Sheki is one of the most ancient cities of Azerbaijan. It is mentioned as Shaki, Sheka, Shakki and others in a number of medieval sources.

Sheki has been called Nukha for a long time. One of the ancient authors Ptolemy cited the settlement Niga among other Albanian cities. A. Bakikhanov wrote that Nukha is the same Nakhy and Naghy city judging from its location and it was considered one of the ancient cities of Shirvan. A.Y. Krymski also agreed on the version that Niga is the ancestor of Nukha.

Yet, there were a number of opponents to the said version in the early 19th century. Academician V. Dorn considered that Niga was a city that located between Liberia and Alazan and that it can not be confused with Nukha. The connection between the word Nukha and the Niga settlement, famous since ancient times, is quite a disputable issue.

The word Sheki originates from the name of the Saxon tribes that wandered from the north side of the Black Sea through Derbend passage and to the South Caucasus and from there to the Asia Minor in the 7th century B.C. They occupied the best lands in the South Caucasus and called the area Sakasena. Sheki was one of the areas occupied by Saxons.

Sheki was one of the biggest cities of Alban states in the 1 century. The temple of ancient Albania was located there. In its administrative division the Caucasus Albania was composed 11 provinces. One of them was Sheki province that located in the northwest of Albania. Sheki had been one of the important political and economic cities before the Arabian invasion. As the result of the Arabian invasion Sheki was annexed to the third emirate arranged by Arabians on the territory of the country. An independent principality was established in Sheki in times of the weakened Arabian caliphate.

After the collapse of the Hulakis in the first half of the 14th century, Sheki gained independence immediately after the state of Shirvanshahs, and the Orlat dynasty came into power.

Shah Tahmasib put an end to the independence of Sheki in 1551 and annexed it to the Sefevi state.

Sheki khanate that established in 1743 was the strongest feudal state among the khanates of Azerbaijan.

As a result of the flood in the river Kish Sheki was in fact completely ruined, the part of the city population died, others were resettled to other places and some of them settled on the area of the present-day city.

Sheki khanate became the vassal of Russia in accordance with the Kurekchay contract of 1805. The area was fully annexed to Russia by the peace agreement of Gulistan in 1813. The khan ruling system of Sheki was abolished in 1819 and Sheki province was established instead.

Sheki gaza was established within the Caspian province in 1840. The gaza was included into the Shamakhy province in 1846 and it was called Nukha.

The Tsarist government divided the city into two quarters (Sheki and Gyshlag) for the better regulation of the city in the second half of the 19th century. At that period the area of Gyshlag was not united with the city. The tower, its surrounding, trade and industrial enterprises were considered the center of the city and divided into two parts: the upper or trade parts and the lower part. The parts around the city were Yukharybash, Gendjelibashy and Nukha-Gyshlag. The Yukharybash was established from the tower to the east in the late 18-early 19th centuries.

Due to the expansion of Sheki, the tsarist government created two more administrative quarters in the city and the city thus was divided not into two parts but into four parts in 1860-1865. The first quarter included the tower and its surroundings, the second part comprised the city suburbs and its population was mainly engaged in agriculture. The third quarter included the tannery. It comprised other art spheres, including dying. The documents do not provide any information on the fourth quarter. It is evident that the quarter comprised the head street occupied by merchants and art workers and its surroundings.

Nukha was included into Baku province in 1859 and Yelizavetpol province in 1868.

The Soviet government was established in Sheki on May 5, 1920. A number of alterations were introduced into the administrative area of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1930 and the Nukh region was created. The region was abolished on January 4, 1963. It was transferred to the Vartashen region and Nukha city was created within the country. Independent region of Nukha was restored in 1965 and it was called Sheki in 1968.

Sheki is located at a height of 500-850 meters above sea level. The height of the snowy peaks of the Major Caucasus reaches 3000-3500 meters in some places. The residuals of the Jurassic, Cretaceous period in the mountains and the Neogenic and Anthropogenic remnants are found on the foothills. The annual volume of sunny hours is 2350 hours. The summer months account for 40% of the sunny hours. Through a year the volume of solar radiation is 122 kcal per a square cm.

The climate of the city is influenced with cyclones and anticyclones and different air masses and local type winds. The arctic and temperate air masses entering the area in the winters cause the warm weather in the city. The mountain winds form in the city in summers. That is due to the difference in the pressure between the mountains and valleys. The Major Caucasus prevent the cold winds from entering the territory from the North. Therefore, the average temperature in winter totals 0.5 C in January. The average annual temperature equals 12 C in Sheki. It hesitates between 20-25 C in July and August.

The strong winds (the speed exceeding 15 M/cm) are seldom observed in the region, the annual number of windy days totals just 10-12 days. The disastrous weather with the wind blowing at least 1 meters in a second is often observed in Sheki. The annual volume of precipitation is 730 mm with May, June, September and October accounting for the most part of it. The precipitation is the lowest in August (35 mm), January (29 mm) and February (36 mm). The precipitation totals 775 mm in the village Kish and over 1000 mm in the Khan plateau. The region is characterized with the floods, storms, hail and other natural disasters.

The flood is often observed in Sheki. The basin of the Kish River originating near in the west part of the city is one of the areas with the strongest floods in the world. As the cone of the river Kish in the place called Guruchay are covered with sand, stones and mud accumulated from the mountains, its central part is relatively higher than that of the Dodu quarter.

Storms and hails are interrelated with each other. The strong heating and evaporation in the mountains in summer are one of the major components of hails in Sheki. The biggest hailstones in the world were registered in Sheki in 1850. The event was reflected in a magazine of the Ministry of Internal Affairs issued in Tbilisi. The magazine stated that the hailstones 10 kg in weight broke the reed of 7 layers. The annual number of the hail days totals 1.4 that is 14 times in 10 years.

The mountains around the city and at a height of 500-850 meters above sea level prevent the heating of the city. The mountain forests protect the city from floods and beautify the view

Due to the richness of recreational establishments, the city differs from other regions of Azerbaijan. The resort and service centers as well as tourist bases established near Markhal, Soyugbulag, Gelersen-Gorersen tower increase the recreation capacities of the city.

The mountain meadow, brown mountain forest, meadow-forest, gray brown soils are spread in the city. The oaks, beech-tree and hornbeam dominate the forests. The animal kingdom is characterized with its variety.

The Kish and Gurchana rivers are the major rivers of Sheki. The branch of the river Ayrinchay, the full water Kish extends to 33 kilometers and covers an area of 265 square kilometers. It originates from the south slope of the Major Caucasus at a height of 2900 meters. It is one of the rivers with the strongest floods of Transcaucasia. It is called the Damarchyn in its upper flow.