Air quality comparison · Azerbaijan, 279 km apart
Ganja vs Sumgayit Air quality index (AQI) today
Sumgayit has cleaner air than Ganja right now: AQI 55 (Moderate) against 87 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Ganja averaged AQI 25 against 27, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days. Sumgayit has lost more forest since 2001. Sumgayit has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Ganja87Sumgayit55
Head to head
Ganja vs Sumgayit at a glance
Sumgayit is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Ganja on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Ganja | Sumgayit | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 87 | 55 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 31 | 12.4 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 25 (better) | 27 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1 ha (better) | 34 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 9.9% | 15.5% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 63.1K | 42.9K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Ganja and Sumgayit right now?
Sumgayit has cleaner air than Ganja right now: AQI 55 (Moderate) against 87 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Ganja's PM2.5 is about 2.1× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
GanjaSumgayit
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).
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.
Sumgayit: Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 45 km, e.g. Khirdalan and Baku. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 45 km, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Ganja averaged AQI 25 against 27, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 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
- Ganja4Sumgayit2
- Average AQI
- Ganja25Sumgayit27
- Worst day, AQI
- Ganja45Sumgayit50
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Ganja | Sumgayit |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 28 | 50 |
| Nov 6 | 19 | 21 |
| Nov 7 | 29 | 40 |
| Nov 8 | 11 | 22 |
| Nov 9 | 17 | 8 |
| Nov 10 | 45 | 18 |
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 Ganja and Sumgayit 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 Ganja and Sumgayit compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Ganja's air is cleaner than 28% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Sumgayit's is cleaner than 54%. Within Azerbaijan, that is 0% and 100% of its 7 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Ganja
- Beats 28%
- Sumgayit
- Beats 54%
More tree cover than…
- Ganja
- Beats 21%
- Sumgayit
- Beats 36%
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, Ganja or Sumgayit?
Sumgayit has lost more: about 34 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1 ha around Ganja. 28 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: 2010, with under 1 ha lost.
Worst year: 2002, with 11 ha lost.
| Ganja | Sumgayit | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1 ha (better) | 34 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | under 1% (better) | 6.4% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | under 1 ha (better) | 28 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (45%) | Towns and roads (69%) |
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.
Ganja
2018: satellite photo from July 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Sumgayit
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Ganja or Sumgayit?
Sumgayit has more tree cover: 15.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.9% around Ganja, or about 45,870 trees against 31,102.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Ganja | Sumgayit | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 31.1K | 45.9K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 63.1K | 42.9K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 684K kg | 1.0M 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
Ganja vs Sumgayit: your questions answered
Is Sumgayit cleaner than Ganja?
On air quality, yes, right now: Sumgayit reads AQI 55 against 87, a gap of 32 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Ganja averaged AQI 25 against 27, and it was the cleaner of the two on 4 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Ganja and Sumgayit today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Ganja reads AQI 87 and Sumgayit reads AQI 55.
Which has lost more forest, Ganja or Sumgayit?
Sumgayit has lost more: about 34 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1 ha around Ganja. 28 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Ganja or Sumgayit?
Sumgayit has more tree cover: 15.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.9% around Ganja, or about 45,870 trees against 31,102. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Ganja and Sumgayit need?
Ganja needs about 63,146 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Sumgayit about 42,911 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Ganja and Sumgayit 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. Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Ganja vs Sumgayit 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 14, 2026 and Sep 11, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
Keep going
Compare them with somewhere else
Build your own
Compare Ganja with somewhere else
This place
Ganja