Ganja, Azerbaijan

Capital City

The population of Ganja stands at around 331,400 residents, making it Azerbaijan's second-largest city. However, this once-historic cultural center has seen its fair share of conflict and upheaval over the centuries. The city's long history has left it with a heavy bureaucratic burden, and winters can be bitterly cold with frequent blizzards. While the city has undergone reconstruction in recent decades, the legacy of violence lingers - in 2020, Ganja suffered bombardment during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, resulting in civilian casualties. Overall, Ganja offers little to entice the casual expat, and those seeking a quieter life would do better to look elsewhere in Azerbaijan.