Nagorno-Karabakh, Region (pop., 2006 est.: 137,743), southwestern Azerbaijan. It occupies an area of the northeastern flank of the Karabakh Range. The region was formerly part of Iran but was annexed by Russia in 1813. In 1923 it was established as an autonomous province of the Azerbaijan S.S.R., with an area of about 1,700 sq mi (4,400 sq km). In 1988 the region’s Armenian majority demonstrated against Azerbaijanian rule, and in 1991 (after the breakup of the Soviet Union) war broke out between the two ethnic groups. Since the mid-1990s it has been controlled by ethnic Armenians, though officially it remains part of Azerbaijan; the area controlled is about 2,700 sq mi (7,000 sq km).
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