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Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast demographics

Every documented census and post-Soviet observation, on a single shared timeline. Hover any chart point or population bar for the source-by-source breakdown.

Density 1.0× span
Demographics over time · Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast · share of population + headcount
  • Azerbaijani
  • Armenian
0%25%50%75%100%8.5kEVENTSAzerbaijaniArmenian8.5k1823189719231939195919791994200920241923event1936event1988event1989event1991atrocity ×31992massacre

All observations · 27 rows

YearGroupSharePopulationSourceNotes
1823Azerbaijani14%—Kameralnoe opisanie Karabakhskoi provintsii, 1823 (Survey of the Karabakh province)Caucasian Tatar (Azerbaijani) population of mountainous Karabakh in the 1823 survey, mostly in lower-altitude villages adjacent to the lowland districts.
1823Armenian85%—Kameralnoe opisanie Karabakhskoi provintsii, 1823 (Survey of the Karabakh province)Mountainous Karabakh (the territory of the future NKAO) on the 1823 Russian survey of the Karabakh khanate.
1897Azerbaijani4%—First General Census of the Russian Empire, 1897
1897Armenian96%—First General Census of the Russian Empire, 1897Pre-1923 mountainous Karabakh (the territory of the future NKAO).
1923Armenian94%—Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War
1923Azerbaijani6%—Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War
1926Azerbaijani10%—All-Union Soviet Census of 1926
1926Armenian89%—All-Union Soviet Census of 1926
1939Azerbaijani11%—All-Union Soviet Census of 1989
1939Armenian88%—All-Union Soviet Census of 1989
1959Azerbaijani14%—All-Union Population Census of 1959
1959Armenian84%—All-Union Soviet Census of 1989
1959Azerbaijani16%—All-Union Population Census of 1959
1959Armenian84%—All-Union Population Census of 1959
1970Armenian81%—All-Union Population Census of 1970
1970Azerbaijani18%—All-Union Population Census of 1970
1979Azerbaijani23%—Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War
1979Armenian76%—Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War
1979Armenian76%—All-Union Soviet Census of 1979
1979Azerbaijani23%—All-Union Soviet Census of 1979
1989Armenian77%—All-Union Soviet Census of 1989
1989Azerbaijani22%—All-Union Soviet Census of 1989
1994Azerbaijani1%—Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War
1994Armenian99%—Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and WarAfter the 1991-92 Azerbaijani displacement from NKAO (Operation Ring 1991, Khojaly evacuation 1992, Shusha capture 1992) the territory was effectively wholly Armenian.
2009Armenian99%—Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and WarNKR / Artsakh census figure for the de facto state.
2024Armenian0%—UNHCR registration data, displacement from Nagorno-KarabakhAfter the September 2023 evacuation, only an estimated 14 Armenians remained in the entire former NKAO territory (UNHCR October 2023).
2024Azerbaijani—8,500AzStat and government reports on resettlement of Karabakh and surrounding districts, 2021-2024Post-2023 Azerbaijani settlers placed across the former NKAO territory under the "Great Return" programme. AzStat figure; independent verification limited.