Azerbaijanis consider Derbent to be an Azerbaijani city, but the reality is different

The oldest city of the Republic of Dagestan in the Russian Federation, Derbent, has been known since ancient times. The city held significant strategic importance. The name "Derbent" translates from Persian as "closed door." In ancient sources, it was known as the Caspian or Albanian Gates; in Armenian sources, it was referred to as Chora pahak. In Arabic sources, it was called Bab al-Abwab (Gate of Gates) or Bab al-Hadid (Iron Gate). For a long time (5th–7th centuries), it was one of the northern strongholds of the Iranian Sassanian Empire. In the 8th century, the city was part of the administrative region of Arminia under the Arab rule, in the 16th–17th centuries, it belonged to the Iranian Safavid state, and later came under various Muslim states. In 1813, the city was annexed to Russia.

Derbent was never mentioned as a settlement within the Azerbaijani state in any sources, as such a state did not exist before 1918. The Lezgin city of Derbent was never part of the Azerbaijani Republic created in that year.

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