Sumgait is a city in Azerbaijan, located near the Caspian Sea, on the Absheron Peninsula, about 31 kilometres away from the capital Baku. The city had a population of 422,600 at the 2019 Census, making it the second largest city in Azerbaijan after Baku. The city has a territory of 83 square kilometres. It was founded as a suburb of Baku in 1944 and received city status on 22 November 1949, growing into a major industrial center during the Soviet period.