Baku - Demographics

Demographics

Year	Azeris	%	Russians	%	Armenians	%	Jews	%	Others	%	Total
1886	37,530	43.3	21,390	24.7	24,490	28.3	391	0.5	2,810	3.2	86,611
1897	40,341	36	37,399	33.4	19,099	17.1	3,369	3	11,696	10.5	111,904
1926	118,737	26.2	167,373	36.9	76,656	16.9	19,589	4.3	70,978	15.7	453,333
1939	215,482	27.4	343,064	43.6	118,650	15.1	31,050	3.9	79,377	10.1	787,623
1959	211,372	32.9	223,242	34.7	137,111	21.3	24,057	3.7	56,725	8.7	652,507
1970	586,052	46.3	351,090	27.7	207,464	16.4	29,716	2.3	88,193	6.9	1,262,515
1979	530,556	52.4	229,873	22.7	167,226	16.5	22,916	2.3	62,865	6.2	1,013,436
1999	1,574,252	88	119,371	6.7	378	0.02	5,164	0.3	89,689	5	1,788,854
2009	1,848,107	90.3	108,525	5.3	104	0	6,056	0.6	83,023	4.1	2,045,815

Until 1988 Baku had very large Russian, Armenian, and Jewish populations which contributed to cultural diversity and added in various ways (music, literature, architecture and progressive outlook) to Baku's history. With the onset of the Karabakh War and the pogrom against Armenians starting in January 1990, the city's large Armenian population was expelled. Under Communism, the Soviets took over the majority of Jewish property in Baku and Kuba. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev has returned several synagogues and a Jewish college nationalized by the Soviets to the Jewish community. He has encouraged the restoration of these buildings and is well liked by the Jews of Azerbaijan. Renovation has begun on seven of the original 11 synagogues, including the Gilah synagogue, built in 1896, and the large Kruei Synagogue.