Azerbaijan

This article is about the country in Eurasia. For otheruses, see Azerbaijan (disambiguation).

Azerbaijan and its main cities

Azerbaijan ( i/ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ AZ-ər-by-JAHN;Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan [ɑzærbɑjdʒɑn]), officially theRepublic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Re-spublikası), is a transcontinental country in the Caucasusregion, situated at the crossroads of Eastern Europe andWestern Asia.[5] It is bounded by the Caspian Sea tothe east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest,Armenia to the west and Iran to the south. The exclaveof Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north andeast, Iran to the south and west, while having a shortborder with Turkey in the northwest.The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed itsindependence in 1918 and became the first Muslim-majority democratic and secular republic.[6] It was alsothe first Muslim-majority country after Egypt to haveoperas, theaters and modern universities.[7] The coun-try was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920 asthe Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.[8][9] Azerbai-jan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1991,[10]

before the official dissolution of the USSR. In Septem-ber 1991, the disputed Armenian-majority Nagorno-Karabakh region re-affirmed its willingness to create aseparate state as the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.[11]

The region, effectively independent since the beginningof the Nagorno Karabakh War in 1991, is internationally

recognized as part of Azerbaijan until a final solution toits status is found through negotiations facilitated by theOSCE.[12][13][14][15]

Azerbaijan is a unitary constitutional presidential repub-lic. The country is a member state of the Council ofEurope, the OSCE and the NATO Partnership for Peace(PfP) program. It is one of the six independent Turkic-speaking states, being an active member of the TurkicCouncil and the TÜRKSOY community. Azerbaijan hasdiplomatic relations with 158 countries and holds mem-bership in 38 international organizations.[16] It is one ofthe founding members of GUAM, the Commonwealthof Independent States (CIS)[17] and Organization forthe Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. A member ofthe United Nations since 1992, Azerbaijan was electedto membership in the newly established Human RightsCouncil by the United Nations General Assembly on 9May 2006 (the term of office began on 19 June 2006).[18]

Azerbaijan is also a member state of the Non-AlignedMovement, holds observer status in World Trade Or-ganization and is a correspondent at the InternationalTelecommunication Union.[16][19]

The Constitution of Azerbaijan does not declare an of-ficial religion, and all major political forces in the coun-try are secularist, but the majority of people and someopposition movements adhere to Shia Islam.[20] Azerbai-jan has a high level of human development which rankson par with most Eastern European countries.[21] It has ahigh rate of economic development[22] and literacy,[23] aswell as a low rate of unemployment.[24] However, corrup-tion in Azerbaijan is widespread, especially in the publicservice.[25][26] The National Assembly abolished the pres-idential term limits in the controversial 2009 referendum.The ruling party, New Azerbaijan Party, has been ac-cused of authoritarianism and human rights abuses.[27][28]

1 Etymology

According to a modern etymology, the name ofAzerbaijan derives from that of Atropates,[29][30] aPersian[31][32][33] satrap under the Achaemenid Empire,who was later reinstated as the satrap of Media underAlexander the Great.[34][35] The original etymology ofthis name is thought to have its roots in the once-dominantZoroastrian religion. In the Avesta, Frawardin Yasht(“Hymn to the Guardian Angels”), there is a mention ofâterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide, which liter-ally translates from Avestan as “we worship the Fravashi

1

2 2 HISTORY

of the holy Atropatene.”[36]

Atropates ruled over the region of Atropatene (presentIranian Azerbaijan). The name “Atropates” itself isthe Greek transliteration of an Old Iranian, probablyMedian, compounded name with the meaning “Pro-tected by the (Holy) Fire” or “The Land of the (Holy)Fire.”[37] The Greek name is mentioned by DiodorusSiculus and Strabo. Over the span of millennia thename evolved to Āturpātākān then to Ādharbādhagān,Ādharbāyagān, Āzarbāydjān and present-day Azerbai-jan (in Armenia, the country is called Adrbejan, yet an-other archaic form). Ultimately, the name Azerbaijancomes from Azar-Payegan. This word is translatable asGuardian of Fire, “The Treasury” and “The Treasurer” offire or "The Land of Fire"[37] in Modern Persian.[38] Thename was changed toAzerbaijan following Arab conquestin the 7th century AD, where Arabic lacked the letters ofG and P, thus the spelling of Azer-payegan was modifiedto reflect this.

2 History

Main article: History of Azerbaijan

2.1 Antiquity

Petroglyphs in Gobustan dating back to 10,000 BC indicating athriving culture. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site consideredto be of “outstanding universal value”

Further information: Atropatene and Caucasian Albania

The earliest evidence of human settlement in the terri-tory of Azerbaijan dates back to the late Stone Age andis related to the Guruchay culture of the Azykh Cave.[39]

The Upper Paleolithic and late Bronze Age cultures areattested in the caves of Tağılar, Damcılı, Zar, Yataq-yeriand in the necropolises of Leylatepe and Saraytepe.Early settlements included the Scythians in the 9th cen-tury BC.[37] Following the Scythians, Iranian Medes cameto dominate the area to the south of the Aras.[35] TheMedes forged a vast empire between 900–700 BC, whichwas integrated into the Achaemenids Empire around 550

BC. The area was conquered by the Achaemenids lead-ing to the spread of Zoroastrianism.[40] Later it becamepart of Alexander the Great's Empire and its successor,the Seleucid Empire. During this period, Zoroastrian-ism spread in the Caucasus and Atropatene. CaucasianAlbanians, the original inhabitants of northeastern Azer-baijan, ruled that area from around the 4th century BC,and established an independent kingdom that came underthe cultural influence of the Armenians.[41]

In the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, following the over-throw of the Achaemenid Empire, the southwestern partof modern Azerbaijan was part of the Kingdom of Ar-menia ruled by the Orontid Dynasty; between the years189 BC and 428 AD the western half of modern Azerbai-jan, including the exclave of Nakhchivan, were includedinto the Kingdom of Greater Armenia ruled by Armenia’sArtaxiad and Arsacid dynasties,[42][43] the latter itself abranch of the eponymous Arsacid dynasty of Parthia.After the partition of the Kingdom of Armenia by Persiaand Byzantium in 387 AD, the provinces of Artsakh andUtik, which had an ethnically mixed population, passedto Caucasian Albania.[44][45]

The Maiden Tower in Old Baku is a UNESCO World HeritageSite built in the 11th–12th century.

2.2 Feudal era

The Persian Sassanids turned Caucasian Albania into avassal state in AD 252, while King Urnayr officiallyadopted Christianity as the state religion in the 4th cen-tury. Despite Sassanid rule, Albania remained an entityin the region until the 9th century, while fully subordinateto Sassanid Persia, and retained its monarchy.[34] In thefirst half of the 7th century AD, the Islamic UmayyadCaliphate repulsed both the Sassanids and Byzantinesfrom the Caucasus region and turned Caucasian Albaniainto a vassal state after the Christian resistance, led byKing Javanshir, was suppressed in 667. Caucasian Alba-nia however, came already under nominal Muslim rulethrough the Muslim conquest of Persia, as it made uppart of the Sassanid territory upon advent of the Muslimconquest. The power vacuum left by the decline of theAbbasid Caliphate was filled by numerous local dynas-

2.3 Modern era 3

ties such as the Sallarids, Sajids, Shaddadids, Rawadidsand Buyids. At the beginning of the 11th century, theterritory was gradually seized by waves of Turkic Oghuztribes from Central Asia. The first of these Turkic dynas-ties established was the Seljuqs, which entered the areanow known as Azerbaijan by 1067.The pre-Turkic population that lived on the territoryof modern Azerbaijani Republic spoke several Indo-European and Caucasian languages, among them –Armenian language[46][47][48][49][50] and an Iranian lan-guage called the Old Azari language, which was gradu-ally replaced by a Turkic language, the early precursorof the Azerbaijani language of today.[51] To distinguishit from the Turkic Azerbaijani or Azeri language, thisIranian language, is designated as the Azari language (orOld Azari language), because the Turkic language andpeople are also designated as “Azari” in the Persian lan-guage. However some linguists have also designated theTati dialects of Iranian Azerbaijan and the Republic ofAzerbaijan, like those spoken by the Tats, as a remnantof Azari.[52][53] Locally, the possessions of the subsequentSeljuq Empire were ruled by Atabegs, who were techni-cally vassals of the Seljuq sultans, being sometimes defacto rulers themselves. Under the Seljuq Turks, localpoets such as Nizami Ganjavi and Khagani Shirvani gaverise to a blossoming of Persian literature on the territoryof present-day Azerbaijan. The next ruling state of theJalayirids was short-lived and fell under the conquests ofTimur.The local dynasty of the Shirvanshahs became a vassalstate of Timur’s Empire, and assisted him in his warwith the ruler of the Golden Horde Tokhtamysh. Fol-lowing Timur’s death, two independent and rival statesemerged: Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu. The Shirvan-shahs returned, maintaining a high degree of autonomyas local rulers and vassals from 861 until 1539. Duringtheir conquest and persecution by the Iranian Safavids in1501, the last dynasty imposed Shia Islam upon the for-merly Sunni population,[54][55][56] as it did over its terri-tories in modern-day Iran, as it was battling against theSunni Ottoman Empire.[57] This, in combination withanother series of events, the Safavids laid the founda-tion for the fact that both the contemporary Republicof Azerbaijan and Iran are the only Shia majority coun-tries ever since.[58] Despite efforts of the Safavids, theOttomans briefly managed to occupy swaths of present-day Azerbaijan twice over the centuries. Also, Bakuand its environs were briefly managed by the Russiansin the early 18th century through the consequences ofthe Russo-Persian War (1722-1723). Despite these verybrief intermissions by Safavid Iran’s neighboring rivals,the land of what is nowadays Azerbaijan remained underintermittent Iranian rule from the earliest advent of theSafavids up to the course of the 19th century.

2.3 Modern era

Main articles: Russo-Persian Wars, Treaty of Gulistanand Treaty of TurkmenchaySee also: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, AzerbaijanSSR and Operation Edelweiss

After the Safavids, the area was ruled by the Ira-

Territories of the Northern and Southern Khanates (and Sul-tanates) within Iran in the 18th–19th centuries.[59]

nian dynasties of Afshar and Zand and briefly by theQajars, until the latters forced ceding to Russia in thecourse of the 19th century. However de facto self-rulingkhanates[60][61][62][63][64] emerged in the area, especiallyfollowing the collapse of the Zand dynasty and in theearly Qajar era. These khanates, though often self-ruling,were vassals and subjects of the Iranian shah (King).[65]

The khanates exercised control over their affairs via in-ternational trade routes between Central Asia and theWest.[66] From the late 18th century and on, ImperialRussia changed to a more aggressive geo-political stancetowards its two neighbors (and rivals) to the south, namelyIran and Turkey.[67] Following a chain of events thatstarted with the re-subjugation of Georgia into Iran in1795, Russia would now actively contest and battle withthe latter over possession of the Caucasus region whichwas, for most of its part, in the hands of Iran.[68] Thesuccessful Russian campaigns in the later stages of theRusso-Persian War (1804-1813) was concluded with theTreaty of Gulistan, in which the shah’s claims to some ofthe Khanates of the Caucasus were dismissed by Russiaon the ground that they had been de facto independentlong before their Russian occupation.[69]

4 2 HISTORY

The siege of Ganja Fortress in 1804 during the Russo-PersianWar (1804-1813) by the Russian forces under leadership of gen-eral Pavel Tsitsianov.

Following Qajar Iran’s loss in the 1804-1813 war, it wasforced to concede suzerainty over most of the khanates(alongside Georgia and Dagestan) to the Russian Empireper the Gulistan treaty.[70] The area to the North of theriver Aras, among which the territory of the contempo-rary republic of Azerbaijan were Iranian territory untilthey were occupied by Russia in the course of the 19thcentury.[8][71][72][73][74][75] Under the Treaty of Turkmen-chay which finalised the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828),Qajar Iran was forced to recognize Russian sovereigntyover the Erivan Khanate, the Nakhchivan Khanate andthe remainder of the Lankaran Khanate,[70] comprisingthe last parts of the soil of the contemporary AzerbaijaniRepublic that were still in Iranian hands. After incor-poration of all Caucasian territories from Iran into Rus-sia, the new border between the two was set at the ArasRiver, which, upon the Soviet Union’s disintegration, sub-sequently became part of the border between Iran and theAzerbaijan Republic.After the collapse of the Russian Empire during WorldWar I, Azerbaijan, together with Armenia and Georgiabecame part of the short-lived Transcaucasian Demo-cratic Federative Republic.It was followed by the March Days massacres[76][77][78]

that took place between 30 March and 2 April 1918 inthe city of Baku and adjacent areas of the Baku Gov-ernorate of the Russian Empire.[79] When the republicdissolved in May 1918, Azerbaijan declared indepen-

dence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR).The ADR was the first modern parliamentary republic inthe Muslim world.[8][80][81] Among the important accom-plishments of the Parliament was the extension of suf-frage to women, making Azerbaijan the first Muslim na-tion to grant women equal political rights with men.[80]

Another important accomplishment of ADR was the es-tablishment of Baku State University, which was the firstmodern-type university founded in Muslim East.[80]

Map presented by delegation from Azerbaijan to Paris PeaceConference in 1919.

By March 1920, it was obvious that Soviet Russia wouldattack the much-needed Baku. Vladimir Lenin said thatthe invasion was justified as Soviet Russia could not sur-vive without Baku’s oil.[82][83] Independent Azerbaijanlasted only 23 months until the Bolshevik 11th SovietRed Army invaded it, establishing the Azerbaijan SSR on28 April 1920. Although the bulk of the newly formedAzerbaijani army was engaged in putting down an Ar-menian revolt that had just broken out in Karabakh, Az-eris did not surrender their brief independence of 1918–20 quickly or easily. As many as 20,000 Azerbaijanisoldiers died resisting what was effectively a Russianreconquest.[84]

On 13 October 1921, the Soviet republics of Russia,Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia signed an agreementwith Turkey known as the Treaty of Kars. The previouslyindependent Naxicivan SSR would also become an au-tonomous ASSR within the Azerbaijan SSR by the treatyof Kars. On the other hand, Armenia was awarded theregion of Zangezur and Turkey agreed to return Gyumri(then known as Alexandropol).During World War II, Azerbaijan played a crucial role inthe strategic energy policy of Soviet Union, with most ofthe Soviet Union’s oil on the Eastern Front being suppliedby Baku. By the Decree of the Supreme Soviet of theUSSR in February 1942, the commitment of more than500 workers and employees of the oil industry of Azer-baijan was awarded orders and medals. Operation Edel-weiss carried out by the German Wehrmacht targetedBaku because of its importance as the energy (petroleum)dynamo of the USSR.[8] A fifth of all Azerbaijanis fought

5

in the Second World War from 1941 to 1945. Approxi-mately 681,000 people with over 100,000 of them womenwent to the front, while the total population of Azerbai-jan was 3.4 million at the time.[85] Some 250,000 peo-ple from Azerbaijan were killed on the front. Morethan 130 Azerbaijanis were named Heroes of the So-viet Union. Azerbaijani Major-General Azi Aslanov wastwice awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union.[86]

2.4 Republic era

Red Army paratroops during the Black January tragedy in 1990.

Following the politics of glasnost, initiated by MikhailGorbachev, civil unrest and ethnic strife grew in var-ious regions of the Soviet Union, including Nagorno-Karabakh,[87] an autonomous region of the AzerbaijanSSR. The disturbances in Azerbaijan, in response toMoscow’s indifference to already heated conflict, resultedin calls for independence and secession, which culmi-nated in Black January in Baku.[88] Later in 1990, theSupreme Council of the Azerbaijan SSR dropped thewords “Soviet Socialist” from the title, adopted the Dec-laration of Sovereignty of the Azerbaijan Republic andrestored flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic asthe state flag.[89] On 18 October 1991, the SupremeCouncil of Azerbaijan adopted a Declaration of Indepen-dence which was affirmed by a nationwide referendumin December 1991, when the Soviet Union was officiallydissolved.[89]

The early years of independence were overshadowed bythe Nagorno-Karabakh War with the ethnic Armenianmajority of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by Armenia.[90]

By the end of hostilities in 1994, Armenians controlledup to 14–16 percent of Azerbaijani territory, includ-ing Nagorno-Karabakh itself.[91][92] During the war manyatrocities were committed including the massacre atMalibeyli and Gushchular, the Garadaghly, Agdaban andthe Khojaly massacres.[93][94] Furthermore, an estimated30,000 people had been killed and more than a millionpeople had been displaced.[95] Four United Nations Se-curity Council Resolutions (822, 853, 874, and 884) de-mand for “the immediate withdrawal of all Armenian

forces from all occupied territories of Azerbaijan.”[96]

Many Russians and Armenians left Azerbaijan duringthe 1990s.[97] According to the 1970 census, there were510,000 ethnic Russians and 484,000 Armenians inAzerbaijan.[98]

In 1993, democratically elected president AbulfazElchibey was overthrown by a military insurrection ledby Colonel Surat Huseynov, which resulted in the rise topower of the former leader of Soviet Azerbaijan, HeydarAliyev.[99] In 1994, Surat Huseynov, by that time a primeminister, attempted another military coup against Hey-dar Aliyev, but Huseynov was arrested and charged withtreason.[100] A year later, in 1995, another coup was at-tempted against Aliyev, this time by the commander ofthe OMON special unit, Rovshan Javadov. The coup wasaverted, resulting in the killing of the latter and disband-ing of Azerbaijan’s OMON units.[101][102] At the sametime, the country was tainted by rampant corruption inthe governing bureaucracy.[103] In October 1998, Aliyevwas reelected for a second term. Despite the much im-proved economy, particularly with the exploitations ofAzeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field and Shah Deniz gas field,Aliyev’s presidency was criticized due to suspected votefraud and corruption.[104]

Ilham Aliyev, the son of Heydar Aliyev, assumed as thechairmen of the New Azerbaijan Party as well as the of-fice of presidency when his father died in 2003. He wasreelected to a third term as president in October 2013.He then launched a crackdown on opposition elements.In November, he put two prominent opponents on trialfor inciting riots ten months earlier: Ilgar Mammadov,the chairman of the opposition Republican Alternative(REAL); and Ilgar Mammadov, the deputy chairman ofthe New Equality Party (Musavat). In addition the dis-sident Islamic theologian Taleh Bagirzada was sentencedto two years’ imprisonment. The opposition newspaperAzadiq was closed down. Three men were sentenced tolife in prison on charges of plotting attacks in Baku in aconspiracy with Iran.[105]

3 Geography

Main articles: Geography of Azerbaijan, Environmentof Azerbaijan, State reserves of Azerbaijan and Nationalparks of AzerbaijanSee also: Extreme points of AzerbaijanAzerbaijan is in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia,

straddling Western Asia and Eastern Europe. It lies be-tween latitudes 38° and 42° N, and longitudes 44° and51° E. The total length of Azerbaijan’s land borders is2,648 km (1,645 mi), of which 1007 kilometers are withArmenia, 756 kilometers with Iran, 480 kilometers withGeorgia, 390 kilometers with Russia and 15 kilometerswith Turkey.[106] The coastline stretches for 800 km (497mi), and the length of the widest area of the Azerbaijanisection of the Caspian Sea is 456 km (283 mi).[106] The

6 3 GEOGRAPHY

Caucasus Mountains in northern Azerbaijan.

territory of Azerbaijan extends 400 km (249 mi) fromnorth to south, and 500 km (311 mi) from west to east.Three physical features dominate Azerbaijan: theCaspian Sea, whose shoreline forms a natural boundaryto the east; the Greater Caucasus mountain range to thenorth; and the extensive flatlands at the country’s cen-ter. There are also three mountain ranges, the Greaterand Lesser Caucasus, and the Talysh Mountains, togethercovering approximately 40 percent of the country.[107]

The highest peak of Azerbaijan is mount Bazardüzü(4,466 m), while the lowest point lies in the Caspian Sea(−28 m). Nearly half of all the mud volcanoes on Earthare concentrated in Azerbaijan, these volcanoes were alsoamong nominees for the New7Wonders of Nature.[108]

The main water sources are surface waters. However,only 24 of the 8,350 rivers are greater than 100 km (62mi) in length.[107] All the rivers drain into the Caspian Seain the east of the country.[107] The largest lake is Sarysu(67 km²), and the longest river is Kur (1,515 km), whichis transboundary. Azerbaijan’s four main islands in theCaspian Sea have a combined area of over thirty squarekilometers.Since the independence of Azerbaijan in 1991, theAzerbaijani government has taken drastic measures topreserve the environment of Azerbaijan. But nationalprotection of the environment started to truly improveafter 2001 when the state budget increased due to newrevenues provided by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.Within four years protected areas doubled and now makeup eight percent of the country’s territory. Since 2001the government has set up seven large reserves and almostdoubled the sector of the budget earmarked for environ-mental protection.[109]

3.1 Landscape

Main articles: Orography of Azerbaijan, Climate ofAzerbaijan and Water bodies of AzerbaijanAzerbaijan is home to a vast variety of landscapes.

Over half of Azerbaijan’s land mass consists of mountainridges, crests, yailas, and plateaus which rise up to hypso-

Mount Bazarduzu, the highest peak of Azerbaijan, as seen fromMount Shahdagh

The landscape of Khinalug valley.

metric levels of 400–1000 meters (including the Middleand Lower lowlands), in some places (Talis, Jeyranchol-Ajinohur and Langabiz-Alat foreranges) up to 100–120meters, and others from 0–50 meters and up (Qobustan,Absheron). The rest of Azerbaijan’s terrain consist ofplains and lowlands. Hypsometric marks within the Cau-casus region vary from about −28 meters at the CaspianSea shoreline up to 4,466 meters (Bazardüzü peak).[110]

The formation of climate in Azerbaijan is influencedparticularly by cold arctic air masses of Scandinaviananticyclone, temperate of Siberian anticyclone, and Cen-tral Asian anticyclone.[111] Azerbaijan’s diverse land-scape affects the ways air masses enter the country.[111]

The Greater Caucasus protects the country from direct in-fluences of cold air masses coming from the north. Thatleads to the formation of subtropical climate on mostfoothills and plains of the country. Meanwhile, plains andfoothills are characterized by high solar radiation rates.9 out of 11 existing climate zones are present inAzerbaijan.[112] Both the absolute minimum temperature( −33 °C or −27.4 °F ) and the absolute maximum tem-perature ( 46 °C or 114.8 °F ) were observed in Julfa andOrdubad.[112] The maximum annual precipitation falls inLankaran (1,600 to 1,800 mm or 63 to 71 in) and theminimum in Absheron (200 to 350 mm or 7.9 to 13.8in).[112]

Rivers and lakes form the principal part of the water sys-tems of Azerbaijan, they were formed over a long geolog-

7

Murovdag is the highest mountain range in the Lesser Caucasus.

ical timeframe and changed significantly throughout thatperiod. This is particularly evidenced by remnants of an-cient rivers found throughout the country. The country’swater systems are continually changing under the influ-ence of natural forces and human introduced industrialactivities. Artificial rivers (canals) and ponds are a partof Azerbaijan’s water systems. In terms of water sup-ply, Azerbaijan is below the average in the world with ap-proximately 100,000 cubic metres (3,531,467 cubic feet)per year of water per square kilometer.[112] All big waterreservoirs are built on Kur. The hydrography of Azerbai-jan basically belongs to the Caspian Sea basin.There are 8,350 rivers of various lengths within Azerbai-jan. Only 24 rivers are over 100 kilometers long.[113] TheKura and Aras are the most popular rivers in Azerbai-jan, they run through the Kura-Aras Lowland. The riversthat directly flow into the Caspian Sea, originate mainlyfrom the north-eastern slope of the Major Caucasus andTalysh Mountains and run along the Samur–Devechi andLankaran lowlands.Yanar Dag, translated as “burning mountain”, is a natu-ral gas fire which blazes continuously on a hillside on theAbsheron Peninsula on the Caspian Sea near Baku, whichitself is known as the “land of fire.” Flames jet out intothe air from a thin, porous sandstone layer. It is a touristattraction to visitors to the Baku area.

3.2 Biodiversity

Main article: Wildlife of AzerbaijanFurther information: Fauna of Azerbaijan and Flora ofAzerbaijanThe first reports on the richness and diversity of animal

life in Azerbaijan can be found in travel notes of Easterntravelers. Animal carvings on architectural monuments,ancient rocks and stones survived up to the present times.The first information on the animal kingdom of Azerbai-jan was collected during the visits of naturalists to Azer-baijan in the 17th century.[107] Unlike fauna, the conceptof animal kingdom covers not only the types of animals,but also the number of individual species.

The Karabakh horse is the national animal of Azerbaijan.

There are 106 species of mammals, 97 species of fish,363 species of birds, 10 species of amphibians and 52species of reptiles which have been recorded and classi-fied in Azerbaijan.[107] The national animal of Azerbaijanis the Karabakh horse, a mountain-steppe racing and rid-ing horse endemic to Azerbaijan. The Karabakh horsehas a reputation for its good temper, speed, elegance andintelligence. It is one of the oldest breeds, with ancestrydating to the ancient world. However today the horse isan endangered species.[114]

Azerbaijan’s flora consists of more than 4,500 species ofhigher plants. Due the unique climate in Azerbaijan, theflora is much richer in the number of species than the floraof the other republics of the South Caucasus.[115] About67 percent of the species growing in the whole Caucasuscan be found in Azerbaijan.

4 Politics

Main article: Politics of AzerbaijanSee also: Elections in Azerbaijan and Human rights inAzerbaijanThe structural formation of Azerbaijan’s political systemwas completed by the adoption of the new Constitutionon 12 November 1995. According to the Article 23 ofConstitution, the state symbols of the Azerbaijan Repub-lic are the flag, the coat of arms and the national anthem.The state power in Azerbaijan is limited only by law forinternal issues, but for international affairs is additionallylimited by the provisions of international agreements.The government of Azerbaijan is based on the separationof powers among the legislative, executive and judicialbranches. The legislative power is held by the unicameralNational Assembly and the Supreme National Assemblyin the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Parliamentaryelections are held every five years, on the first Sundayof November. The Yeni Azerbaijan Party, and indepen-dents loyal to the ruling government, currently hold al-most all of the Parliament’s 125 seats. During the 2010

8 4 POLITICS

The son of former President Heydar Aliyev, Ilham Aliyev suc-ceeded his father and has remained in power since 2003.

Parliamentary election, the opposition parties, Musavatand Azerbaijani Popular Front Party, failed to win a sin-gle seat. European observers found numerous irregulari-ties in the run-up to the election and on election day.[116]

The executive power is held by the President, who iselected for a 5-year term by direct elections. The presi-dent is authorized to form the Cabinet, an inferior execu-tive body, subordinated to him. The Cabinet of Azerbai-jan consists primarily of the Prime Minister, his Deputiesand Ministers. The president does not have the right todissolve the National Assembly, but he has the right toveto its decisions. To override the presidential veto, theparliament must have a majority of 95 votes. The judi-cial power is vested in the Constitutional Court, SupremeCourt and the Economic Court. The President nominatesthe judges in these courts.The Security Council is the deliberative body under thepresident, and he organizes it according to the Constitu-tion. It was established on 10 April 1997. The adminis-trative department is not a part of the president’s officebut manages the financial, technical and pecuniary activ-ities of both the president and his office.Although Azerbaijan has held several elections since re-gaining its independence and it has many of the formal in-stitutions of democracy, it remains classified as “not free”(on border with “partly free”) by Freedom House.[117][118]

Azerbaijan has been harshly criticized for bribing foreignofficials and diplomats for promoting its causes abroadand legitimizing its elections at home, a practice whichhas been termed as 'caviar diplomacy'.[119][120][121][122]

4.1 Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of AzerbaijanSee also: Azerbaijan and the European UnionThe short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic suc-

Vladimir Putin in Azerbaijan in August 2013

ceeded in establishing diplomatic relations with six coun-tries, sending diplomatic representatives to Germany andFinland.[123] The process of international recognition ofAzerbaijan’s independence from the collapsing SovietUnion lasted roughly one year. The most recent coun-try to recognize Azerbaijan was Bahrain, on 6 November1996.[124] Full diplomatic relations, including mutual ex-changes of missions, were first established with Turkey,Pakistan, the United States, Iran[123] and Israel.[125] Azer-baijan has placed a particular emphasis on its "SpecialRelationship" with Turkey.[126][127]

Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 158 coun-tries so far and holds membership in 38 internationalorganizations.[16] It holds observer status in the Non-Aligned Movement and World Trade Organization andis a correspondent at the International Telecommunica-tion Union.[16] On 9 May 2006 Azerbaijan was electedto membership in the newly established Human RightsCouncil by the United Nations General Assembly. Theterm of office began on 19 June 2006.[18]

Foreign policy priorities of Azerbaijan include, first ofall, the restoration of its territorial integrity; eliminationof the consequences of the loss of Nagorno-Karabakhand seven other regions of Azerbaijan;[128][129] integra-tion into European and Euro-Atlantic structure; contri-bution to international security; cooperation with inter-national organizations; regional cooperation and bilateralrelations; strengthening of defense capability; promotionof security by domestic policy means; strengthening ofdemocracy; preservation of the ethnic and religious tol-erance; scientific, educational, and cultural policy and

9

Ilham Aliyev attends the Caspian Sea Summit in Astrakhan, Rus-sia, 29 September 2014

preservation of moral values; economic and social de-velopment; enhancing internal and border security; andmigration, energy, and transportation security policy.[128]

The Azerbaijani government, in late 2007, stated that thelong-standing dispute over the Armenian-occupied terri-tory of Nagorno-Karabakh is almost certain to spark anew war if it remains unresolved.[128] The Governmentis in the process of increasing its military budget. Fur-thermore, economic sanctions by Turkey to the west andby Azerbaijan itself to the east have combined to greatlyerode Armenia’s economy, leading to steep increases inprices for basic commodities and a great decline in theArmenian state revenues.[130]

Azerbaijan is an active member of international coali-tions fighting international terrorism. The country is con-tributing to peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo, Afghanistanand Iraq. Azerbaijan is an active member of NATO'sPartnership for Peace program. It also maintains goodrelations with the European Union and could potentiallyone day apply for membership.[128]

4.2 Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is divided into 10 economic regions; 66rayons (rayonlar, singular rayon) and 77 cities (şəhər-lər, singular şəhər) of which 12 are under the directauthority of the republic.[131] Moreover, Azerbaijan in-cludes the Autonomous Republic (muxtar respublika) ofNakhchivan.[91] The President of Azerbaijan appointsthe governors of these units, while the government ofNakhchivan is elected and approved by the parliament ofNakhchivan Autonomous Republic.Note: The cities under the direct authority of the republicin italics.

5 Military

Main article: Azerbaijani Armed ForcesThe history of the modern Azerbaijan army dates back to

Azerbaijani Navy fleet during the 2011 military parade in Baku.

Azerbaijani Special Forces during military parade.

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918, when the Na-tional Army of the newly formed Azerbaijan DemocraticRepublic was created on 26 June 1918.[132][133] WhenAzerbaijan gained independence after the dissolution ofthe Soviet Union, the Armed Forces of the Republicof Azerbaijan were created according to the Law onthe Armed Forces of 9 October 1991.[134] The origi-nal date of the establishment of the short-lived NationalArmy is celebrated as Army Day (26 June) in today’sAzerbaijan.[135] As of 2002, Azerbaijan had 95,000 ac-tive personnel in its armed forces. There are also 17,000paramilitary troops.[136] The armed forces have threebranches: the Land Forces, the Air Forces and the Navy.Additionally the armed forces embrace several militarysub-groups that can be involved in state defense whenneeded. These are the Internal Troops of the Ministryof Internal Affairs and the State Border Service, whichincludes the Coast Guard as well.[91] The Azerbaijan Na-tional Guard is a further paramilitary force. It operates asa semi-independent entity of the Special State ProtectionService, an agency subordinate to the President.[137]

Azerbaijan adheres to the Treaty on Conventional ArmedForces in Europe and has signed all major internationalarms and weapons treaties. Azerbaijan closely cooperates

10 6 ECONOMY

Contingent from the Azerbaijani military during the Moscow Vic-tory Day Parade, 9 May 2015

with NATO in programs such as Partnership for Peaceand Individual Partnership Action Plan. Azerbaijan hasdeployed 151 of its Peacekeeping Forces in Iraq and an-other 184 in Afghanistan.[138]

The defense budget of Azerbaijan for 2011 was set atUS$3.1 billion.[139] In addition to that, $1.36 billion wasplanned to be used for the needs of the defense indus-try, which bring up the total military spending to $4.46billion.[139][140] Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev saidon 26 June 2011 that the defence spending reached $3.3billion that year.[141]

Azerbaijan’s defense budget for 2013 is $3.7billion.[142][143]

Azerbaijani defense industry manufactures small arms,artillery systems, tanks, armors and noctovision devices,aviation bombs, pilotless vehicles, various military vehi-cles and military planes and helicopters.[144][145][146][147]

6 Economy

Main article: Economy of Azerbaijan

After gaining independence in 1991, Azerbaijan be-came a member of the International Monetary Fund, theWorld Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction andDevelopment, the Islamic Development Bank and theAsian Development Bank.[148] The banking system ofAzerbaijan consists of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan,commercial banks and non-banking credit organizations.The National (now Central) Bank was created in 1992based on the Azerbaijan State Savings Bank, an affili-ate of the former State Savings Bank of the USSR. TheCentral Bank serves as Azerbaijan’s central bank, em-powered to issue the national currency, the Azerbaijanimanat, and to supervise all commercial banks. Two ma-jor commercial banks are the state-owned InternationalBank of Azerbaijan, which is run by Dr. Jahangir Ha-jiyev, and the UniBank.Pushed up by spending and demand growth, the 2007

Q1 inflation rate reached 16.6%.[149] Nominal incomesand monthly wages climbed 29% and 25% respectivelyagainst this figure, but price increases in non-oil indus-try encouraged inflation in the country.[149] Azerbaijanshows some signs of the so-called "Dutch disease" be-cause of the fast-growing energy sector, which causes in-flation and makes non-energy exports more expensive.In the early years of this century the chronically highinflation was brought under control and this led to thelaunch of a new currency, the new Azerbaijani manat,on 1 January 2006, to cement the acquisition of theeconomic reforms and erase the vestiges of an unstableeconomy.[150][151]

In 2008, Azerbaijan was cited as one of the top 10 re-formers by the World Bank’s Doing Business Report.[152]

Azerbaijan led the world as the top re-former in 2007/08, with improvements onseven out of 10 indicators of regulatory re-form. Azerbaijan started operating a one-stopshop in January 2008 that halved the time, costand number of procedures to start a business.Business registrations increased by 40% in thefirst six months. Azerbaijan also eliminatedthe minimum loan cutoff of $1,100, more thandoubling the number of borrowers covered bythe credit registry. Also, taxpayers can now fileforms and pay their taxes online. Azerbaijan’sextensive reforms moved it far up the ranks,from 97 to 33 in the overall ease of doing busi-ness.

Azerbaijan is also ranked 57th in the Global Competi-tiveness Report for 2010–2011, which is above other CIScountries.[153] By 2012 the GDP of Azerbaijan increased20-fold relative to its 1995 level.[154]

6.1 Energy

Main article: Energy in AzerbaijanFurther information: Petroleum industry in Azerbaijan

Two-thirds of Azerbaijan is rich in oil and naturalgas.[155] The region of the Lesser Caucasus accounts formost of the country’s gold, silver, iron, copper, titanium,chromium, manganese, cobalt, molybdenum, complexore and antimony.[155] In September 1994, a 30-year con-tract was signed between the State Oil Company of Azer-baijan Republic (SOCAR) and 13 oil companies, amongthem Amoco, BP, ExxonMobil, Lukoil and Statoil.[148]

As Western oil companies are able to tap deepwateroilfields untouched by the Soviet exploitation, Azerbaijanis considered one of the most important spots in the worldfor oil exploration and development.[156] Meanwhile, theState Oil Fund of Azerbaijan was established as an extra-budgetary fund to ensure the macroeconomic stability,transparency in the management of oil revenue, and thesafeguarding of resources for future generations.

6.4 Transportation 11

A pumping unit for the mechanical extraction of oil on the out-skirts of Baku.

Azeriqaz, a sub-company of SOCAR, intends to ensurefull gasification of the country by 2021.[157]

6.2 Agriculture

Main article: Agriculture in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan has the largest agricultural basin in the re-gion. About 54.9 percent of Azerbaijan is agricul-tural lands.[106] At the beginning of 2007 there were4,755,100 hectares of utilized agricultural area.[158] In thesame year the total wood resources counted 136 millionm³.[158] Azerbaijan’s agricultural scientific research insti-tutes are focused on meadows and pastures, horticultureand subtropical crops, green vegetables, viticulture andwine-making, cotton growing and medicinal plants.[159]

In some lands it is profitable to grow grain, potatoes,sugar beets, cotton[160] and tobacco. Livestock, dairyproducts, and wine and spirits are also important farmproducts. The Caspian fishing industry is concentratedon the dwindling stocks of sturgeon and beluga. In 2002the Azerbaijani merchant marine had 54 ships.[161]

Some portions of most products that were previously im-ported from abroad have 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 byEUPEC Pipe Coating Azerbaijan).[162]

6.3 Tourism

Main article: Tourism in AzerbaijanTourism is an important part of the economy of Azer-

baijan. The country was a well-known tourist spot in the1980s. However, the fall of the Soviet Union, and theNagorno-Karabakh War during the 1990s, damaged thetourist industry and the image of Azerbaijan as a touristdestination.[163]

It was not until the 2000s that the tourism industry be-gan to recover, and the country has since experienced a

Shahdag Mountain Resort is the country’s largest winter resort.

high rate of growth in the number of tourist visits andovernight stays.[164] In the recent years, Azerbaijan hasalso becoming a popular destination for religious, spa,and health care tourism.[165] During winter, the ShahdagMountain Resort offers skiing with state of the art facil-ities.The government of Azerbaijan has set the developmentof Azerbaijan as an elite tourist destination as a top pri-ority. It is a national strategy to make tourism a ma-jor, if not the single largest, contributor to the Azerbai-jani economy.[166] These activities are regulated by theMinistry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan.

6.4 Transportation

Main articles: Transportation in Azerbaijan and Railtransport in Azerbaijan

The convenient location of Azerbaijan on the crossroadof major international traffic arteries, such as the SilkRoad and the south–north corridor, highlights the strate-gic importance of transportation sector for the country’seconomy.[167] The transport sector in the country includesroads, railways, aviation, and maritime transport.Azerbaijan is also an important economic hub in thetransportation of raw materials. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline (BTC) became operational in May 2006and extends more than 1,774 kilometers through the ter-ritories of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The BTCis designed to transport up to 50 million tons of crudeoil annually and carries oil from the Caspian Sea oilfieldsto global markets.[168] The South Caucasus Pipeline, alsostretching through the territory of Azerbaijan, Georgiaand Turkey, became operational at the end of 2006 andoffers additional gas supplies to the European marketfrom the Shah Deniz gas field. Shah Deniz is expectedto produce up to 296 billion cubic meters of natural gasper year.[169] Azerbaijan also plays a major role in theEU-sponsored Silk Road Project.In 2002, the Azerbaijani government established the

12 7 DEMOGRAPHICS

Ministry of Transport with a broad range of policy andregulatory functions. In the same year, the country be-came a member of the Vienna Convention on Road Traf-fic.[170] The highest priority being; upgrading the trans-port network and transforming transportation servicesinto one of the key comparative advantages of the coun-try, as this would be highly conducive to the developmentof other sectors of the economy.In 2012, the construction of Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railwayexpected to provide transportation between Asia andEurope through connecting the railways of China andKazakhstan in the east with Turkey’s Marmaray to the Eu-ropean railway system in the west. Broad-gauge railwaysin 2010 stretched for 2,918 km (1,813 mi) and electrifiedrailways numbered 1,278 km (794 mi). By 2010, therewere 35 airports and one heliport.[91]

6.5 Science and technology

Main articles: Communications in Azerbaijan,Azerbaijan National Aerospace Agency and List ofAzerbaijani inventions and discoveriesIn the 21st century, a new oil and gas boom helped

Shamakhi Astrophysical Observatory

to improve the situation in Azerbaijan’s science andtechnology sectors, and the government launched acampaign aimed at modernization and innovation. Thegovernment estimates that profits from the informationtechnology and communication industry will grow andbecome comparable with those from oil production.[171]

Azerbaijan has a large and steadily growing Internet sec-tor, mostly uninfluenced by the global financial crisis;rapid growth is forecast for at least five more years.[172]

The country has also been making progress in developingits telecoms sector. The Ministry of Communications &Information Technologies (MCIT), as well as being anoperator through its role in Aztelekom, is both a policy-maker and regulator. Public pay phones are available forlocal calls and require the purchase of a token from thetelephone exchange or some shops and kiosks. Tokens al-low a call of indefinite duration. As of 2009, there were1,397,000 main telephone lines[173] and 1,485,000 inter-

net users.[174] There are four GSM providers: Azercell,Bakcell, Azerfon (Nar Mobile), Nakhtel mobile networkoperators and one CDMA.In the 21st century a number of prominent Azerbai-jani geodynamics and geotectonics scientists, inspiredby the fundamental works of Elchin Khalilov and oth-ers, designed hundreds of earthquake prediction sta-tions and earthquake-resistant buildings that now con-stitute the bulk of The Republican Center of SeismicService.[175][176][177]

The Azerbaijan National Aerospace Agency launched itsfirst satellite AzerSat 1 into orbit in 7 February 2013 fromGuiana Space Centre in French Guiana at orbital posi-tions 46° East.[178][179][180] The satellite will cover Eu-rope and significant part of Asian countries and Africaand will have transmission for TV, radio broadcasting andthe internet.[181] The launch of its own satellite on orbit isAzerbaijan’s first action in realizing prospective projectsto turn itself into a country with a space industry.[182][183]

7 Demographics

Main article: Demographics of AzerbaijanFurther information: Ethnic minorities in Azerbaijan

From the total population of 9,165,000 people as of July2011, nearly 52% was urban population, the remaining48% was the rural population.[185] 51% of the total pop-ulation were female.[185] The sex ratio for total populationin that year was therefore 0.97 males per female.[91]

The 2011 population growth-rate was 0.85%, comparedto 1.09% worldwide.[91] A significant factor restrictingthe population growth is rather a high level of migra-tion. In 2011 Azerbaijan saw migration of −1.14/1,000people.[91]

The Azerbaijani diaspora is found in 42 countries[186]

and in turn there are many centers for ethnic minori-ties inside Azerbaijan, including the German cultural so-ciety “Karelhaus”, Slavic cultural center, Azerbaijani-Israeli community, Kurdish cultural center, InternationalTalysh Association, Lezgin national center “Samur”,Azerbaijani-Tatar community, Crimean Tatars society,etc.[187]

The ethnic composition of the population accordingto the 2009 population census: 91.60% Azerbaijanis,2.02% Lezgians, 1.35% Armenians (almost all Armeni-ans live in the break-away region of Nagorno-Karabakh),1.34% Russians, 1.26% Talysh, 0.56% Avars, 0.43%Turks, 0.29% Tatars, 0.28% Tats, 0.24% Ukrainians,0.14% Tsakhurs, 0.11% Georgians, 0.10% Jews, 0.07%Kurds, other 0.21%.Iranian Azerbaijanis are the largest minority in Iran. TheCIA World Factbook estimates Iranian Azerbaijanis ascomprising 16% of Iran’s population.[188]

7.4 Education 13

7.1 Urbanization

Main article: List of cities in Azerbaijan

In total, Azerbaijan has 77 cities, 64 smaller rayon-classcities, and one special legal status city. These are followedby 257 urban-type settlements and 4,620 villages.[189]

7.2 Language

Main article: Languages of Azerbaijan

The official language is Azerbaijani, which is spokenby approximately 92% of the population as a mothertongue. It belongs to the Turkic language family. Rus-sian and English play significant roles as second orthird languages of education and communication. Thereare a dozen other languages spoken natively in thecountry.[190] Armenian, Avar, Budukh,[191] Georgian,Juhuri,[191] Khinalug,[191] Kryts,[191] Lezgian, Rutul,[191]

Talysh, Tat,[191] Tsakhur,[191] and Udi[191] are all spo-ken by minorities. Some of these language communitiesare very small and their numbers are decreasing.[192] Ar-menian is almost exclusively spoken in the break-awayNagorno-Karabakh region.

7.3 Religion

Main articles: Religion in Azerbaijan and Freedom of re-ligion in AzerbaijanAround 95% of the population are Muslims.[194] 85%

The Bibi-Heybat Mosque before its destruction by the Bolsheviksin 1936. The mosque was built over the tomb of a descendant ofMuhammad.[193]

of the Muslims are Shia Muslims and 15% Sunni Mus-lims,[195] and the Republic of Azerbaijan has the sec-ond highest Shia population percentage after Iran.[196]

Other faiths are practised by the country’s various eth-nic groups. Under article 48 of its Constitution, Azer-baijan is a secular state and ensures religious freedom.In a 2006–2008 Gallup poll, only 21% of respondentsfrom Azerbaijan stated that religion is an important partof their daily lives.[197]

Of the nation’s religious minorities, Christians whoestimated 280,000 (3.1%)[198] are mostly Russianand Georgian Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic (al-most all Armenians live in the break-away regionof Nagorno-Karabakh).[91] In 2003, there were 250Roman Catholics.[199] Other Christian denominations asof 2002 include Lutherans, Baptists and Molokans.[200]

There is also a small ethnic Azerbaijani Protestantcommunity.[201]<ref name=">“Christian MissionariesBecoming Active in Azerbaijan” (in Azerbaijani).Tehran Radio. 19 June 2011. Retrieved 12 August2012.</ref> There are also Jewish, Bahá'í, Hare Krishnaand Jehovah’s Witnesses communities, as well as adher-ents of the other religious communities.[200] Some reli-gious communities have been unofficially restricted fromreligious freedom. A U.S. State Department report on thematter mentions detention of members of certain Mus-lim and Christian groups, and many groups have difficultyregistering with the SCWRA.[202]

There is the Hindu[203] Fire Temple of Baku (“ateshgah”in Persian) with an “old” structure[204] which, accordingto travellers, has been a place of visit for Hindu priestsfor more than a millennium in Baku.[205] The place is of-ten “misrepresented as a Zoroastrian fire-temple” due tofrequent association of “fire temple” with the Iranian re-ligion of Zoroastrianism.[203]

7.4 Education

Main article: Education in Azerbaijan

A relatively high percentage of Azerbaijanis have ob-tained some form of higher education, most notably inscientific and technical subjects.[206] In the Soviet era,literacy and average education levels rose dramaticallyfrom their very low starting point, despite two changesin the standard alphabet, from Perso-Arabic script toLatin in the 1920s and from Roman to Cyrillic in the1930s. According to Soviet data, 100 percent of malesand females (ages nine to forty-nine) were literate in1970.[206] According to the United Nations DevelopmentProgram Report 2009, the literacy rate in Azerbaijan is99.5 percent.[207]

Since independence, one of the first laws that Azerbai-jan’s Parliament passed to disassociate itself from the So-viet Union was to adopt a modified-Latin alphabet to re-place Cyrillic.[208] Other than that the Azerbaijani sys-tem has undergone little structural change. Initial alter-ations have included the reestablishment of religious ed-ucation (banned during the Soviet period) and curricu-lum changes that have reemphasized the use of the Azer-baijani language and have eliminated ideological con-tent. In addition to elementary schools, the educationinstitutions include thousands of preschools, general sec-ondary schools, and vocational schools, including special-ized secondary schools and technical schools. Education

14 8 CULTURE

through the eighth grade is compulsory.

8 Culture

Main articles: Culture of Azerbaijan and Literature ofAzerbaijanThe culture of Azerbaijan has developed as a result of

The Azerbaijani carpet, a UNESCO Masterpiece of IntangibleHeritage of Humanity.

many influences. Today, national traditions are well pre-served in the country despite Western influences, includ-ing globalized on consumer culture. Some of the main el-ements of the Azerbaijani culture are: music, literature,folk dances and art, cuisine, architecture, cinematogra-phy and Novruz Bayram. The latter is derived from thetraditional celebration of the New Year in the ancientPersian religion of Zoroastrianism. Novruz is a familyholiday.[209]

Azerbaijan folk consists of Azerbaijanis, the represen-tative part of society, as well as of nations and ethnicgroups, compactly living in various areas of the coun-try. Azerbaijani national and traditional dresses are theChokha and Papakhi. There are radio broadcasts in Rus-sian, Armenian, Georgian, Kurdish, Lezgian and Talyshlanguages, which are financed from the state budget.[187]

Some local radio stations in Balakan and Khachmaz or-ganize broadcasts in Avar and Tat.[187] In Baku severalnewspapers are published in Russian, Kurdish (DengiKurd), Lezgian (Samur) and Talysh languages.[187] Jewishsociety “Sokhnut” publishes the newspaper Aziz.[187]

8.1 Music and folk dances

Main articles: Music of Azerbaijan and AzerbaijanidancesMusic of Azerbaijan builds on folk traditions that reach

back nearly a thousand years.[210] For centuries Azerbai-jani music has evolved under the badge of monody, pro-ducing rhythmically diverse melodies.[211] Azerbaijanimusic has a branchy mode system, where chromatizationof major and minor scales is of great importance.[211]

Among national musical instruments there are 14 stringinstruments, eight percussion instruments and six wind

Uzeyir Hajibeyov merged traditional Azerbaijani music withWestern styles in the early 20th century.

instruments.[212] According to The Grove Dictionary ofMusic and Musicians, “in terms of ethnicity, culture andreligion the Azeri are musically much closer to Iran thanTurkey.”[213]

The Azerbaijani Mugam, a UNESCO Masterpiece of IntangibleHeritage of Humanity, 16th-century miniature of Nizami Gan-javi's Khosrow and Shirin tragic romance.

Mugham, meykhana and ashiq art are among the manymusical traditions of Azerbaijan. Mugham is usuallya suite with poetry and instrumental interludes. Whenperforming mugham, the singers have to transform theiremotions into singing and music. In contrast to themugham traditions of Central Asian countries, Azerimugham is more free-form and less rigid; it is often com-pared to the improvised field of jazz.[214] UNESCO pro-

8.2 Literature 15

claimed the Azerbaijani mugham tradition a Masterpieceof the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on 7November 2003. Meykhana is a kind of traditional Azeridistinctive folk unaccompanied song, usually performedby several people improvising on a particular subject.Ashiq combines poetry, storytelling, dance and vocal andinstrumental music into a traditional performance art thatstands as a symbol of Azerbaijani culture. It is a mys-tic troubadour or traveling bard who sings and plays thesaz. This tradition has its origin in the Shamanistic beliefsof ancient Turkic peoples.[215] Ashiqs’ songs are semi-improvised around common bases. Azerbaijan’s ashiq artwas included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage bythe UNESCO on 30 September 2009.[216]

Since the mid-1960s, Western-influenced Azerbaijanipop music, in its various forms, that has been grow-ing in popularity in Azerbaijan, while genres as rockand hip hop of alternative music genres are encour-aged. Azerbaijani pop and Azerbaijani folk musicarose with the international popularity of performers likeAlim Qasimov, Rashid Behbudov, Vagif Mustafazadeh,Muslim Magomayev, Shovkat Alakbarova and RubabaMuradova.[217] Azerbaijan made its debut appearanceat the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. The country’sentry gained the third place in 2009 and fifth the fol-lowing year.[218] Ell and Nikki won the first place at theEurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song "RunningScared", entitling Azerbaijan to host the contest in 2012,in Baku.[219][220]

There are dozens of Azerbaijani folk dances. They areperformed at formal celebrations and the dancers wearnational clothes like the Chokha, which is well-preservedwithin the national dances. Most dances have a very fastrhythm. The national dance shows the characteristics ofthe Azerbaijani nation.

8.2 Literature

Main article: Azerbaijani literatureAmong the medieval authors born within the territorial

limits of modern Azerbaijani Republic was Persian poetand philosopher Nizami, called Ganjavi after his place ofbirth, Ganja, who was the author of the Khamseh (“TheQuintuplet”), composed of five romantic poems, includ-ing “The Treasure of Mysteries,” “Khosrow and Shīrīn,”and “Leyli and Mejnūn.”[221]

The earliest known figure in Azerbaijani literature wasIzzeddin Hasanoglu, who composed a divan consisting ofPersian and Turkic ghazals.[222][223] In Persian ghazals heused his pen-name, while his Turkic ghazals were com-posed under his own name of Hasanoghlu.[222]

Classical literature in Azerbaijani was formed in 14thcentury based on the various dialect Early Middle Agesdialects of Tabriz and Shirvan. Among the poets ofthis period were Gazi Burhanaddin, Haqiqi (pen-name

Painting of KhurshidbanuNatavan, one of the most distinguishedpoets in Azerbaijani literature. She was also the daughter of thelast ruler of the Karabakh Khanate.

of Jahan-shah Qara Qoyunlu), and Habibi.[224] The endof the 14th century was also the period of startingliterary activity of Imadaddin Nesimi,[225] one of thegreatest Turkic[226][227][228] Hurufi mystical poets of thelate 14th and early 15th centuries[229] and one of themost prominent early Divan masters in Turkic literaryhistory,[229] who also composed poetry in Persian[227][230]

and Arabic.[229] The Divan and Ghazal styles were furtherdeveloped by poets Qasim al-Anvar, Fuzuli and Khatai(pen-name of Safavid Shah Ismail I).The Book of Dede Korkut consists of two manuscriptscopied in the 16th century,[231] was not written earlierthan the 15th century.[232][233] It is a collection of 12 sto-ries reflecting the oral tradition of Oghuz nomads.[233]

The 16th-century poet, Muhammed Fuzuli produced histimeless philosophical and lyrical Qazals in Arabic, Per-sian, and Azeri. Benefiting immensely from the fine lit-erary traditions of his environment, and building uponthe legacy of his predecessors, Fizuli was destined to be-come the leading literary figure of his society. His ma-jor works include The Divan of Ghazals and The Qasi-das. In the same century, Azerbaijani literature furtherflourished with the development of Ashik (Azerbaijani:Aşıq) poetic genre of bards. During the same period, un-der the pen-name of Khatāī (Arabic: for sinner)

16 8 CULTURE

Shah Ismail I wrote about 1400 verses in Azeri,[234] whichwere later published as his Divan. A unique literary styleknown as qoshma (Azerbaijani: qoşma for improvization)was introduced in this period, and developed by Shah Is-mail and later by his son and successor, Shah TahmaspI.In the span of the 17th and 18th centuries, Fizuli’s uniquegenres as well Ashik poetry were taken up by promi-nent poets and writers such as Qovsi of Tabriz, ShahAbbas Sani, Agha Mesih Shirvani, Nishat, Molla ValiVidadi, Molla Panah Vagif, Amani, Zafar and others.Along with Turks, Turkmens and Uzbeks, Azeris also cel-ebrate the Epic of Koroglu (from Azerbaijani: kor oğlufor blind man’s son), a legendary folk hero.[235] Severaldocumented versions of Koroglu epic remain at the In-stitute for Manuscripts of the National Academy of Sci-ences of Azerbaijan.[223]

Modern literature in Azerbaijan is based on the Shirvanidialect mainly, while in Iran it is based on the Tabrizi one.The first newspaper in Azerbaijani, Akinchi was pub-lished in 1875. In the mid-19th century, it was taught inthe schools of Baku, Ganja, Shaki, Tbilisi, and Yerevan.Since 1845, it has also been taught in the University ofSaint Petersburg in Russia.

8.3 Folk art

Main article: Azerbaijani folk artAzerbaijanis have a rich and distinctive culture, a ma-

jor part of which is decorative and applied art. This formof art is represented by a wide range of handicrafts, suchas chasing, jeweler, engraving in metal, carving in wood,stone and bone, carpet-making, lasing, pattern weavingand printing, knitting and embroidery. Each of thesetypes of decorative art, evidence of the and endowmentsof the Azerbaijan nation, is very much in favor here.Many interesting facts pertaining to the development ofarts and crafts in Azerbaijan were reported by numerousmerchants, travelers and diplomats who had visited theseplaces at different times.The Azerbaijani carpet is a traditional handmade textileof various sizes, with dense texture and a pile or pile-less surface, whose patterns are characteristic of Azer-baijan’s many carpet-making regions. In November 2010the Azerbaijani carpet was proclaimed a Masterpiece ofIntangible Heritage by UNESCO.[236][237]

Azerbaijan has been since the ancient times known asa center of a large variety of crafts. The archeolog-ical dig on the territory of Azerbaijan testifies to thewell developed agriculture, stock raising, metal working,pottery, ceramics, and carpet-weaving that date as farback as to the 2nd millennium BC. Archeological sitesin Dashbulaq, Hasansu, Zayamchai, and Tovuzchai un-covered from the BTC pipeline have revealed early IronAge artifacts.[238]

Traditional Azerbaijani clothing and musical instruments.

Handwork coppery in Lahic.

Azerbaijani carpets can be categorized under severallarge groups and a multitude of subgroups. Scientificresearch of the Azerbaijani carpet is connected withthe name of Latif Kerimov, a prominent scientist andartist. It was his classification that related the fourlarge groups of carpets with the four geographical zonesof Azerbaijan, Guba-Shirvan, Ganja-Kazakh, Karabakhand Tabriz.[239]

8.4 Cuisine

Main article: Azerbaijani cuisineThe traditional cuisine is famous for an abundance of

8.6 Visual art 17

Dushbara, a traditional Azerbaijani meal.

vegetables and greens used seasonally in the dishes. Freshherbs, including mint, cilantro (coriander), dill, basil,parsley, tarragon, leeks, chives, thyme, marjoram, greenonion, and watercress, are very popular and often accom-pany main dishes on the table. Climatic diversity and fer-tility of the land are reflected in the national dishes, whichare based on fish from the Caspian Sea, local meat (mainlymutton and beef), and an abundance of seasonal vegeta-bles and greens. Saffron-rice plov is the flagship foodin Azerbaijan and black tea is the national beverage.[240]

Azerbaijanis often use traditional armudu (pear-shaped)glass as Azerbaijan have very strong tea culture.[241][242]

Popular traditional dishes include bozbash (lamb soupthat exists in several regional varieties with the additionof different vegetables), qutab (fried turnover with a fill-ing of greens or minced meat) and dushbara (sort ofdumplings of dough filled with ground meat and flavor).

8.5 Architecture

Main article: Architecture of Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani architecture typically combines elements ofEast and West.[243] Many ancient architectural treasuressuch as the Maiden Tower and Palace of the Shirvan-shahs in the Walled City of Baku survive in modern Azer-baijan. Entries submitted on the UNESCO World Her-itage tentative list include the Ateshgah of Baku, MomineKhatun Mausoleum, Hirkan National Park, Binegadi Na-tional Park, Lökbatan Mud Volcano, Baku Stage Moun-tain, Caspian Shore Defensive Constructions, Shusha Na-tional Reserve, Ordubad National Reserve and the Palaceof Shaki Khans.[244][245]

Among other architectural treasures are QuadrangularCastle in Mardakan, Parigala in Yukhary Chardaglar, anumber of bridges spanning the Aras River, and severalmausoleums. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, lit-tle monumental architecture was created, but distinctive

residences were built in Baku and elsewhere. Among themost recent architectural monuments, the Baku subwaysare noted for their lavish decor.[246]

The task for modern Azerbaijani architecture is diverseapplication of modern aesthetics, the search for an ar-chitect’s own artistic style and inclusion of the exist-ing historico-cultural environment. Major projects suchas Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center, Flame Towers, BakuCrystal Hall, Baku White City and SOCAR Tower havetransformed the country’s skyline and promotes its con-temporary identity.[247][248]

8.6 Visual art

Main article: Visual arts of AzerbaijanAzerbaijani art includes one of the oldest art objects

A miniature painting of a battle scene on the walls of the Palaceof Shaki Khans, 18th century.

in the world, which were discovered as Gamigaya Petro-glyphs in the territory of Ordubad Rayon are dated backto the 1st to 4th centuries BC. About 1500 dislodged andcarved rock paintings with images of deer, goats, bulls,dogs, snakes, birds, fantastic beings and also people, car-riages and various symbols had been found out on basaltrocks.[249] Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer ThorHeyerdahl was convinced that people from the area wentto Scandinavia in about 100 AD and took their boat build-ing skills with them, and transmuted them into the Vikingboats in Northern Europe.[250][251]

Over the centuries, Azerbaijani art has gone throughmany stylistic changes. Azerbaijani painting is tra-ditionally characterized by a warmth of colour andlight, as exemplified in the works of Azim Azimzadeand Bahruz Kangarli, and a preoccupation with reli-gious figures and cultural motifs.[252] Azerbaijani paint-ing enjoyed preeminence in Caucasus for hundreds ofyears, from the Romanesque and Ottoman periods, andthrough the Soviet and Baroque periods, the latter two ofwhich saw fruition in Azerbaijan. Other notable artistswho fall within these periods include Sattar Bahlulzade,Togrul Narimanbekov, Tahir Salahov, Alakbar Rezag-uliyev, Mirza Gadim Iravani, Mikayil Abdullayev and

18 8 CULTURE

Boyukagha Mirzazade.[253]

8.7 Cinematography

Main articles: Cinema of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijanianimation and Television in Azerbaijan

The film industry in Azerbaijan dates back to 1898. Infact, Azerbaijan was among the first countries involvedin cinematography.[254] Therefore, it’s not surprising thatthis apparatus soon showed up in Baku – at the start of the20th century, this bay town on the Caspian was producingmore than 50 percent of the world’s supply of oil. Just liketoday, the oil industry attracted foreigners eager to investand to work.[255] In 1919, during the Azerbaijan Demo-cratic Republic, a documentary The Celebration of theAnniversary of Azerbaijani Independence was filmed onAzerbaijan’s independence day, 28 May, and premieredin June 1919 at several theatres in Baku.[256] After the So-viet power was established in 1920, Nariman Narimanov,Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of Azerbai-jan, signed a decree nationalizing Azerbaijan’s cinema.This also influenced the creation of Azerbaijani anima-tion.[256]

In 1991, after Azerbaijan gained its independence fromthe Soviet Union, the first Baku International Film Festi-val East-West was held in Baku. In December 2000, theformer President of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, signed adecree proclaiming 2 August to be the professional hol-iday of filmmakers of Azerbaijan. Today Azerbaijanifilmmakers are again dealing with issues similar to thosefaced by cinematographers prior to the establishment ofthe Soviet Union in 1920. Once again, both choice ofcontent and sponsorship of films are largely left up to theinitiative of the filmmaker.[254]

There are three state-owned television channels: AzTV,Idman TV and Medeniyyet TV. One public channel and 6private channels: İctimai Television, ANS TV, Space TV,Lider TV, Azad Azerbaijan TV, Xazar TV and RegionTV.

8.8 Sports

Main article: Sport in AzerbaijanSport in Azerbaijan has ancient roots, and even now, bothtraditional and modern sports are still practiced. Freestylewrestling has been traditionally regarded as Azerbaijan’snational sport, in which Azerbaijan won up to fourteenmedals, including four golds since joining the NationalOlympic Committee. Currently, the most popular sportsinclude football and chess.[257]

Football is the most popular sport in Azerbaijan, andthe Association of Football Federations of Azerbaijanwith 9,122 registered players, is the largest sporting as-sociation in the country.[258][259] The national football

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was the 2013 World Rapid Chess andtwo-time European Team Chess champion.

team of Azerbaijan demonstrates relatively low perfor-mance in the international arena compared to the nationfootball clubs. The most successful Azerbaijani foot-ball clubs are Neftchi Baku, Inter Baku, Qarabağ, andKhazar Lankaran. In 2012, Neftchi Baku became thefirst Azerbaijani team to advance to the group stage ofa European competition, beating APOEL of Cyprus 4-2on aggregate in the play-off round of the 2012-13 UEFAEuropa League.[260][261] In 2014, Qarabağ became thesecond Azerbaijani club advancing to the group stageof UEFA Europa League. Futsal is another popularsport in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijan national futsal teamreached fourth place in the 2010 UEFA Futsal Cham-pionship, while domestic club Araz Naxçivan clinchedbronze medals at the 2009–10 UEFA Futsal Cup and2013–14 UEFA Futsal Cup.[262] Azerbaijan is the mainsponsor of Spanish football club Atlético de Madrid, apartnership that the club describes should 'promote theimage of Azerbaijan in the world'.[263]

Azerbaijan is one of the traditional powerhouses ofworld chess,[264] having hosted many international chesstournaments and competitions and became EuropeanTeam Chess Championship winners in 2009 and2013.[265][266][267] Notable chess players from country’schess schools that made a great impact on the game inworld, includes Teimour Radjabov, Shahriyar Mammad-yarov, Vladimir Makogonov, Vugar Gashimov and for-mer World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov. As of2014, country’s home of Shamkir Chess a category 22event and one of the highest rated tournaments of all

19

time.[268] Backgammon also plays a major role in Azer-baijani culture.[269] The game is very popular in Azer-baijan and is widely played among the local public.[270]

There are also different variations of backgammon de-veloped and analyzed by Azerbaijani experts.[271]

Baku Olympic Stadium was used for the first European Gamesin June 2015.

Azerbaijan is one of the leading volleyball countriesin the world and its Azerbaijan Women’s VolleyballSuper League is one of strongest women leagues inworld. Its women’s national team came fourth at the2005 European Championship.[272] Over the last years,clubs like Rabita Baku and Azerrail Baku achievedgreat success at European cups.[273] Azerbaijani volley-ball players include likes of Valeriya Korotenko, OksanaParkhomenko, Inessa Korkmaz, Natalya Mammadovaand Alla Hasanova.Azerbaijan has a Formula One race-track and coun-try will be hosting its first Formula One Grand Prix in2016.[274]

Other well-known Azerbaijani athletes are Namig Ab-dullayev, Toghrul Asgarov, Rovshan Bayramov, SharifSharifov, Mariya Stadnik and Farid Mansurov inwrestling, Elnur Mammadli, Elkhan Mammadov andNazim Huseynov in judo, Rafael Aghayev in karate,Magomedrasul Majidov and Aghasi Mammadov inboxing, Nizami Pashayev in Olympic weightlifting, AzadAsgarov in pankration, Eduard Mammadov in kickbox-ing, and K-1 fighter Zabit Samedov.Azerbaijan hosted several major sport competitions inlast decade, including the 2013 F1 Powerboat WorldChampionship, 2012 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup,2011 AIBA World Boxing Championships, 2010 Euro-pean Wrestling Championships, 2009 Rhythmic Gym-nastics European Championships, 2014 European Taek-wondo Championships.[275] On 8 December 2012, Bakuwas selected to host the 2015 European Games, the firstto be held in competition’s history.[276] The most impor-tant annual sporting events held in the country are BakuCup and Tour d'Azerbaïdjan cycling race.

9 See also

• Outline of Azerbaijan

• Index of Azerbaijan-related articles

10 References[1] azadlıq saytı: demoqrafik vəziyyət – xəbərin yayınlanma

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[3] “Gini Index”. World Bank. Retrieved 2 March 2011.

[4] “Human Development Index, 2012 Update”. United Na-tions. 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2012.

[5] Azerbaijan may be considered to be in Asia or Europe.The United Nations classification of world regions placesAzerbaijan in Western Asia; the CIA World FactbookCIA.gov, NationalGeographic.com, and EncyclopædiaBritannica also place Georgia in Asia. Conversely, numer-ous sources place Azerbaijan in Europe such as the BBCNEWS.bbc.co.uk, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictio-nary, and Worldatlas.com.

[6] Tadeusz Swietochowski. Russia and Azerbaijan: ABorderland in Transition. Columbia University Press,1995. ISBN 0-231-07068-3, ISBN 978-0-231-07068-3and Reinhard Schulze. A Modern History of the IslamicWorld. I.B.Tauris, 2000. ISBN 1-86064-822-3, ISBN978-1-86064-822-9.

[7] E. Cornell, Svante (2006). The Politicization of Islam inAzerbaijan. Silk Road Paper. pp. 124, 222, 229, 269–270.

[8] Swietochowski, Tadeusz (1995). Russia and Azerbaijan:A Borderland in Transition. Columbia University Press.pp. 69, 133. ISBN 978-0-231-07068-3.

[9] Pipes, Richard (1997). The Formation of the SovietUnion: Communism and Nationalism 1917–1923 (2nded.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard UniversityPress. pp. 218–220, 229. ISBN 978-0-674-30951-7.

[10] King, David C. (2006). Azerbaijan. Marshall Cavendish.p. 27. ISBN 978-0761420118.

[11] Zürcher, Christoph (2007). The Post-Soviet Wars: Re-bellion, Ethnic Conflict, and Nationhood in the Caucasus([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). New York: New York UniversityPress. p. 168. ISBN 978-0814797099.

[12] Резолюция СБ ООН № 822 от 30 апреля 1993 года (inRussian). United Nations. Retrieved 4 January 2011.

[13] Резолюция СБ ООН № 853 от 29 июля 1993 года (inRussian). United Nations. Retrieved 4 January 2011.

[14] Резолюция СБ ООН № 874 14 октября 1993 года (inRussian). United Nations. Retrieved 4 January 2011.

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[19] “The non-aligned engagement”. The Jakarta Post. Re-trieved 26 May 2011.

[20] Cornell, Svante E. (2010). Azerbaijan Since Indepen-dence. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 165, 284. Indicative of gen-eral regional trends and a natural reemergence of previ-ously oppressed religious identity, an increasingly pop-ular ideological basis for the pursuit of political objec-tives has been Islam.... The government, for its part,has shown an official commitment to Islam by buildingmosques and respecting Islamic values... Unofficial Is-lamic groups sought to use aspects of Islam to mobilizethe population and establish the foundations for a futurepolitical struggle.... Unlike Turkey, Azerbaijan does nothave the powerful ideological legacy of secularism... theconflict with Armenia has bred frustration that is increas-ingly being answered by a combined Islamic and national-ist sentiment, especially among younger people... All ma-jor political forces are committed to secularism and arebased, if anything, on a nationalist agenda.

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[22] “Interactive Infographic of the World’s Best Countries”.Newsweek. 15 August 2010. Archived from the originalon 22 July 2011. Retrieved 24 July 2011.

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[25] Azerbaijan and the 2013 presidential election UK Parlia-ment briefing paper, 25 October 2013

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[27] “Introduction: Azerbaijan”. CIA World Factbook. Re-trieved 2014-03-06.

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[29] Houtsma, M. Th. (1993). First Encyclopaedia of Is-lam 1913–1936 (reprint ed.). BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-09796-4.

[30] Schippmann, Klaus (1989). Azerbaijan: Pre-Islamic His-tory. Encyclopædia Iranica. pp. 221–224. ISBN 978-0-933273-95-5.

[31] Minahan, James (1998). Miniature Empires: A HistoricalDictionary of the Newly Independent States. GreenwoodPublishing Group. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-313-30610-5.

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[33] Bosworth A.B., Baynham E.J. (2002). Alexander theGreat in Fact and fiction. Oxford University Press. p. 92.ISBN 978-0-19-925275-6.

[34] Chaumont, M. L. (1987). “Atropates”. EncyclopædiaIranica 3.1. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

[35] Swietochowski, Tadeusz (1999). Historical Dictionary ofAzerbaijan. Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press.ISBN 978-0-8108-3550-4.

[36] Darmesteter, James (2004). “Frawardin Yasht”. AvestaKhorda Avesta: Book Of Common Prayer (reprint ed.).Kessinger Publishing. p. 93. ISBN 978-1-4191-0852-5.

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[38] In dictionaries: F. Steingass: āẕar-bād-gān,āẕar-abād-gūn,āẕar, āẕur,ādar,bāygān,pāy. Dehkhoda:-,Bâdegân/بادگان,Bâygân/بایگان,Âdar/آدر,Âzar/آذر,Âzarbâdegân/آذربادگان,Âzarbâygân/آذربایگان,Âzarbâyjân/آذربایجان(jân-/-جان)gân-/-گان,-pây/پای (Persian)

[39] Azakov, Siyavush. “National report on institutional land-scape and research policy Social Sciences and Humanitiesin Azerbaijan” (PDF). Institute of Physics. Azerbaijan Na-tional Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2007-05-27.

[40] Chaumont, M. L. (1984). “Albania”. Encyclopædia Iran-ica.

[41] Encyclopædia Britannica. Azerbaijan. Chapter History

[42] Maps and accompanying commentary in Hewsen, RobertH. Armenia: a Historical Atlas. Chicago: University ofChicago Press, 2001: map 19 (Orontid Armenia, p. 33),map 20 (Empire of Tigranes the Great, p. 34, map 21(Artaxiad Armenia, p. 35), map 27 (Arsakid Armenia, p.45

[43] A. E. Redgate. The Armenians. Blackwell Publishers.Oxford. Maps 2.1, 7.2, 8.2

[44] Hewsen, Robert H. Armenia: a Historical Atlas. Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 2001, p. 102.

[45] Robert H. Hewsen. Ethno-history and the Armenian influ-ence upon the Caucasian Albanians. Classical Armenianculture: Influence and creativity, Scholars press, Philadel-phia, 1982, p.33.

[46] Hewsen, Robert H. Armenia: a Historical Atlas. Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 2001, map Caucasian Alba-nia.

[47] Robert H. Hewsen, “Ethno-History and the Armenian In-fluence upon the Caucasian Albanians,” in Classical Ar-menian Culture: Influences and Creativity, ed. Thomas J.Samuelian (Philadelphia: Scholars Press, 1982), p. 45

21

[48] Hewsen, Robert H. Armenia: a Historical Atlas. Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 2001, pp. 32–33, map 19(shows the territory of modern Nagorno-Karabakh as partof the Orontids' Kingdom of Armenia)

[49] Моисей Хоренский. Армянская География VII в.Перевод Патканова К.П. СПб., 1877. стр. 40,17

[50] Hewsen, Robert H. “The Kingdom of Artsakh,” in T.Samuelian & M. Stone, eds. Medieval Armenian Culture.Chico, CA, 1983

[51] Yarshater, E. (1987). “The Iranian Language of Azerbai-jan”. Encyclopædia Iranica. III/2.

[52] Ludwig, Paul (1998). Proceedings of the Third EuropeanConference of Iranian Studies 1 (Nicholas Sims-Williams(ed.) ed.). Cambridge: Wiesbaden: Reichert. ISBN 978-3-89500-070-6.

[53] Roy, Olivier (2007). The new Central Asia: geopoliticsand the birth of nations (reprint ed.). I.B. Tauris. p. 6.ISBN 978-1-84511-552-4.

[54] R. Ward, Steven (2009). Immortal: a military history ofIran and its armed forces. Georgetown University Press.p. 43. ISBN 978-1-58901-258-5.

[55] Malcolm Wagstaff, John (1985). The evolution of middleeastern landscapes: an outline to A.D. 1840, Part 1840.Rowman & Littlefield. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-389-20577-7.

[56] L. Altstadt, Audrey (1992). The Azerbaijani Turks: powerand identity under Russian rule. Hoover Press. p. 5. ISBN978-0-8179-9182-1.

[57] Akiner, Shirin (2004). The Caspian: politics, energy andsecurity. RoutledgeCurzon. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-7007-0501-6.

[58] “The Caspian”. Retrieved 4 July 2015.

[59] “In Safavi times, Azerbaijan was applied to all themuslim-ruled khanates of the eastern Caucasian as well asto the area south of the Araz River as fas as the Qezel UzanRiver, the latter region being approximately the same asthe modern Iranian ostans of East and West Azerbaijan.”Atkin, Muriel (1980). Russia and Iran, 1780–1828. Uni-versity of Minnesota Press. p. xi. ISBN 978-0-8166-5697-4.

[60] Bertsch, Gary Kenneth (2000). Crossroads and Conflict:Security and Foreign Policy in the Caucasus and CentralAsia. Routledge. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-415-92273-9. Shusha became the capital of an independent “Azeri”khanate in 1752 (Azeri in the sense of Muslims who spokea version of the Turkic language we call Azeri today)

[61] Nafziger, E. Wayne; Stewart, Frances; Väyrynen, Raimo(2000). War, Hunger, and Displacement: Analysis. Ox-ford University press. p. 406. ISBN 978-0-19-829739-0.

[62] Kashani-Sabet, Firoozeh (May 1997). “Fragile Fron-tiers: The Diminishing Domains of Qajar Iran”. In-ternational Journal of Middle East Studies 29 (2): 210.doi:10.1017/s0020743800064473. In 1795, IbrahimKhalil Khan, the wali of Qarabagh, warned Sultan Selim

III of Aqa Muhammad Khan’s ambitions. Fearing for hisindependence, he informed the Sultan of Aqa MuhammadKhan’s ability to subdue Azerbaijan and later Qarabagh,Erivan, and Georgia.

[63] Baddeley, John Frederick (1908). The Russian Conquestof the Caucasus. Harvard University: Routledge. p. 71.ISBN 978-0-7007-0634-1. Vasily Potto sums up Tsit-sianoff’s achievements and character as follows: “In theshort time he passed there (in Transcaucasia) he managedto completely alter the map of the country. He foundit composed of minutely divided, de facto independentMuhammadan States leaning upon Persia, namely, thekhanates of Baku, Shirvan, Shekeen, Karabagh, Gandja,and Erivan”

[64] Avery, Peter; Hambly, Gavin (1991). The Cambridge His-tory of Iran. Cambridge University Press. p. 126. ISBN978-0-521-20095-0. Agha Muhammad Khan could nowturn to the restoration of the outlying provinces of theSafavid kingdom. Returning to Tehran in the springof 1795, he assembled a force of some 60,000 cavalryand infantry and in Shawwal Dhul-Qa'da/May, set off forAzarbaijan, intending to conquer the country betweenthe rivers Aras and Kura, formerly under Safavid control.This region comprised a number of khanates of which themost important was Qarabagh, with its capital at Shusha;Ganja, with its capital of the same name; Shirvan acrossthe Kura, with its capital at Shamakhi; and to the north-west, on both banks of the Kura, Christian Georgia (Gur-jistan), with its capital at Tiflis.

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reached us would have been composed no later than thebeginning of the 15th century. By this time, the Turkicpeoples in question had been in touch with Islamic civi-lization for several centuries, had come to call themselves“Turcoman” rather than “Oghuz,” had close associationswith sedentary and urbanized societies, and were partici-pating in Islamized regimes that included nomads, farm-ers, and townsmen. Some had abandoned their nomadicway of life altogether.

[232] Cemal Kafadar(1995), “in Between Two Worlds: Con-struction of the Ottoman states”, University of CaliforniaPress, 1995. Excerpt: “It was not earlier than the fifteenthcentury. Based on the fact that the author is buttering upboth the Akkoyunlu and Ottoman rulers, it has been sug-gested that the composition belongs to someone living inthe undefined border region lands between the two statesduring the reign of Uzun Hassan (1466–78). G. Lewis onthe hand dates the composition “fairly early in the 15thcentury at least.”

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11 Further reading

• Olukbasi, Suha. Azerbaijan: A Political History. I.B.Tauris (2011). Focus on post-Soviet era.

• de Waal, Thomas. Black Garden. NYU (2003).ISBN 0-8147-1945-7

• Goltz, Thomas. Azerbaijan Diary : A Rogue Re-porter’s Adventures in an Oil-Rich, War-Torn, Post-Soviet Republic. M E Sharpe (1998). ISBN 0-7656-0244-X

12 External links

General information

• Azerbaijan International

• Heydar Aliyev Foundation

• Azerbaijan at DMOZ

• Azerbaijan entry at The World Factbook

• Azerbaijan at University of Colorado at Boulder

• Country profile from BBC

28 12 EXTERNAL LINKS

• Key Development Forecasts for Azerbaijan fromInternational Futures

• Geographic data related to Azerbaijan atOpenStreetMap

Major government resources

• President of Azerbaijan website

• Azerbaijan State Statistical Committee

• United Nations Office in Azerbaijan

Major news media

• Azerbaijan Today

• Azerbaijan Press Agency

• Trend News Agency

• News.Az

Tourism

• Azerbaijan Tourism Portal

• Wikimedia Atlas of Azerbaijan

Coordinates: 40°18′N 47°42′E / 40.3°N 47.7°E

29

13 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

13.1 Text• Azerbaijan Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan?oldid=678786440 Contributors: Mav, Koyaanis Qatsi, -- April, Andre En-

gels, LA2, Scipius, Danny, SimonP, Drbug, Zoe, Dwheeler, Olivier, Stevertigo, Edward, Patrick, Tim Starling, TimShell, Hoshie, Mic,Zeno Gantner, SebastianHelm, Egil, Mdebets, Ahoerstemeier, Anders Feder, Ronz, Jimfbleak, Docu, TUF-KAT, Notheruser, Den fjät-trade ankan~enwiki, K1, Ugen64, Bogdangiusca, Jiang, Evercat, GCarty, CarlKenner, Rob Hooft, Tobias Conradi, Schneelocke, Dwo,Jonadab~enwiki, Charles Matthews, Dcoetzee, Rob.derosa, Nohat, Bemoeial, RickK, N-true, WhisperToMe, Wik, Zoicon5, Robertb-dc,Tpbradbury, Dragons flight, Morwen, Garry Saint, Esquire, Ed g2s, Nickshanks, Joy, Fvw, Raul654, Farshadrbn, Johnleemk, Huangdi,Jni, Phil Boswell, Robbot, Vardion, The Phoenix, ChrisO~enwiki, Chris 73, Jmabel, Altenmann, Romanm, Naddy, Samrolken, Merovin-gian, Egon, Nach0king, (:Julien:), Hemanshu, ThaGrind, Caknuck, Andrew Levine, Mervyn, Hadal, Refdoc, Michael Snow, Roozbeh,Mushroom, Scythian99, SoLando, David Gerard, Centrx, JamesMLane, Smjg, Sj, Nadavspi, Tom harrison, Monedula, Muke, Everyk-ing, Snowdog, Cantus, Rick Block, Jfdwolff, Guanaco, BigHaz, BillyH, Gzornenplatz, Avala, Bobblewik, Wiki Wikardo, Ragib, Gol-bez, Wmahan, Magicmike, Ilikeverin, Geni, CryptoDerk, Quadell, Antandrus, Lesgles, Domino theory, PDH, 1297, Rdsmith4, Secfan,Faithx5, MRSC, KingGeekoid, Grunners, Okapi~enwiki, Wyllium, JohnArmagh, Sarcelles, Gerrit, Picapica, Adashiel, Udzu, Gabriel7,Grunt, Thorwald, Bluemask, Mike Rosoft, D6, Sdrawkcab, Jayjg, Freakofnurture, N328KF, R U Bn, Naryathegreat, Discospinster, Patric-knoddy, Rich Farmbrough, Guanabot, Kibinsky, Hydrox, Qutezuce, Vsmith, Parishan, Wikiacc, HeikoEvermann, Dbachmann, Mani1,Byrial, SpookyMulder, WegianWarrior, Bender235, ESkog, Khalid, Android79, Eric Forste, Tooto, Zscout370, MBisanz, El C, Kwamik-agami, QuartierLatin1968, Kross, Shanes, Rjboyer, Cacophony, Spoon!, Dalf, PatrikR, Bobo192, Redlentil, John Vandenberg, Acntx,La goutte de pluie, PeterisP, Thewayforward, Rje, John Fader, Jonathunder, HasharBot~enwiki, Jumbuck, OneGuy, Red Winged Duck,Stephen G. 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30 13 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

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13.2 Images• File:1ST_AZ_REP.GIF Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/1ST_AZ_REP.GIF License: Public domainContributors: Transferred from ru.wikipedia to Commons.

(Original text : :1.The Azerbaijani Turks: Power and Identity Under Russian RuleOriginal artist: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

• File:Ancient_Azerbaijan_4.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Ancient_Azerbaijan_4.jpg License:CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Azeri

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13.2 Images 31

Aquarius.geomar.deOriginal artist:Koyos + Ssolbergj (<a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Ssolbergj' title='User talk:Ssolbergj'>talk</a>)

• File:Azerbaijan_(orthographic_projection).svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Azerbaijan_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: en:User:Night w Original artist: en:User:Night w

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• File:Azerbaijani_mugam_trio_in_XVI_century_miniature_of_Nizami_Ganjavi’{}s_Khosrow_and_Shirin.JPG Source:https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/Azerbaijani_mugam_trio_in_XVI_century_miniature_of_Nizami_Ganjavi%27s_Khosrow_and_Shirin.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: Original artist:Ssolbergj

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• File:Lahic_folk_art.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Lahic_folk_art.png License: CC BY 2.0 Con-tributors: http://www.flickr.com/photos/indigoprime/2429153078/ Original artist: Nick Taylor, indigoprime’s photostream

• File:Munich_Security_Conference_2010_-_dett_aliyew_0014.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Munich_Security_Conference_2010_-_dett_aliyew_0014.jpg License: CC BY 3.0 de Contributors: www.securityconference.de Originalartist: Harald Dettenborn

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