Skip to content
History & culture

Jewish Baku today

Mountain, Ashkenazi and Georgian Jews live in Baku, each community with its own synagogue and traditions.

Updated: 16 September 2026

Pale stone facade of the Mountain Jews Synagogue in Baku, with a Star of David above the tall entrance
Mountain Jews Synagogue in Baku, 2013. Photo: Urek Meniashvili, CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab), Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab)

Estimates of the community’s size differ: JDC cites about 7,000, the World Jewish Congress about 7,200 and the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress about 22,000 (undated). We show every estimate with its source rather than picking one.

Besides the synagogues, the city has a Jewish day school, welfare programmes for elderly people and youth initiatives. During the Second World War Azerbaijan took in tens of thousands of Jewish refugees — a history recalled at annual remembrance ceremonies.

From the archive

Voices and memories

No recordings on this subject yet. If your family has memories, tell us.

Tell us about your family, your home, a holiday or your trade. We record the interview, show you the transcript and publish only what you agree to.

Write about your story

History & culture