There are several public holidays in Azerbaijan. Public holidays were regulated in the constitution of the Azerbaijan SSR for the first time on 19 May 1921. They are now regulated by the Constitution of Azerbaijan.[1]
There are several public holidays in Azerbaijan. Public holidays were regulated in the constitution of the Azerbaijan SSR for the first time on 19 May 1921. They are now regulated by the Constitution of Azerbaijan.[1]
| Date | English name | Azerbaijani name | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2 January | New Year's Day | Yeni il | 2 days |
| 20 January | Martyrs' Day | Qara Yanvar | Commemorates Black January (1990) when Soviet troops entered Baku and killed more than 130 civilians.[2] |
| 8 March | Women's Day | Qadınlar günü | 1 day |
| 20–24 March | Spring Festival | Novruz | 5 days |
| 9 May | Victory Day over Fascism | Faşizm üzərinə qələbə günü | In honor of victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany during World War II. |
| 28 May | Independence Day | Müstəqillik Günü | Founding of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan (1918). |
| 15 June | National Salvation Day | Azərbaycan xalqının Milli Qurtuluş günü | Parliament invited Heydar Aliyev to Baku to lead the country (1993). |
| 26 June | Azerbaijan Armed Forces Day | Azərbaycan Respublikasının Silahlı Qüvvələri günü | Commemorates the founding of the Azerbaijani National Army on this day in 1918. |
| 8 November | Victory Day | Zəfər Günü | Commemorates the Azerbaijani victory in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war as well as in the Battle of Shusha. It is a non-working day. |
| 9 November | State Flag Day | Dövlət Bayrağı günü | Commemorates the adoption of the Flag of Azerbaijan on November 9, 1918,[3] which was officially established on November 9, 2009, as the State Flag Day.[4] |
| 31 December | International Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis | Dünya Azərbaycanlılarının Həmrəyliyi günü | Inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall, the nationalist Popular Front of Azerbaijan called for and lead the removal of borders between Soviet Azerbaijan and Iran on December 31, 1989. This has since been celebrated by Azeris around the world as the International Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis.[5] |
| Changes due to the Islamic lunar calendar | Eid al-Fitr | Ramazan Bayramı | 2 days |
| Changes due to the Islamic lunar calendar | Eid al-Adha | Qurban Bayramı | 2 days |
National days in Azerbaijan that are working days follows:
Only the holidays of Ramadan and Qurban remain as non-working religious days in Azerbaijan, as the country is highly secular and irreligious.[9][10] The religious population of the country, mainly in Nardaran and a number of other villages and regions, celebrate the Day of Ashura, a Shia mourning day in the Islamic calendar. Religious minorities of the country – mainly Orthodox Christians and Jews - also celebrate notable religious days of their faith.[11] Despite the fact that the holiday Novruz takes its roots from the religion of Zoroastrianism, almost all Azerbaijanis celebrate it as a holiday of spring.
