XANKNDI

formerly Stepanakert, city, southwestern Azerbaijan. Situated at the foot of the eastern slopes of the Karabakh Range, the city was founded after the October Revolution (1917) on the site of the village of Khankendy and was renamed Stepanakert in 1923 for Stepan Shaumyan, a Baku Communist leader. After Azerbaijan gained independence the name was changed to Xankndi, though Armenians continue to call the city Stepanakert. Xankndi has a varied industrial structure and is especially important for food processing, wine making, and silk weaving; it produces furniture and footwear and has musical and medical schools and a museum of local culture. A branch line of the Baku-Tbilisi-Batumi rail line reaches the city. Pop. (1991 est.) 55,200.