What were the territorial borders of the former Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?

The territories disputed by the parties are designated as the territorial borders of the conflict, and separately, determining these borders is very important in preventing any possible mushrooming of political and judicial problems.[1] The existence of uncertainty about the borders could result in a deadlock in the negotiations, and a settlement of the conflict will be a lengthy process. One of the reasons it took so long to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was uncertainty over the disputed territories, resulting from the fact that the parties to the conflict identified the nature of the dispute differently.

When the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began, Armenia claimed that the NKAO should secede from Azerbaijan and be unified with Armenia. In the first stage of the conflict, the disputed territory was restricted only to the NKAO, founded in 1923 during the early years of the Soviet Union. According to statistics for 1989, 75% of the population of NKAO were Armenians, and 25% were Azerbaijanis.[2] While consisting of four districts, the NKAO had a total area of 4,400 km2, and the dispute arose over these territories, which can be identified as the initial borders of the conflict.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh entered its military phase, which continued until the ceasefire agreement of 1944 between the parties. As a result of the war, Armenia not only took control of the former NKAO, but it also occupied surrounding territories belonging to Azerbaijan, where the entire population was Azerbaijanis. Consequently, as a result of the First Karabakh War, Armenia occupied 20 percent territory of Azerbaijan and up to one million people were forced to flee their homes and move to other parts of Azerbaijan. The territories occupied as a result of Armenia’s aggression during the First Karabakh War were as follows:

  • The Nagorno-Karabakh region, the territory of the former NKAO that was abolished in 1991 by Azerbaijan;
  • Seven regions of Azerbaijan surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh: Lachin, Kalbajar, Agdam, Fuzuli, Jabrayil, Gubatli, and Zangilan;
  • The territories of Gazakh, Agstafa, Tovuz, and Gadabay, are located at the border with Armenia;
  • Territories in 4 regions at the border of the Line of Contact: Tartar, Goranboy, Aghjabadi, and Beylagan;
  • Territories of the administrative regions of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, a landlocked enclave of Azerbaijan surrounded by Armenia, Iran, and Turkey.[3]

In the early days of the dispute, Armenia explained that it had intervened in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to protect the security of ethnic Armenians and their right to self-determination. However, after it occupied the surrounding territories, Armenia tried to justify its aggression because it needed to ensure a lifeline and a “security belt” (or “security zone”) for the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.[4] While Armenia initially called these seven occupied districts of Azerbaijan a ”security belt,” officials and public intellectuals referred to them as “liberated territories” or “historic Armenian lands” that should never be returned to Azerbaijan.[5] Later, the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic claimed all occupied Azerbaijani territories as part of its national integrity and identified them as “controlled territories,”[6] which may be considered one of the main factors of the Second Karabakh War of 2020.

Regardless of the differing opinions of the parties to the conflict, the negotiation processes carried out between the disputants were over the territories of the former NKAO, including surrounding territories of it that belonged to Azerbaijan but were occupied by Armenia. All these territories of Azerbaijan should be identified as the borders of the former Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.


[1] Дмитриев, А. В., Конфликтология (Гардарики, 2000), p. 57.

[2] Human Rights Watch, Azerbaijan: Seven years of conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, pp. xx.

[3] “USAN Factsheet on the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan”.

[4] International Crises Group, “Nagorno-Karabakh: Risking War”.

[5] International Crises Group, “Armenia and Azerbaijan: Preventing War”.

[6] “Controlled Territories,” Office of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in Washington D.C.; http://www.nkrusa.org/nk_conflict/controlled_territories.shtml. Accessed on December 4, 2022.