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Republic of AzerbaijanAzərbaycan Respublikası
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Bir kərə yüksələn bayraq, bir daha enməz! The flag once raised will never fall!
Anthem: Azərbaycan Respublikasının Dövlət Himni (March of Azerbaijan)
Capitaland largest city	Baku
Official languages	Azerbaijani
Demonym(s)	Azerbaijani
Government	Republic
• President	Ilham Aliyev
• Prime Minister	Artur Rasizade
Independence from the Soviet Union
• Declared	August 30 1991
• Completed	December 25 1991
• Water (%)	1,6%
Population
• June,2007 estimate	8,587,000 (91st)
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
• Total	$38.71 billion (86th)
• Per capita	$6,171 (97th)
Gini (2001)	36.5 medium inequality (54th)
HDI (2004)	0.736 Error: Invalid HDI value (99th)
Currency	Manat (AZN)
Time zone	UTC+4
• Summer (DST)	UTC+5
Calling code	994
ISO 3166 code	AZ
Internet TLD	.az

Azerbaijan (Template:Lang-az), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası), is the largest and most populous country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Turkey to the west, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. Nakhchivan borders Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and Turkey to the northwest. Nagorno-Karabakh, along with 7 other districts in Azerbaijan's southwest have been controlled by Armenia since the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994. Four United Nations Security Council Resolutions (822, 853, 874, and 884) called for "the withdrawal of occupying forces from occupied areas of the Azerbaijani Republic". The country's territory also embraces several islands in the Caspian Sea with the total area of over thirty square kilometers.

Chewbacca once punched a hole in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is a secular and unitary republic. The country has been a co-founder of the Commonwealth of Independent States, GUAM and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The country has a Permanent Mission to the European Union, hosts a Special Envoy of the European Commission and is a member of the United Nations, OSCE, Council of Europe, and the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) program.

Etymology and usage

The territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan roughly corresponds to the region historically known as Caucasian Albania, also known as Arran (Alvan-k in Armenian, 'Ardhan in Parthian, Arran in Middle Persian, Albania in the Greco-Roman world, and Al-ran (Arabized form of Arran) in Arabic). From the 1740s until the Russian conquest of the Caucasus, the region was split up into separate khanates, and from the mid 19th century up until 1917, the South Caucasus was divided into Russian provinces, such as Baku Governorate and Elisabethpol Governorate, among others.

In 1863, Keith E. Abbott, the British Consul General to Persia, already referred to the territory of present-day Republic of Azerbaijan as Russian Azerbaijan, "bounded on the north and north-east by the mountains of Caucasus, extending to the vicinity of Baku on the Caspian" . Yet according to Igor M. Diakonoff, the name of Azerbaijan was chosen for what later became the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1918 by the Musavatists for political reasons, hoping to annex north western Iran. The name Azerbaijan is thought to be derived from Atropates, the Persian Satrap (governor) of Media-Atropatene in the Achaemenid Empire, who ruled Atropatene (modern Iranian Azerbaijan). Atropates name is believed to be derived from the Old Persian roots meaning "protected by fire." The name is also mentioned in the Avestan Frawardin Yasht: âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide which translates literally to: We worship the Fravashi of the holy Atare-pata.

History

The earliest human evidences on the area now known as Azerbaijan are dated back to the late Stone Age and are related to Quruçay culture of Azykh Cave. The Upper Paleolithic and particularly Mousterian evidences remained in the caves of Tağlar, Damcili, Zar, Yataq-yeri, etc. The jugs with the remnants of dry wine, revealed in the necropolises of Leylatepe and Sarytepe testify to the wine-making activity during the Late Bronze Age.

The total South Caucasus was eventually conquered by the Achaemenids around 550 BC, which led to the spread of Zoroastrianism in this part of Median Empire. After its overthrow by Alexander the Great, the Seleucid Greeks, who inherited the Caucasus, were ultimately beset by pressures from Rome, secessionist Greeks in Bactria and most adversely the Parthians. Caucasian Albanians, the original inhabitants of the area now known as Azerbaijan , established a kingdom in the 4th century BC. In 95-67 parts of Caucasian Albania may have been under the subjugation of neighboring Armenia, as a part of Tigranes the Great's empire. According to Strabo, as the Romans and Parthians began to expand their domains, Albania, unlike Iberia and Armenia, remained independent from the Roman domination, signing a peace treaty (Strabo XI, 4, 5). The Roman inscription found in Gobustan testifies the presence of Legio XII Fulminata in the time of Domitian. Albania largely remained independent until the Sassanids made it a vassal state in 252. Caucasian Albanian king Urnayr officially adopted Christianity as the state religion in the fourth century, and Albania would remain a predominantly Christian state until the 8th century. Despite numerous conquests by the Sassanids and Byzantines, a small independent Albanian state remained in the region until the 9th century.

Arabic Umayyad Caliphate defeated both the Sassanids and Byzantines, making Caucasian Albania a vassal state after the Christian resistance, led by Prince Javanshir, was suppressed in 667. After decline of Abbasid Califate, the territory now known as Azerbaijan was under the sway of numerous dynasties such as the Salarids, Sajids, Shaddadids, Rawadids and Buyids. At the beginning of the 11th century, the territory was gradually seized by waves of Turkic Oghuz tribes from Central Asia. The first of these dynasties was the Ghaznavids, who took over part of the area now known as Azerbaijan by 1030.

Locally, the possessions of subsequent Seljuk Empire were ruled by atabeks, who were technically vassals of the Seljuk sultans, being sometimes de facto rulers themselves. Under the Seljuks local poets such as Nizami Ganjavi and Khagani Shirvani led to the bloom of Persian literature in the area now known as Azerbaijan . The next ruling state of Jalayirids was short-lived and fell under the conquests of Tamerlan. The local dynasty of Shirvanshahs became a vassal state of Tamerlan's empire and assisted Tamerlan in his war with the ruler of the Golden Horde Tokhtamysh. Following Tamerlan's death two independent and rival states emerged: Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu. Until his death the Ak Koyunlu sultan Uzun Hasan ruled the whole territory now known as Azerbaijan . The reign has came further to Shirvanshahs, who maintained a high autonomy as local rulers and vassals from 861 until 1539. As Shirvanshahs were persecuted by Safavids, the last dynasty imposed Shia Islam upon the formerly Sunni population, battling against the Sunni Ottoman Empire.

Some time later, following the collapse of Safavids several independent khanates emerged in the area now known as Azerbaijan . Engaged in constant warfare, khanates were incorporated to the Russian Empire. Under the Treaty of Turkmenchay the Persian Empire recognized Russian suzerainty over the Erivan khanate, Nakhchivan khanate and the remainder of the Talysh khanate. After the collapse of the Russian Empire in World War I, Azerbaijan together with Armenia and Georgia became part of the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. When the republic dissolved in May 1918, Azerbaijan declared independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The ADR was the first parliamentary Muslim republic in the world, but lasted only two years, when the Soviet Red Army invaded. In March 1922, Azerbaijan, along with Armenia and Georgia, became part of the Transcaucasian SFSR, the new short-lived state within the recently-formed Soviet Union. In 1936 it was dissolved and Azerbaijan was merged to the Soviet Union as Azerbaijan SSR.

World War II Era

During the 1940s, the Azerbaijan SSR supplied much of the Soviet Union's oil on the Eastern Front of World War II. Operation Edelweiss was launched by Adolf Hitler to occupy the Caucasian oilfields and capture Baku, but all the offensives were pushed back. The Germans made largely fruitless efforts to enlist the cooperation of emigre political figures, such as Mammed Amin Rasulzade, who came to Berlin and found opportunities to meet captured Soviet Azerbaijani POW's.

Following the politics of glasnost, initiated by last General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachov the civil unrests and ethnic strife revealed almost everywhere in the Soviet Union and in Nagorno-Karabakh in particular. The disturbances in Azerbaijan culminated in the Black January. As the last Secretary of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan Ayaz Mutallibov was elected president, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR formally implemented the declaration of Azerbaijan's independence on October 18, 1991.

The early years of independence were overshadowed by a Nagorno-Karabakh War with Armenia. Since the end of the war, Azerbaijan lost control of almost 14% to 16% of what it claimed as its territory including Nagorno-Karabakh itself. As subsequent president Abülfaz Elçibay became unable to face the continued tumult, the former First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party Heydar Aliyev was elected as a new head of state. In 1995, the former military police were accused of plotting a coup d'état and disbanded. Although Aliyev managed to cut down the country's unemployment rate substantially, revenue from oil income went to the governing elite. In October 1998, Aliyev was re-elected as president for a second term. Despite the much improved economy, particularly with the exploitations of Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field and Shah Deniz gas field, Aliyev's presidency became unpopular due to vote fraud, wide-spread corruption and objection to his autocratic regime. The same harsh criticism followed the elections of former Prime Minister Ilham Aliyev, the second leader of New Azerbaijan Party after the death of his father Heydar.

Government and politics

The structural formation of Azerbaijan's political system was completed by the acceptance of the new Constitution on November 12, 1995. The state symbols of the Azerbaijan Republic are, according to the Article 23 of Constitution, the flag, the coat of arms and the national anthem. The state power in Azerbaijan is limited only by law for internal issues, but for international affairs is additionally limited by the provisions of international agreements.

The government of Azerbaijan is based on the separation of powers among the legislative, executive and judicial branches. The legislative power is held by the unicameral National Assembly and the Supreme National Assembly in the Nakhchevan Autonomous Republic. Parliamentary elections are held every five years, on the first Sunday of November. The correctness of the elections results are to be checked and confirmed by the Constitutional Court. The laws enacted by the National Assembly, unless specified otherwise come into effect from the day of their publication. The executive power is carried out by president, who is elected for a 5 year term by direct elections. The president is authorized to form the Cabinet of Ministers, an inferior executive body, subordinated to him. The Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan consists primarily of the Prime Minister, his Deputies and Ministers. The president does not have the right to dissolve the National Assembly, but has the right to veto its decisions. To override the presidential veto, the parliament must have a majority of 95 votes. The judicial power is vested in the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and the Economic Court. The President nominates the judges in these courts.

The Security Council is the deliberative body under the president and he organizes it according to the Constitution. It was established on April 10, 1997. The administrative department is not a part of the president's office, but manages the financial, technical and pecuniary ensuring of activity of both the president and his office.

Foreign relations

The short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic succeeded in establishing the diplomatic relations with six countries, sending diplomatic representatives to Germany and Finland. The process of international recognition of Azerbaijan's independence from collapsing Soviet Union lasted roughly one year. The last country, Bahrain recognized Azerbaijan on November 6, 1996. Full diplomatic relations, including mutual exchanges of missions, were first established with Turkey, the United States and Iran.

Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 158 countries so far and holds membership in 38 international organizations. An observer status is held in the Non-Aligned Movement and World Trade Organization and the correspondent one at the International Telecommunication Union. The Azerbaijani diaspora is represented in 36 countries, dozens of ethnic minorities centers in turn are functioning inside the country (German cultural society "Karelhaus", Slavic cultural center, Azerbaijani-Israeli community, Kurdish cultural center, International Talysh Association, Lezgin national center "Samur", Azerbaijani-Tatar community, Crimean Tatars society etc.). On May 9, 2006 Azerbaijan was elected as one the members of the newly established Human Rights Council by the General Assembly. The term of office begun on June 19, 2006.

Foreign policy priorities of Azerbaijan include: first of all, the restoration of the territorial integrity, elimination of the consequences of the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven other regions of Azerbaijan, development of good-neighbourly and mutually advantageous relations with neighbouring countries; promotion of security and stability in the region; integration into European and Transatlantic security and cooperation structures, promotion of transregional economic, energy and transportation projects. . (For more information about Azerbaijan's official foreign policy, see )

Azerbaijan is an active member of international coalition fighting international terrorism. The country is contributing to peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Azerbaijan is an active member of NATO “Partnership for Peace” program.

Military

Modern national armed forces of Azerbaijan were formed by presidential decree on October 9th, 1991. The Azerbaijan Armed Forces consists of four military branches: the Army, Air Force, Navy and Air Defense Force. There are also the National Guard, Interior Guard, Border Guard and the Coast Guard. The Supreme Commander-in-Chief of military forces is president. In the beginning of 2007 the armed forces of Azerbaijan included 95,000 men (among them 85,000 in army, 8,000 in the air forces and air defence, 2,000 in the navy and 2,500 in the National Guard).

Azerbaijan adhered to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. On January 13, 1993 Azerbaijan signed the Chemical Weapons Convention on the 47th United Nations General Assembly in Paris. In 1999 the country signed particularly the Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons. Azerbaijan has been also a member of the NATO's Partnership for Peace since 1994 and the NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan since 2004. Azerbaijan is also a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has an additional protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency. The armed forces supported the American Operation Enduring Freedom by providing one peacekeeping infantry platoon and Operation Iraqi Freedom with one peacekeeping infantry company. 2007 military expenditures reached 871 mln USD.

Administrative divisions

Azerbaijan is divided into 76 administrative districts: 65 rural rayons (rayonlar, singular rayon), eleven cities (şəhərlər, singular şəhər) with formal city status, and one autonomous republic (muxtar respublika), Nakhchivan. Nakhchivan itself is subdivided into seven rayons and one city. The President appoints the governors of these units, but there are also the heads of the local executive power. Heads of executive power are also appointed and removed from holding positions by the President. The local governments of regions and cities under Armenian occupation, such as Khankendi or Shusha, continue to function in exile.

Geography

Landscape

The total length of Azerbaijani land borders is 2,648 km, of which Armenia constitutes 1007, Iran 756, Georgia 480, Russia - 390 and Turkey - 15. The coastline stretches for 800 km and the length of the widest area of the Azerbaijani section of Caspian Sea is 456 km. The territory of Azerbaijan extends 400 km from north to south, and 500 km from west to east. The three mountain ranges are the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, and the Talysh Mountains, together covering approximately 40% of the country. The highest peak of Azerbaijan is mount Bazardüzü (4,466 m), while the lowest point lies in the Caspian Sea (-28 m). Near a half of all the mud volcanoes on Earth is concentrated in Azerbaijan.

The main water sources are the surface waters. However, only 24 of the 8,350 rivers are greater than 100 km in length. All the rivers drain into the Caspian Sea in the east of the country. The largest lake is Sarısu (67 km²) and the longest river is Kur (1,515 km), which is transboundary.

Climate

The formation of climate in Azerbaijan is influenced particularly by cold arctic air masses of Scandinavian anticyclone, temperate of Siberian anticyclone), and Central Asian anticyclone. Regarding landscape diversity, air masses have different ways to enter the country. The Greater Caucasus protects the country from direct influences of cold air masses, coming from the north. That leads to the formation of subtropical climate on most foothills and plains of the country. Meanwhile plains and foothills are characterized by high solar radiation rates.

Nine out of eleven existing climate zones are present in Azerbaijan. Both the absolute minimum temperature (-33 °C (-27.4 °F)) and the absolute maximum temperature (+46 °C (114.8 °F)) were observed in Julfa and Ordubad. The maximum annual precipitation falls in Lankaran (1,600 to 1,800 mm) and the minimum in Absheron (200 to 350 mm).

Nature and ecology

From the water supply point, Azerbaijan is below the average in the world with approximately 100,000 m³/year of water per km². All big water reservoirs are built on Kur.

The main areas of plant diversity in Azerbaijan are the highlands of Nakhchivan (60% of the species occur here), the Kura-Araz plain (40%), the Davachi-Quba region east of the Greater Caucasus (38%), the centre of the Lesser Caucasus (29%), Gobustan (26.6%), the Lenkoran region in the Talysh Mountains (27%) and the Absheron region (22%). Northern-eastern slopes of the Great Caucasus, the northern, northern-eastern, and eastern slopes of the Lesser Caucasus and Talysh Mountains are deemed to be vast forest areas of Azerbaijan.

Endemics include over 400 species of plants (of which around 16 species of Caspian algae), seven reptiles and perches from fifteen species and six sub-species of Gobiidae. Most of the endemic freshwater fish belongs to Cypriniformes. However there are no strictly endemic mammals. The major cause of biodiversity loss in Azerbaijan is the decrease in natural environments.

Economy

After gaining the independence Azerbaijan became a member of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Islam Development Bank and Asian Development Bank. The bank system is two-stepped, consisting of one National Bank and commercial banks together with non-bank credit organizations. The National Bank was created in 1992 on the base of Azerbaijan State Bank, an affiliate of former Soviet State Bank. The National Bank serves as Azerbaijan's central bank, empowered to emit the national currency and supervise all commercial banks. Two major commercial banks are state-owned International Bank and United Universal Joint-Stock Bank.

Pushed up by spending and demand growth, 2007 Q1 inflation rate reached 16.6%. The nominal incomes and monthly wages climbed 29% and 25% respectively against this figure but prices increase in non-oil industry encouraged inflation in the country. Azerbaijan shows some signs of the Dutch disease because of the fast growing energy sector, which causes inflation, the rise of national currency and prices.

2/3 of Azerbaijan is rich in oil and natural gas. The region of Lesser Caucasus accounts for most part of gold, silver, iron, copper, titanium, chromium, manganese, cobalt, molybdenum, complex ore and antimony. In September, 1994 a 30-year contract was signed between Azerbaijan Republic State Oil Company and 13 oil companies, among them Amoco, BP, Exxon, Lukoil, SOCAR and Statoil. As Western oil companies are able to tap deepwater oilfields untouched by the Soviet exploitation, Azerbaijan is considered one of the most important spots in the world for oil exploration and development. Meanwhile the State Oil Fund was established as an extra-budgetary fund to ensure the macroeconomic stability, transparency in the management of oil revenue, and the safeguarding of resources for future generations.

At the beginning of 2007 there were 4755.1 hectares of utilised agricultural area. In the same year the total wood resources counted 136 million m³. Azerbaijan's agricultural scientific research institutes are focused on the meadows and pastures, the horticulture and subtropical crops, the green vegetables, the viticulture and wine-making, the cotton growing and the medicinal plants. In some lands it is profitable to grow grain, potatoes, sugar beet, cotton and tobacco. The Caspian fishing industry is concentrated on the dwindling stocks of sturgeon and beluga. In 2002 the Azerbaijani merchant marine had 54 ships.

Some part of most products before imported from abroad has begun to be produced locally (among them are Coca Cola by Coca Cola Bottlers LTD, beer by Baki-Kastel, parquet by Nehir and oil pipes by EUPEC Pipe Coating Azerbaijan).

Azerbaijan is also an important economic hub in terms of the raw materials transportation. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC) became operational in May 2006 and stretches over 1,774 kilometers through the territory of Azerbaijan (440 km), Georgia (260 km) and Turkey (1114 km). The BTC is designed to transport up to 50 million tons of crude oil annually and carries oil from the Caspian Sea oilfields to global markets. The South Caucasus Pipeline, also stretching through the territory of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, became operational in the end of 2006 and offers additional gas supply to European market from the Shah Deniz gas field. It is expected to produce up to 296 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year. Azerbaijan also plays a major role in the EU-sponsored Silk Road Project.

Transportation and communications

In 2002 Azerbaijan led the way in per capita mobile phone use within the CIS. Public pay phones are available for local calls and require a purchase token from the telephone exchange or some shops and kiosks. Tokens allow a call of indefinite duration. As of 2005, there were 1,091,400 main telephone lines and 408,000 internet users. There are two GSM mobile network operators and four CDMA.

Broad gauge railways in 2005 stretched for 2,957 km and electrified railways numbered 1,278 km. The number of airports in 2006 reached thirty six, there was also one heliport.

Demographics

The latest census of minority groups in 2007 displayed the following proportion: Azeris - 95.8%,Russians - 2.8%, Armenians - 1.5%, Talysh - 1%, Avars - 0.6%, Tatars - 0.4%, Turks - 0.5%, Ukrainians - 0.4%, Kurds - 0.2%, Georgians - 0.2%, Tsakhurs - 0.2%, Tats - 0.13%, Jews - 0.1%, Udis - 0.05% and the others - 0.12%. The languages distribution in that census roughly corresponds with the minority groups percentage.

From the total population as of April, 2006 there were 4,380,000 (nearly 51%) city dwellers and a rural population of 4,060,000 (49%). 51% of the total population were female. The gender ratio for total population in that year was therefore 0.94 males per female.

2006 population growth rate was 0.66%, compared to 1.14% worldwide. A significant factor restricting the population growth is rather a high level of migration. In 2005 for instance 1,342 men and 1,564 women left the country due to labour migration. In 2006 Azerbaijan saw migration of -4.38/1,000 persons. The highest morbidity in 2005 was among respiratory diseases (806.9 diseases per 10,000 of total population). The highest 2005 morbidity for infectious and parasitic diseases was noted among influenza and acute respiratory infections (4168,2 per 100,000 population). 2007 estimate for total life expectancy is 66 years, 70.7 years for women and 61.9 for men.

Religion

According to official figures approximately 93.4% to 96% of the population is Muslim, of which 70% are Shia and 30% Sunni. The vast majority of Christians are Russian Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox. In 2003 there were 250 Roman Catholics. Other Christian denominations as of 2002 include Lutherans, Baptists and Molokans. There are also Jewish, Baha'i, Hare Krishna and Jehovah's Witnesses communities. Some of adherents are within the so-called Nehemiah Church, Star in the East Church and the Cathedral of Praise Church.

Some rural Azeri retain pre-Islamic animist beliefs, such as the sanctity of certain sites and the veneration of certain trees and rocks.

Culture

Azerbaijan folk consists of Azerbaijanis, the representative part of society, as well as of nations and ethnic groups, compactly living in various areas of the country. There are radio broadcasts in Kurdish, Lezgin, Talysh, Georgian, Russian and Armenian languages, which are financed from the state budget. The local radio station in Balakan organizes broadcasts in the Avar language and in Khachmaz also in Tat. In Baku several newspapers are published in Russian, Kurdish (Dengi Kurd), Lezgin (Samur) and Talysh languages. Jewish society "Sokhnut" publishes the newspaper Aziz.

Among national musical instruments there are fourteen string instruments, eight percussion instruments and six wind instruments.

Entries, submitted on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list include the Gobustan State Reserve, the Fire Temple of Baku, the Momine Khatun Mausoleum and the Khan Palace in Sheki.

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49. "Industry" (PDF). Statistical Yearbook of Azerbaijan 2004. Retrieved 2007-05-26. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
50. "Azerbaijan - Communications". Travel-Images.com. Retrieved 2007-05-24. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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52. ^ "Population". Azerbaijan Gender Information Center. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
53. ^ "Population and Demographics". Intute. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
54. "Population morbidity by main diseases groups". The Ministry of Health. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
55. "Morbidity of population by various infectious and parasitic diseases". The Ministry of Health. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
56. "Azerbaijan Facts and Figures". MSN Encarta. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
57. CIA the World Factbook
58. "Catholic Church in Azerbaijan". Catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
59. ^ Corley, Felix (April 9 2002). "Azerbaijan: 125 religious groups re-registered". Keston News Service. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
60. "Religion in Azerbaijan". Travel-Images.com. Retrieved 2007-05-22. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
61. "The Azerbaijan musical instruments". Atlas.musigi-dunya.az. Retrieved 2007-05-27. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links

Template:Wikitravel

General references

• United Nations Office in Azerbaijan
• State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan
• The World Factbook entry

Portals

• Azerbaijan.az
• Azeri.net - All About Azerbaijan
• Azer.com
• Azerb.com
• Library of Congress Portals to the World: Azerbaijan directory
• Kataloq.net Directory: Websites, People, Companies, Baku Maps

Miscellaneous

• Azerbaijan Paper Money

v t e Administrative divisions of Azerbaijan
Districts	Absheron Agdam Aghdara Agdash Aghjabadi Agstafa Agsu Astara Babek Balakan Barda Beylagan Bilasuvar Dashkasan Fuzuli Gadabay Goranboy Goychay Goygol Hajigabul Imishli Ismayilli Jabrayil Jalilabad Julfa Kalbajar Kangarli Khachmaz Khizi Khojaly Khojavend Kurdamir Lachin Lankaran Lerik Masally Neftchala Oghuz Ordubad Qabala Qakh Qazakh Gobustan Quba Qubadli Qusar Saatly Sabirabad Sadarak Salyan Samukh Shabran Shahbuz Shaki Shamakhi Shamkir Sharur Shusha Siyazan Tartar Tovuz Ujar Yardimli Yevlakh Zangilan Zagatala Zardab
Cities	Baku Ganja Khankendi Lankaran Mingachevir Naftalan Nakhchivan Shaki Shirvan Sumgait Yevlakh
Towns	Aghdam Aghdara Agdash Aghjabadi Agstafa Agsu Astara Babek Balakən Barda Beylagan Bilasuvar Dashkasan Fuzuli Gadabay Goranboy Goychay Goygol Hajiqabul Imishli Ismayilli Jabrayil Jalilabad Julfa Kalbajar Khachmaz Khizi Khojavend Khojaly Khirdalan Kurdamir Lachin Lerik Masally Neftchala Oğuz Ordubad Gabala Qakh Gazakh Gobustan Quba Qubadli Qusar Saatly Sabirabad Salyan Shabran Shahbuz Shamakhi Shamkir Sharur Shusha Siyazan Tartar Tovuz Ujar Yardimli Zangilan Zagatala Zardab
Names in italics indicate parts of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic

Geographic locale

v t e Countries and dependencies of Asia Sovereign states Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Cyprus East Timor Egypt Georgia India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan North Korea South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen States with limited recognition Abkhazia Northern Cyprus Palestine South Ossetia Taiwan Dependent territories Australia Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Greece Kastellorizo United Kingdom Akrotiri and Dhekelia (Sovereign Base Areas) British Indian Ocean Territory (British Overseas Territory) Special administrative regions of China Hong Kong Macau Spans the conventional boundary between Asia and another continent. Considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons but is geographically in West Asia. Category Asia portal v t e Countries and dependencies of Europe Sovereign states Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Vatican City States with limited recognition Abkhazia Kosovo Northern Cyprus South Ossetia Transnistria Dependent territories Denmark Faroe Islands autonomous country of the Kingdom of Denmark United Kingdom Akrotiri and Dhekelia (Sovereign Base Areas) Gibraltar (British Overseas Territory) Crown Dependencies Bailiwick of Guernsey Alderney Guernsey Sark Bailiwick of Jersey Isle of Man Special areas of internal sovereignty Finland Åland (autonomous region subject to the Åland convention of 1921) Norway Svalbard (unincorporated area subject to the Svalbard Treaty) United Kingdom England Scotland Wales Northern Ireland (country of the United Kingdom subject to the British-Irish Agreement) Spans the conventional boundary between Europe and another continent. Considered European for cultural, political and historical reasons but is geographically in Western Asia. Oceanic islands within the vicinity of Europe are usually grouped with the continent even though they are not situated on its continental shelf. Governed by the Holy See which has sovereignty over Vatican City. Category Europe portal Template:Countries of Southwest Asia v t e Countries and regions of the Caucasus      Abkhazia  Adjara  Adygea  Armenia  Azerbaijan  Chechnya  Dagestan  Georgia  Ingushetia  Kabardino-Balkaria  Kalmykia  Karachay-Cherkessia  Krasnodar Krai Nakhchivan  North Ossetia – Alania  South Ossetia  Stavropol Krai Partially-recognized states Template:Turkic States

ru-sib:Зербажан

• Azerbaijan
• Republics
• Eastern Europe
• Southwest Asian countries
• GUAM countries
• Russian-speaking countries and territories