Vayk
Vayk () is a town and the centre of the Vayk Municipality of the Vayots Dzor Province of Armenia. As per the 2016 official estimate, Vayk had a population of around 4,700. However, as of the 2011 census, the population of the town was 5,877, down from 6,024 reported in the 2001 census. Etymology Literally meaning "sorrows", the name Vayk is derived from the Vayots Dzor canton of the historic Armenian province of Syunik. History Historically, the area of Vayk belongs to the Vayots Dzor canton of Syunik province; the 9th province of Armenia Major, ruled by the Siunia dynasty. At the beginning of the 16th century, Eastern Armenia fell under the Safavid Persian rule. The territory of modern-day Vayk became part of the Erivan Beglarbegi and later the Erivan Khanate. The period between the 16th and 17th centuries is considered to be the darkest period in the history of Vayots Dzor. The region was turned into a frequent battlefield between the invading troops of the Turkic and Iranian tribes. As a result, many significant monuments and prosperous villages were destroyed and the population was displaced. In 1747, the region became part of the newly-formed Nakhichevan Khanate. As a result of the Treaty of Turkmenchay signed between the Russian Empire and Persia in 1828 following the Russo-Persian War of 1826–28, many territories of Eastern Armenia -including Vayots Dzor- became part of the Russian Empire. In 1828-30, many Armenian families from the Iranian towns of Salmas and Khoy were resettled in Eastern Armenia, particularly in the areas that later became part of the Erivan Governorate in 1840. The first wave of Armenian settlers arrived in the Vayots Dzor region in 1828-29, forming the small rural community of Soylan in the area of modern-day Vayk. In 1870, it became part of the newly-founded Sharur-Daralagezsky Uyezd of Erivan Governorate. After the short-lived independence of Armenia between 1918 and 1920, the region became one of the main centres of the resistance against the Soviet rule, becoming part of the unrecognized Republic of Mountainous Armenia under the leadership of Garegin Nzhdeh. After falling to the Bolsheviks in July 1921, Soylan became part of the Armenian SSR. In 1931, it became the centre of the newly formed Azizbekov raion. In 1956, Soylan was given the status of an urban-type settlement and renamed Azizbekov in honor of the Bolshevik revolutionary Meshadi Azizbekov. In 1973, a branch of the Jermuk Mineral Water Factory was opened in Azizbekov. Shortly before the independence of Armenia, Azizbekov was renamed Vayk on 23 November 1990. Later in 1995, Vayk was given the status of a town within the Vayots Dzor Province as per the newly-adopted administrative reforms. The economy of the town has gradually declined in the post-independence period, and the Vayk branch of the Jermuk Water Factory was closed. Geography Vayk is located at a road distance of 140km south of the capital Yerevan on way to Goris. The provincial centre Yeghegnadzor is at road distance of 20km southeast of Vayk.