ABOUT
MINGECHEVIR
The construction of the Mingechevir reservoir and hydroelectric power station was completed in 1953. The hydroelectric power station’s soil dam, whose total capacity is 15,6bn cubic meters of water, is one of the highest dams in Europe that was constructed through sprinkling. The length of the reservoir is 70 km, width from 3 to 18 km, deepest point about 75 meters and total area 605 square km.
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A view of the reservoir |
A view of the hydroelectric power station |
Apart from the River Kur, the reservoir feeds two channels – the 172-km-long Upper Qarabag Channel and the 123-km-long Upper Sirvan Channel. These channels are used to irrigate 1m hectare of area in the steppes of Mil, Mugan and Sirvan. The Varvara reservoir and the Varvara hydroelectric power station are in 20km east from the Mingechevir reservoir on the River Kur. The volume of the Varvara hydroelectric power station’s energy blocks is 16 MW.
A great number of people came to Mingechevir from all districts in Azerbaijan in connection with the construction of the Mingechevir hydroelectric power station, and a total of 20,000 people took part in the construction of this power station. About 10,000 German POWs were among those who contributed to the construction of this power station by the end of the 1940s. The most experienced specialists of the country were involved in the construction of this building site as the biggest hydroelectric power station of the then Soviet Union.
Today’s Mingechevir, which was built in connection with the hydroelectric power station, was granted a status of town in 1948. The population of the town currently stands at 120,000 people, including 20,000 internally displaced people from Karabakh and the occupied adjacent districts. The area of the town is 139.53 square km. Mingechevir is situated 55 meter above sea level on the foothill of the southeast of the Bozdag Mountain chain and on the edge of the Mingechevir reservoir in the Kur-Araz lowland in central Azerbaijan. The town was built in a mild and warm zone and has warm and dry summer, while mild winter. The average annual temperature is +14-15C, highest temperature +42C (July-August) and the lowest temperature (January-February) -10C. The average annual rain constitutes 250-300 mm.
The town lies on both banks of the River Kur - a 1515-km-long river, which is the biggest and longest one in the South Caucasus. (The river originates from Turkey, runs down Georgia and Azerbaijan and flows to the Caspian Sea.) Mingechevir is situated in 280-300 km west of the capital of the republic, Baku.
A view of the town
Mingechevir has been developing speedily over the last 54 years, since it has been established. Mingechevir, which is currently considered to be the fourth town of the country both for its economic potential and the number of population, is one of the central towns of the republic in terms of energy, industry, science, education and culture.
The number of able-bodied people in Mingechevir is 53,000, while the number of people actually involved in labor is 16,000. The number of people engaged in small-sized businesses stands at 4,000 people.