THE DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES OF POPULATION IN THE GUBA-KHACHMAZ ECONOMIC REGION OF THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN

The purpose of the research. The aim of the preparation of the article is to determine the contemporary situation of settlement in the Guba-Khachmaz economic region located in the northern part of the Azerbaijan and the primary directions of perspective development Methods. In the article, the role of natural-geographical condition and socio-economic factors creating a condition for the enhancement of settlement in the Guba-Khachmaz economic region, and their usage opportunities were examined. The analysis was implemented through the historical study of area, comparative analysis, statistic and cartographic. In the preparation of the article the annual reports and census materials about country's population were investigated, and the rural areas were compartmentalized as their population. Results. The economic region is located in the southern part of the country, in the northeastern slopes of the Greater Caucasus. The total area of the region is 6,96 thousand km2, the population is 554,7 thousand people, and there are 5 administrative districts in the region including Khachmaz, Guba, Gusar, Shabran and Siyazan. The urban settlements play a pivotal role in the effective territorial organisation of the population, the regulation and the management of their settlements, the effective usage of the labour resources in the region. To decrease the incompatibility in the improvement of the rural places, it is fairly substantial to create a condition for the higher advancement of small and middle-sized cities. It is required to take measures to improve the territorial organisation within the state. One of the important issues is to be developed the supporting foundation of the settlement. They provide a development opportunity for the socioeconomic base in the mountainous regions, especially where the rural settlements are many. Owing to the predominance of the mountainous relief in the Guba-Khachmaz economic regions, the natural-geographical condition interferes with the embarking on the areas. For this reason, there are several small-sized rural settlements. In 2009, there were 62 rural settlements with a population of up to 100 people, and in total, there were 2925 people in these villages. The villages with a 100-200 and 200-500 population play an essential role in the region and most of the villages are constituted by them. 42,4% of villages are included in these groups and 18,1% of the rural population live in these villages. With positive calculation, there are 58,5 thousand people in the 201 villages. They fall to share of Guba and Khachmaz districts. The number of villages with 500-1000 people and 1000-2000 people are quite many. Despite in the first group there 109 villages with a population of 74,8 thousand, in the second group, there are 74 villages with a population of 98,7 thousand. The latter is the first on the list as the percentage of the population (30,6%). There are 4 villages in each group which have 3000-5000 people and 5000 and more people. The villages are the foundation of the settlement. Scientific novelties. The main results of the reconstruction of the socio-economic base of settlements in the region during the period of economic reforms, the ways of sustainable demographic development of cities and villages were identified. Practical significance. As a result of the analysis, the directions of improving the economic structure in the economic region, their importance in the socio-demographic development of settlements were determined. These results can be used to determine the future development of the region.