Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic
Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (Azerbaijani: Naxchivan Muxtar Respublika) is an autonomous republic within Azerbaijan.
Nakhchivan is surrounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and has a short border with Türkiye to the northwest. This border region is called Dilucu by Türkiye, and the road connecting Türkiye and Nakhchivan passes through the Hasret Bridge built on the Aras River in Dilucu.
Geographically, Nakhchivan, which is bordered by the Zangezur Mountains in the north and the Aras River in the south and constitutes approximately 6.3% of Azerbaijan, has a surface area of 5,502.73 km². In Nakhchivan, whose land structure is mountainous, the ratio of plains to the total land is 20% and the ratio of forests is around 2%. A large part of the plains are suitable for agriculture. The country has rich mineral water, soda and salt resources.
Nakhchivan, which is affiliated with Azerbaijan but has no physical connection with this country, is the only piece of land among the Turkish states that has a land border with Türkiye. There is a 17 km border between Türkiye and Nakhchivan. The distance between Nakhchivan city center and Türkiye's Iğdır city is 160 km, and the two cities are connected to each other by road. Transportation and commercial relations between the two countries are carried out through Dilucu Border Gate.
There is a Julfa border gate for land and railway with Iran in the city of Julfa. The road and railway remaining from the Soviet period, connecting Nakhchivan to Azerbaijan via Armenia, have not been used since the early 1990s.
How to Get to Nakhchivan?
There are direct flights to Nakhchivan from Turkey with Turkish Airlines (https://www.turkishairlines.com). Those who prefer to travel by plane can go from Istanbul to Baku and then go to Nakhchivan. You can also go to Van or Iğdır from Izmir, Istanbul, Ankara by plane and then go to Nakhchivan by road. As for road transportation, it is possible to take a bus from Istanbul, Ankara or Izmir to Iğdır and then go to Nakhchivan.