The migration of Iranian workers to the South Caucasus and Living conditions at the beginning of the 20th century

The economic growth in the South Caucasus led to the emergence of new industries such as oil, cement, mining, construction, textile, etc. A significant manifestation of this development was the extraction and industrial exploitation of Baku oil wells on a large scale. These new industries created a greater need for labor in the Caucasus region, which the local workforce could not meet. However, seasonal unemployment in the agricultural society of Iran, particularly Azerbaijan, and the proximity of this state to the Caucasus, provided new job opportunities for farmers and workers in the Caucasus.This study aims to answer the question of what life was like for Iranian workers in the Caucasus and how comfortable they were. Based on statistics and information obtained from archival documents of Russia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, this article concludes that Iranian workers played a critical role in the agriculture, oil, and communication industries of the Caucasus during this period. However, they earned very little income and lived in a deplorable state of well-being. Most of these workers were uneducated and unmarried, and due to the exhausting nature of their work, the rate of illness and death among them was very high.