic regions as of early November this year.

5,256 families have returned to their native homes under the state programme “Great Return,” Caliber.Az reports, citing the State Stat

The Committee reported that the total number of people residing in the liberated territories has reached 61.95 thousand.

Azerbaijan continues to prioritize the return of internally displaced persons to territories recovered after decades of Armenian occupation, making it a central pillar of its post-conflict recovery strategy. The “Great Return” program is designed to restore the rights of nearly 600,000 Azerbaijanis displaced during the First Karabakh War in the early 1990s.

The initiative accelerated following Azerbaijan’s military gains in the 44-day war of 2020, which reclaimed much of the occupied land, and the September 19–20, 2023 anti-terrorist operation that re-established full sovereignty over the region.

These developments opened the way for the safe resettlement of families in their ancestral areas, helping to reverse the extensive damage left by the occupation—including the destruction of villages, cultural heritage sites such as dozens of mosques, and core infrastructure.

By Jeyhun Aghazada