The highest village in Azerbaijan, Khinalug, is also vying for another title. It turns out that in this settlement, located in the Guba region at an altitude of 2100 to 2200 meters above sea level by the Kudialchai River, there are almost no eligible brides. Local young men lament that there is no one to marry. There are no young women left in the village, and those they find appealing do not want to live so high in the mountains.
As local elder Shabanov Yusif told Minval.az, there are about 40 unmarried men in the village, but no one wants to marry them. Girls from other villages are unwilling to live in Khinalug.
“Seeing this, the men have started to abduct brides from other villages (laughs). In the past year, they have already taken three or four girls. But the young men marry not only girls from our area; they also bring them in from other regions,” says the elderly interlocutor.
The local girls no longer want to live in such harsh conditions. It is warm in the mountains for only five months, and even then only during the day. Heating in Khinalug is a real problem. It should be noted that many houses in Khinalug still lack gas, hot water, and internet access. They also have no firewood to heat their stoves. All summer, locals collect dung from animals and dry it everywhere. They build entire walls from the dried bricks, which can reach two meters or more in height. This laborious task falls to both women and men. For the residents of Khinalug, a lack of dung reserves in such challenging mountain conditions means only one thing: death from hunger and cold. However, women are tired of living this way when a better life is possible. Civilization has not yet reached these areas. As a result, they prefer to marry men from the district center or at least move to lower-lying villages, where the weather is milder and life is easier.
“Last year, we had eight weddings, whereas in the past we had at least 30 couples marry each year,” laments a local resident.
Today, Khinalug is mainly inhabited by older generations. With each passing year, fewer and fewer young people remain. Not only the girls leave, but the men are also departing in search of work.
Local resident Gulnara khanum, who appears to be around 50 years old, married off her son and daughter. Her son, daughter-in-law, and one-year-old granddaughter live with her, while her daughter has moved to the city of Guba. Life in the mountains is challenging. Recently, the State Tourism Agency renovated their home and gifted them furniture to encourage residents to stay. Soon, a toilet will be added on the first floor, previously used as a barn. For many, the toilet is still situated over a sheer cliff, serving as a makeshift solution in the absence of sewage systems—an extreme bathroom setup.
Another local resident shared that their men try to protect their few women from the attention of persistent tourists. Although the village is renowned for its hospitality and tourists are invited into every home, it is typically the men who greet and see off guests. They serve guests at the table and, in the evenings, host real feasts, treating them to local homemade spirits. The women, especially the younger ones, try to avoid being seen by outsiders.
Zarina Orudjalieva
