Air quality comparison · Azerbaijan, 300 km apart
Baku vs Ganja Air quality index (AQI) today
Baku has cleaner air than Ganja right now: AQI 66 (Moderate) against 83 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Baku averaged AQI 24 against 25, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 of those days. Baku has lost more forest since 2001. Ganja has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Baku66Ganja83
Head to head
Baku vs Ganja at a glance
Baku is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Ganja on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Baku | Ganja | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 66 (better) | 83 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 16.9 (better) | 28.7 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 24 (better) | 25 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 96 ha | 1 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 2.4% | 9.9% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 58.5K (better) | 63.1K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Baku and Ganja right now?
Baku has cleaner air than Ganja right now: AQI 66 (Moderate) against 83 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Baku's PM2.5 is about 1.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Ganja's PM2.5 is about 1.9× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Baku is read from a nearby ground station and Ganja is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
BakuGanja
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Baku: Ground station · Baku, 4.3 km away. Data: OpenAQ · AirNow.
Ganja: Estimate · model corrected with 4 station cities within 225 km, e.g. Hrazdan and Rustavi. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 4 ground-station cities within 225 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Baku averaged AQI 24 against 25, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Baku3Ganja3
- Average AQI
- Baku24Ganja25
- Worst day, AQI
- Baku51Ganja45
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Baku | Ganja |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 51 | 28 |
| Nov 6 | 16 | 19 |
| Nov 7 | 40 | 29 |
| Nov 8 | 18 | 11 |
| Nov 9 | 6 | 17 |
| Nov 10 | 15 | 45 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Baku and Ganja today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Baku and Ganja compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Baku's air is cleaner than 41% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Ganja's is cleaner than 29%. Within Azerbaijan, that is 33% and 0% of its 7 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Baku
- Beats 41%
- Ganja
- Beats 29%
More tree cover than…
- Baku
- Beats 5%
- Ganja
- Beats 21%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Baku or Ganja?
Baku has lost more: about 96 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1 ha around Ganja. 89 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2008, with 27 ha lost.
Worst year: 2010, with under 1 ha lost.
| Baku | Ganja | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 96 ha | 1 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 15% | under 1% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 89 ha | under 1 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (92%) | Farms, pasture and plantations (45%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Baku
2018: satellite photo from August 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Ganja
2018: satellite photo from July 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Baku or Ganja?
Ganja has more tree cover: 9.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 2.4% around Baku, or about 31,102 trees against 5,089.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Baku | Ganja | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 5.1K | 31.1K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 58.5K (better) | 63.1K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 112K kg | 684K kg (better) |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Baku vs Ganja: your questions answered
Is Baku cleaner than Ganja?
On air quality, yes, right now: Baku reads AQI 66 against 83, a gap of 17 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Baku averaged AQI 24 against 25, and it was the cleaner of the two on 3 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Baku and Ganja today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Baku reads AQI 66 and Ganja reads AQI 83.
Which has lost more forest, Baku or Ganja?
Baku has lost more: about 96 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1 ha around Ganja. 89 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Baku or Ganja?
Ganja has more tree cover: 9.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 2.4% around Baku, or about 31,102 trees against 5,089. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Baku and Ganja need?
Baku needs about 58,528 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Ganja about 63,146 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Baku and Ganja measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Baku is read from a nearby ground station and Ganja is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Baku vs Ganja comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 11, 2026 and Sep 14, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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