October 4 is celebrated as Jabrayil City Day.
Sea-news.az reports Jabrayil City Day was established by a decree signed by President Ilham Aliyev on July 31, 2023. This notable day is tied to the date of the liberation of Jabrayil city from the occupation of Armenian armed forces. This year marks the sixth anniversary of the city’s liberation from occupation.
Jabrayil district was occupied by Armenian armed forces on August 23, 1993. Prior to the occupation, 52,604 people resided in the district, which comprised one city, four settlements, and 92 villages. During the years of occupation, internally displaced persons from Jabrayil were settled across nearly 2,000 locations in 58 districts of Azerbaijan, including tent camps, freight railcars, and dormitories.
On January 5, 1994, during the Horadiz operation, the village of Jojuq Marjanli in the Jabrayil district was liberated. During the April battles of 2016, a counter-offensive by the Azerbaijani Army led to the liberation of the Lalatapa height, placing Jojuq Marjanli under full Azerbaijani control.
On October 4, 2020, during the Patriotic War, President and Victorious Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev announced in an address to the nation the liberation of Jabrayil city and nine additional villages in the district.
During the Second Karabakh War, the Azerbaijani Army liberated one city and 90 villages in the Jabrayil district. The liberation of Jabrayil partially restored control over the Azerbaijan-Iran state border.
Six days after Azerbaijan’s victory in the Patriotic War—on November 16, 2020—President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva visited the liberated Jabrayil district.
On September 26, 2024, in accordance with the instructions of President Ilham Aliyev, the first migration caravan was dispatched from the Garadagh district of Baku to the newly rebuilt city of Jabrayil as part of the First State Program on the Great Return. The relocated families had previously been temporarily housed in dormitories, sanatoriums, pioneer camps, unfinished structures, and administrative buildings in various regions of the republic.
To date, the settlement of 117 families—comprising 364 people—has been secured in the city of Jabrayil.
Jabrayil district was formed on August 8, 1930. Although it was abolished and merged into the Fuzuli district on January 4, 1963, it regained its status as an independent district on June 17, 1964.
Jabrayil is located in the southeastern part of the Lesser Caucasus mountains, encompassing the Gayan plain and the Karabakh ridge. To the south, the district borders the Islamic Republic of Iran along the Araz River. Covering an area of 1,049 square kilometers, its topography is predominantly mountainous.
By a decree signed by President Ilham Aliyev on July 7, 2021, the Jabrayil district was incorporated into the Eastern Zangezur Economic Region.
