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Azerbaijan was an independent nation from 1918 to 1920 but was then incorporated into the Soviet Union. It became a constituent (union) republic in 1936. Azerbaijan declared sovereignty on September 23, 1989, and independence on August 30, 1991.
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Azerbaijan
WRITTEN BY
G. Melvyn Howe See All Contributors
Emeritus Professor of Geography, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Author of The Soviet Union: A Geographical Study.
Last Updated: Sep 29, 2020 See Article History
Alternative Titles: Azärbayjan Respublikasi, Azerbaidzhan, Azerbaijani Republic, Azerbaydzhan
Azerbaijan, also spelled Azerbaidzhan, officially Azerbaijani Republic, Azerbaijani Azärbayjan Respublikasi, country of eastern Transcaucasia. Occupying an area that fringes the southern flanks of the Caucasus Mountains, it is bounded on the north by Russia, on the east by the Caspian Sea, on the south by Iran, on the west by Armenia, and on the northwest by Georgia. The exclave of Naxçıvan (Nakhichevan) is located southwest of Azerbaijan proper, bounded by Armenia, Iran, and Turkey. Azerbaijan includes within its borders the predominantly Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, which from 1988 was the focus of intense conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The capital of Azerbaijan is the ancient city of Baku (Bakı), whose harbour is the best on the Caspian Sea.
In addition to its variegated and often beautiful terrain, Azerbaijan offers a blend of traditions and modern development. The people of its remoter areas retain many distinctive folk traditions, but the lives of its inhabitants have been much influenced by accelerating modernization, characterized by industrialization, the development of power resources, and the growth of the cities, in which more than half the people now live. Industry dominates the economy, and more-diversified pursuits have supplemented the exploitation of oil, of which Azerbaijan was the world’s leading producer at the beginning of the 20th century. Fine horses and caviar continue as some of the more distinctive traditional exports of the republic.
Azerbaijan
People
Ethnic groups
Turkic-speaking Azerbaijanis (Azeris) make up some nine-tenths of the country’s population; the remaining population comprises only small concentrations of minorities—among them, Lezgians (who speak a Caucasian language), Russians, and Armenians. Ethnic Azerbaijanis combine in themselves the dominant Turkic strain, which arrived in Azerbaijan especially during the Oghuz Seljuq migrations of the 11th century, with mixtures of older inhabitants—Iranians and others—who had lived in Transcaucasia since ancient times. At the end of the 20th century, about 13 million Azerbaijanis lived abroad, most of them in Iran.
At the beginning of the 21st century, the population of the Azerbaijani exclave of Naxçıvan (lying wholly within Armenia) was almost entirely ethnic Azerbaijani, whereas the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh (lying wholly within Azerbaijan) was predominantly ethnic Armenian. In the Soviet era there were several disagreements regarding the status of the two territories’ placement. After a number of reversals, the Soviet government provided that Naxçıvan was to be recognized as an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (A.S.S.R.) with close ties to Azerbaijan, while Karabakh was to remain within the Azerbaijan S.S.R. but with significant autonomy. In the early 1920s the region, including its mountainous zone, was confirmed as the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.
Settlement patterns
Slightly more than half the population lives in urban areas. The most densely populated region is the Abşeron Peninsula, on the western coast of the Caspian Sea. Baku, Azerbaijan’s largest city and the most important industrial city in Transcaucasia, is located on this peninsula, as are other industrial towns, including Sumqayıt. Baku is a large and attractive city situated on natural terraces running down to a gulf of the Caspian Sea. The city has a 2-mile- (3.2-kilometre-) long picturesque boulevard and many historic sites.
Azerbaijan: Urban-rural
Other areas of dense population occur in certain lowland and foothill regions. Gäncä is the second largest town and the main urban centre of the interior.
The highest density of rural population is found in Länkäran and Masallı in the southeast. The Talysh, or Talishi—Iranian people who form the bulk of the local population—have preserved many of their old customs and traditions.
In the late 1980s sizable Azerbaijani and Armenian populations were driven from each other’s countries as a result of ethnic conflict and disputes over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. In addition, full-scale combat in the early 1990s, as well as territorial expansion by the ethnic Armenians within Azerbaijan, resulted in the displacement of a significant number of Azerbaijanis. Conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis over Nagorno-Karabakh, which persisted into the 21st century, was complicated by an official declaration of independence by the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1992 (a claim that failed to gain recognition from the international community).
Language
The Azerbaijani language is a member of the West Oghuz group of the southwestern (Oghuz) branch of the Turkic languages. The literary tradition dates to the 15th century. The Arabic script was used until the 20th century; the Cyrillic alphabet was introduced in 1939. In 1992 the Azerbaijani government switched from the Cyrillic to the Roman alphabet as its official orthography.
Religion
Azerbaijan is a predominantly Muslim country; more than three-fifths of the population is ShiĘżi, and about one-third is Sunni. Members of the Russian Orthodox or Armenian Orthodox Church constitute a very small percentage of the population.
Economy
Azerbaijan is a developed industrial and agrarian country. The emphasis on heavy industry has considerably expanded two traditional industries—petroleum and natural gas—but engineering, light industry, and food production are also of growing importance.
In the early 1990s Azerbaijan began a transition to a market economy. Prices of most goods were liberalized, and some state-owned enterprises were privatized. Land privatization, however, proceeded slowly.
Resources
At the beginning of the 20th century Azerbaijan was the world’s leading petroleum producer, and it was also the birthplace of the oil-refining industry. In 1901, for example, Azerbaijan produced 11.4 million tons of oil, more than the United States; it accounted for more than half of world production. As the 20th century progressed, however, Azerbaijan’s role in oil production decreased as the industry developed in other regions of the U.S.S.R. and elsewhere in the world.
During the 1990s exploitation of the vast oil fields under the Caspian Sea was complicated by political instability in Azerbaijan, ethnic conflict throughout the region, Russian claims on the Caspian fields, and disputes over the location of new pipelines.
Azerbaijan has other natural resources, including natural gas, iodobromide waters, lead, zinc, iron, and copper ores, nepheline syenites utilized in the production of aluminum, common salt, and a great variety of building materials, including marl, limestone, and marble.
Agriculture
Azerbaijan’s agriculture developed considerably in the latter part of the 20th century. Almost half of the country’s total area is suitable for agriculture, and some two-fifths of this is under cultivation.
Grain is the leading agricultural product, with raw cotton the second most valuable crop. Favourable conditions for grapes have contributed to the development of viticulture. Most of the grape varieties grown in Azerbaijan are used for making wine, almost all of which is exported. Other crops include vegetables (particularly early varieties), fruits, walnuts, and hazelnuts. Some districts, particularly those around the cities of Şäki, Zaqatala, and Göyçay, are—as they have been traditionally—engaged in silkworm breeding.
High commodity output is not characteristic of Azerbaijan’s animal husbandry.
Azerbaijani fisheries are of particular importance because of the sturgeon of the Caspian Sea; sturgeon roe is made into internationally renowned caviar. Sturgeon stocks are being depleted, however, as a result of pollution of Caspian waters.
Industry
Azerbaijan has a diversified industrial base, with the leading branches of heavy industry—power, manufacturing, and chemical production—predominating. Branches of the processing industry, producing mineral fertilizers, gasoline, kerosene, herbicides, industrial oils, synthetic rubber, and plastics, have developed, and Sumqayıt has emerged as the major centre of this industry, as well as of ferrous metallurgy.
The country’s manufacturing industries have grown considerably in the late 20th century. Azerbaijan manufactures equipment for the oil and gas industry, electrical equipment of all kinds, and many appliances and instruments. This type of industry is located mostly in Baku, Gäncä, and Mingäçevir.
Light industrial manufactures include cotton and woolen textiles, knitwear, traditional household items and souvenirs, footwear, and other consumer goods. Şäki, Xankändi, Gäncä, Mingäçevir, and Baku are the main centres of this industry. Food-processing plants are distributed fairly evenly throughout the republic.
The development of Azerbaijan’s industry created a demand for fuel and power supplies. All electricity is produced at thermoelectric power stations burning fossil fuels, which have been built throughout the country.
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Trade
Azerbaijan exports chemicals, machinery, food (particularly grapes and other fruits and vegetables), beverages, petroleum and natural gas, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, and other products; its imports include iron and steel, machinery, and food and beverages, particularly meat and milk. Azerbaijan’s primary trading partners are Russia, Turkey, China, and Italy; the country also has trade links with Georgia, Belarus, Britain, Israel, and the Central Asian republics. Azerbaijan has no trade with Armenia because of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Transportation
Few of the rivers of Azerbaijan are navigable, and most freight—including that transported out of the country—is carried by rail and truck. Considerable portions of the rail network are electrified. The principal goods carried are oil products, building materials, timber, and grain. A major railway line traverses the Kura valley and connects Baku with Tbilisi and Batumi in Georgia. Another parallels the Caspian Sea north of Baku.
Motor transport is used extensively for both freight and passengers. Roads connect various parts of the country and are often the only means of land communication between remote mountain districts and the administrative centres and large cities.
Baku, on the Caspian, is a busy seaport, handling such goods as oil, timber, grain, and cotton. The ferry link between Baku and Turkmenbashi (also on the Caspian, in Turkmenistan) augments considerably the amount of cargo passing through Azerbaijan. Air routes connect Baku with many European and Asian cities.
Economic regions
The AbĹźeron region includes the AbĹźeron Peninsula and several other areas of eastern Azerbaijan. As a result of its advantageous geographic position, it is crossed by freight routes connecting Azerbaijan and the whole of Transcaucasia with the North Caucasus and Central Asia. Highways run from the peninsula to every corner of the republic.
Although it is on the shores of the Caspian Sea, the Abşeron region nevertheless remains one of the most arid parts of Azerbaijan. Its main natural wealth is mineral, including oil, natural gas, iodobromide waters, and limestone used in building and cement production. Baku owes its modern growth to the development of the oil industry; oil derricks encircle the city, and the oil refineries and processing plants attract workers from many areas. Modern Sumqayıt, 22 miles (35 kilometres) northwest of Baku, is currently a centre of the iron and steel, nonferrous metallurgical, and chemical industries, although the development of light engineering is envisaged.
The Länkäran region of southern Azerbaijan is well endowed by nature; warm-climate crops, such as tea, feijoa (a fruit-bearing shrub), rice, grapes, tobacco, and citrus trees, flourish there. The region also produces spring and winter vegetables. The towns of Länkäran, Astara, and Masallı are small, and local industry is mostly concerned with the processing of agricultural goods, while in the mountains the Talysh people make colourful rugs and carpets.
Länkäran, Azerbaijan: tea plantation
Government
Azerbaijan’s 1978 Soviet-era constitution was subsequently revised or superseded by the 1991 Act of Independence and by presidential and parliamentary decree. In 1995 a new constitution was overwhelmingly approved by referendum. The constitution provides for a unicameral legislature, whose members are directly elected to five-year terms. The head of state is the president, who is also elected by direct universal suffrage to a term of seven years. A constitutional amendment that was passed in 2009 removed the presidency’s two-term limit.
Political parties include the New Azerbaijan Party (founded by former president Heydar Aliyev), the pro-Turkish, nationalist Azerbaijan Popular Front, the New Equality Party (Musavat), the Azerbaijan Social Democratic Party, the Azerbaijan National Independence Party, and the Azerbaijan United Communist Party, which was founded after its predecessor was banned in 1991.
In 1992 Azerbaijan joined the United Nations, and in 1993 it formally became a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Armed forces and security
Azerbaijan formed a national military in 1991, including an army (consisting partly of personnel and matériel from the Soviet 4th Army), navy, and air force. Russian forces completed their withdrawal from Azerbaijan in 1993. Military service is voluntary; individuals are eligible to serve in the armed forces at 18 years of age, and service obligations last for 18 months (12 months for university graduates). The conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh dominated Azerbaijani military planning during the 1990s.
thanks NB
got muh read in on Azerbaijan anyhow, gotta brush up a bit
have a guud night
see ya in the stream