Exploring Azerbaijan's Multinational Identity: A Complex Cultural Mosaic

Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a transcontinental country at the boundary of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It is a secular nation with a majority-Turkic and majority-Shia Muslim population. Azerbaijan is considered a presidential republic, but its government has been characterised by the authoritarian leadership of its presidents and undermined by corruption. Azerbaijan is one of the few countries with a majority Shiite population, with 93% of its population being Muslim, 85% of whom are Shia Muslims and 15% Sunni Muslims. Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 182 countries and holds membership in 38 international organisations.

Azerbaijan's independence and history of foreign rule

Azerbaijan's history is characterised by a long period of foreign rule, with the territory that is now Azerbaijan first ruled by Caucasian Albania and later various Persian empires. In the 19th century, it was part of Qajar Iran, but the Russo-Persian wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 forced the Qajar Empire to cede its Caucasian territories to the Russian Empire.

In 1918, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, becoming the first secular democratic Muslim-majority state. However, this independence was short-lived, as in 1920, the country was conquered and incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Azerbaijan SSR.

Azerbaijan finally regained its independence on 30 August 1991, shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, this did not end foreign influence in the country, as the US established diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan in 1992, and the two countries now work together to promote European energy security, expand bilateral trade and investment, and combat terrorism and transnational threats.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

The conflict escalated into a full-scale war in the early 1990s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The war was won by the Republic of Artsakh and Armenia, and led to the occupation of regions around Soviet-era Nagorno-Karabakh. There were expulsions of ethnic Armenians from Azerbaijan and ethnic Azerbaijanis from Armenia and the Armenian-controlled areas. A ceasefire was signed in 1994 in Bishkek, followed by two decades of relative stability.

In late 2020, the large-scale Second Nagorno-Karabakh War resulted in thousands of casualties and a significant Azerbaijani victory. An armistice was established by a tripartite ceasefire agreement on November 10, resulting in Azerbaijan regaining all of the occupied territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh as well as capturing one-third of Nagorno-Karabakh itself.

Ceasefire violations in Nagorno-Karabakh and on the Armenian–Azerbaijani border continued following the 2020 war. Azerbaijan began blockading Nagorno-Karabakh in December 2022, and launched a large-scale military offensive in September 2023, resulting in a ceasefire agreement. Most ethnic Armenians fled, and Artsakh was officially dissolved on January 1, 2024.

Azerbaijan's government and politics

Azerbaijan is a unitary semi-presidential republic. It is one of six independent Turkic states and an active member of the Organization of Turkic States and the TÜRKSOY community. Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 182 countries and holds membership in 38 international organizations, including the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Non-Aligned Movement, the OSCE, and the NATO PfP program. It is one of the founding members of GUAM, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the OPCW.

The Constitution of Azerbaijan states that it is a presidential republic with three branches of power – executive, legislative, and judicial. The legislative power is held by the unicameral National Assembly and the Supreme National Assembly in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The Parliament of Azerbaijan, called Milli Majlis, consists of 125 deputies elected based on majority vote, with a term of five years for each elected member. The executive power is held by the president, who is elected for a seven-year term by direct elections, and the prime minister. The president does not have the right to dissolve the National Assembly but has the right to veto its decisions. The judicial power is vested in the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, and the Economic Court. The president nominates the judges in these courts.

Azerbaijan's government functions as an authoritarian regime in practice; although it regularly holds elections, these are marred by electoral fraud and other unfair election practices. The government has been ruled by the Aliyev political family and the New Azerbaijan Party (Yeni Azərbaycan Partiyası, YAP) established by Heydar Aliyev continuously since 1993. It is categorized as "not free" by Freedom House, who ranked it 7/100 on the Global Freedom Score in 2024.

The country's economy and natural resources

Azerbaijan's economy is highly dependent on oil and gas exports, which account for roughly 47.8% of its GDP and over 92.5% of its export revenue. The country has large oil reserves, with oil and gas making up two-thirds of its GDP, and is one of the top ten most fossil fuel-dependent economies in the world. The transition to oil production in the late 1990s led to rapid economic growth from 1995 to 2014. Since 2014, GDP growth has slowed down.

Azerbaijan has the largest agricultural basin in its region, with about 54.9% of the country being agricultural land. The country's agricultural scientific research institutes focus on meadows and pastures, horticulture and subtropical crops, leaf vegetables, viticulture and wine-making, cotton growing, and medicinal plants. In some areas, it is profitable to grow grain, potatoes, sugar beets, cotton, and tobacco. Livestock, dairy products, and wine and spirits are also important farm products.

Azerbaijan's fishing industry is concentrated on the dwindling stocks of sturgeon and beluga in the Caspian Sea. The country was once a leading caviar producer and exporter.

Azerbaijan's mining and hydrocarbon industries accounted for over 95% of the economy in the late 2000s. The country has rich mining resources due to its complex geological structure. Oil, gas, shale, and peat are among the minerals extracted, with the oil and gas industry being the most valuable. The Absheron Peninsula, especially, is one of the world's oldest oil-producing regions. Azerbaijan's oil is of high quality, with low sulphuric and paraffin content. The country's oil wealth has strengthened the stability of the current regime and enriched the ruling elites.

Azerbaijan is working to diversify its economy away from hydrocarbons and towards the green energy, agriculture, logistics, tourism, and information/communication technology (ICT) sectors. The government is investing in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, with plans to install 1500 MW in renewables capacity by 2030.

The country's convenient location on major international traffic arteries, such as the Silk Road and the south-north corridor, highlights the strategic importance of the transportation sector for the economy. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which became operational in 2006, is an important transport route for crude oil from the Caspian Sea oilfields to global markets.

Azerbaijan's defense industry has emerged as an autonomous entity with growing defense production capabilities. The country manufactures small arms, artillery systems, tanks, armors, aviation bombs, UAVs, military vehicles, and military planes and helicopters.

The country's currency is the Azerbaijani manat, which is issued by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan. The private sector is weak, as the economy is dominated by state-owned enterprises. More than half of the formal labor force works for the government.

Azerbaijan is a developing country and ranks 91st on the Human Development Index. It has a high level of income inequality, with the highest 10% of the population earning 27.4% of the income. According to the Asian Development Bank's estimates in 2017, 5.4% of the population lives below the poverty line.

Demographics and religion

Azerbaijan's population is approximately 10.2 million people as of July 2024, with 57.6% of the population living in urban areas. The median age is 33.1 years, and the country's population density is 125 people per square kilometre.

The vast majority of the country's population (97%) is Muslim, but the country is considered the most secular in the Muslim world. The majority of Muslims in Azerbaijan are Shia (60-65%), with a significant Sunni minority (35-40%). However, religious affiliation is largely cultural and ethnic rather than religious, and the importance of religion in everyday life remains low.

Azerbaijan is also home to small Christian and Jewish populations. Christians, who number between 280,000 and 450,000, are mostly Russian and Georgian Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic. There is also a small ethnic Azerbaijani Protestant community, numbering around 5,000. Jewish communities in Azerbaijan total almost 16,000, with the majority being Mountain Jews.

Azerbaijan is considered a secular state, and its constitution ensures freedom of religion. However, the government has been criticised for infringing on religious freedom, with reports of interference in religious activities and the imprisonment of religious activists.

Frequently asked questions