There is one city of Balakən and 59 villages in the rayon. According to the 2018 census, Balakan rayon has 97,600 residents, out of which 14,900 (15%) live in urban and 82,700 (85%) live in rural areas. Men make up 49.6%, women – 50.4% of the population. The population density is 95.7 people per 1 km2. In 2010, there were 1,238 newborns and 510 deaths in rayon. The ethnic composition of the rayon is very rich. Representatives of 27 ethnicities live in Balakan rayon. The largest group, Azeris make up 88.4% of the population (61,170 people living throughout the region), Avars – 18,4% (25,370 people living mainly in Qabaqçöl, Mahamalar and Mazımçay villages), Ingiloys (Muslim Georgians) – 2.4% (2,145 people living mainly in İtitala village) and other ethnicities such as Georgians (23 residents), Lezgins (223 residents), Russians (138 residents), Laks (23 residents), Persians (226 residents), Tatars (27 residents), Tsakhurs (13 residents), Turks (11 residents), Ukrainians (6 residents), Armenians (3 residents) and Talysh (1 resident) – 1.49%. Population According to the State Statistics Committee, as of 2018, the population of city recorded 97,600 persons, which increased by 13,100 persons (about 15.5 percent) from 84,500 persons in 2000. 48,400 of total population are men, 49,200 are women. More than 26 percent of the population (about 25,700 persons) consists of young people and teenagers aged 14–29. Language The majority of the population speak the Azerbaijan language with a minority of Avar and Georgian speakers. Recreation and tourism Festivals As the district is contributing mostly to the persimmon production in Azerbaijan, Balakan started to host annual Hazelnut Festival since 2017. The festival is organized annually in October–November when the most delicious persimmon grows. In the festival, different varieties of persimmon, culinary products and different compositions made of persimmon are displayed. It also features a field trip to the persimmon garden in the Gerekli village and planting persimmon trees. References Districts of Azerbaijan