Exploring Azerbaijan's Unique Regions: A Cultural Journey

Azerbaijan is a transcontinental country situated at the boundary of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia's republic of Dagestan to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south. The capital of Azerbaijan is Baku, which has the largest and best harbour on the Caspian Sea.

Azerbaijan is about the size of Portugal or the US state of Maine and has a total land area of approximately 86,600 sq km. The country's terrain is dominated by three physical features: the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, and extensive flatlands at the country's centre.

The country is officially called the Republic of Azerbaijan and has a population of over 10 million. The majority of the population is Muslim, and the official language is Azerbaijani, although Russian and Armenian are also spoken.

Azerbaijan was briefly independent from 1918 to 1920 but was then incorporated into the Soviet Union. It became an independent republic again in 1991.

Geography and Climate

Azerbaijan is a transcontinental country at the boundary of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It is part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia's republic of Dagestan to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south. The country has a varied landscape, with three physical features dominating: the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus mountain range, and the extensive flatlands at the country's centre.

Geography

Azerbaijan is about the size of Portugal or the US state of Maine, with a total land area of approximately 86,600 sq km. It is the largest of the three Transcaucasian states. The country's capital, Baku, is an ancient city with the largest and best harbour on the Caspian Sea. It has long been the centre of the republic's oil industry.

The elevation changes over a relatively short distance from lowlands to highlands; nearly half the country is considered mountainous. Notable physical features include the gently undulating hills of the subtropical southeastern coast, which are covered with tea plantations, orange groves, and lemon groves; numerous mud volcanoes and mineral springs in the ravines of Kobustan Mountain near Baku; and coastal terrain that lies as much as 28m below sea level.

Except for its eastern Caspian shoreline and some areas bordering Georgia and Iran, Azerbaijan is ringed by mountains. To the northeast, bordering Russia's Dagestan Autonomous Republic, is the Greater Caucasus range; to the west, bordering Armenia, is the Lesser Caucasus range. To the extreme southeast, the Talysh Mountains form part of the border with Iran. The highest elevations occur in the Greater Caucasus, where Mount Bazarduzu rises 4,466m above sea level.

Eight large rivers flow down from the Caucasus ranges into the central Kura-Aras Lowlands, alluvial flatlands and low delta areas along the seacoast designated by the Azerbaijani name for the Mtkvari River (Kura) and its main tributary, the Aras. The Mtkvari, the longest river in the Caucasus region, forms the delta and drains into the Caspian a short distance downstream from the confluence with the Aras. The Mingechaur Reservoir, with an area of 605 sq km, is the largest body of water in Azerbaijan. It was formed by damming the Kura in western Azerbaijan and provides hydroelectric power and irrigation of the Kura-Aras plain.

The country's highest peak, Bazarduzu, rises to 4,485m in this range at the Azerbaijan-Russia border. Shah Dagi is the highest peak entirely within Azeri territory, at 4,243m. The country's lowest point is the Caspian Sea, at 28m below sea level.

Climate

Azerbaijan's climate varies from subtropical and humid in the southeast to subtropical and dry in central and eastern regions, continental and humid in the mountains, and continental and dry in Nakhchivan. The capital, Baku, enjoys mild weather, averaging 4°C in January and 25°C in July.

The country experiences eight types of air currents, including continental, sea, arctic, and tropical, which formulate its climate. The maximum annual precipitation falls in Lankaran (1,600 to 1,800mm) and the minimum in Absheron (200 to 350mm).

Environmental Issues

Air and water pollution are widespread and pose challenges to economic development. Major sources of pollution include oil refineries and chemical and metallurgical industries, which have historically operated inefficiently. Air quality is extremely poor in Baku, the centre of oil refining, and other industrial centres suffer similar problems.

The Caspian Sea, including Baku Bay, has been polluted by oil leakages and the dumping of raw or inadequately treated sewage, reducing the yield of caviar and fish. In the Soviet period, Azerbaijan was pressed to use heavy applications of pesticides to improve its output of subtropical crops. The continued use of the pesticide DDT in the 1970s and 1980s was particularly egregious, and excessive application of pesticides and chemical fertilisers has caused extensive groundwater pollution, linked by scientists to birth defects and illnesses.

Rising water levels in the Caspian Sea, caused primarily by natural factors but exacerbated by man-made structures, threaten coastal areas. Local scientists consider the Abseron Yasaqligi (Apsheron Peninsula), including Baku and Sumqayit, and the Caspian Sea to be the ecologically most devastated area in the world due to severe air, soil, and water pollution.

History

The history of Azerbaijan is understood as the history of the region now forming the Republic of Azerbaijan. The region was first ruled by Caucasian Albania and later by various Persian empires. Until the 19th century, it remained 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; the treaties of Gulistan in 1813 and Turkmenchay in 1828 defined the border between Russia and Iran.

In the 19th century, an Azerbaijani national identity emerged, and after the collapse of the Russian Empire during World War I, the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic was declared, constituting the present-day republics of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. When the republic dissolved in May 1918, the leading Musavat party declared independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), adopting the name "Azerbaijan", a name that prior to the proclamation of the ADR was solely used to refer to the adjacent region of contemporary Iran. The ADR was the first modern parliamentary republic in the Muslim world and lasted only two years, from 1918 to 1920, before the Soviet Red Army invaded.

In March 1922, Azerbaijan, along with Armenia and Georgia, became part of the Transcaucasian SFSR within the newly-formed Soviet Union. In 1936, the TSFSR was dissolved and Azerbaijan became a constituent republic of the USSR as the Azerbaijan SSR.

During World War II, Azerbaijan played a crucial role in the strategic energy policy of the Soviet Union, with 80% of the Soviet Union's oil on the Eastern Front being supplied by Baku. In 1942, by decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, the commitment of more than 500 workers and employees of the oil industry of Azerbaijan was recognised with awards and medals.

Following the politics of glasnost initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev, civil unrest and ethnic strife grew in various regions of the Soviet Union, including Nagorno-Karabakh, an autonomous region of the Azerbaijan SSR. The disturbances in Azerbaijan, in response to Moscow's indifference to an already heated conflict, resulted in calls for independence and secession, which culminated in the Black January events in Baku.

Later in 1990, the Supreme Council of the Azerbaijan SSR dropped the words "Soviet Socialist" from the title, adopted the "Declaration of Sovereignty of the Azerbaijan Republic" and restored the flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic as the state flag. As a consequence of the failed 1991 Soviet coup attempt in Moscow, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted a Declaration of Independence on 18 October 1991, which was affirmed by a nationwide referendum in December, while the Soviet Union officially ceased to exist on 26 December.

The early years of independence were overshadowed by the First Nagorno-Karabakh war with the ethnic Armenian majority of Nagorno-Karabakh backed by Armenia. By the end of the hostilities in 1994, Armenians controlled 14–16% of Azerbaijani territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh. During the war, many atrocities and pogroms by both sides were committed, including the massacres at Malibeyli, Gushchular and Garadaghly and the Khojaly massacre, along with the Baku pogrom, the Maraga massacre and the Kirovabad pogrom. Furthermore, an estimated 30,000 people were killed and more than a million people were displaced (more than 800,000 Azerbaijanis and 300,000 Armenians).

In 1993, democratically elected President Abulfaz Elchibey was overthrown by a military insurrection led by Colonel Surat Huseynov, which resulted in the rise to power of the former leader of Soviet Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev. In 1994, Huseynov, by that time the prime minister, attempted another military coup against Heydar Aliyev, but he was arrested and charged with treason. In 1995 another coup was attempted against Aliyev, this time by the commander of the Russian OMON special police unit, Rovshan Javadov. The coup was averted, resulting in the death of Javadov and the disbanding of Azerbaijan's OMON units.

At the same time, the country was tainted by rampant corruption in the governing bureaucracy. In October 1998, Aliyev was re-elected for a second term.

Ilham Aliyev, Heydar Aliyev's son, became chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party as well as President of Azerbaijan when his father died in 2003. He was re-elected to a third term as president in October 2013. In April 2018, Aliyev secured his fourth consecutive term in the election that was boycotted by the main opposition parties as fraudulent.

On 27 September 2020, clashes in the unresolved Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resumed along the Nagorno-Karabakh Line of Contact. Both the armed forces of Azerbaijan and Armenia reported military and civilian casualties. The Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement and the end of the six-week war between Azerbaijan and Armenia was widely celebrated in Azerbaijan, as they made significant territorial gains. Despite the much-improved economy, particularly with the exploitation of the Azeri–Chirag–Guneshli oil field and Shah Deniz gas field, the Aliyev family rule has been criticised for election fraud, high levels of economic inequality and domestic corruption.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan launched an offensive against the breakaway Republic of Artsakh in Nagorno-Karabakh that resulted in the dissolution and reintegration of Artsakh on 1 January 2024 and the flight of nearly all ethnic Armenians from the region.

Government and Politics

Azerbaijan is a unitary semi-presidential republic with a strong presidential system. 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 organisations, 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 country's government functions as an authoritarian regime, and the Aliyev family has been in power since 1993. The ruling New Azerbaijan Party has been accused of authoritarianism under president Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev, who is the current president. Ilham Aliyev was re-elected for a fifth consecutive term in February 2024, with over 92% of the vote. However, international observers noted that he had no meaningful challenger.

Azerbaijan's constitution 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 system of governance can be called two-tiered, with the top or highest tier of the government being the executive power headed by the president. The local executive authority is a continuation of executive power. The Security Council is the deliberative body under the president, established in 1997.

Azerbaijan's government has been criticised for bribing foreign officials and diplomats to promote its causes abroad and legitimise its elections at home, a practice termed "caviar diplomacy".

Economy

Azerbaijan's economy is highly dependent on oil and gas exports, with the industry accounting for two-thirds of the country's GDP. The transition to oil production in the late 1990s led to rapid economic growth from 1995 to 2014. However, since 2014, GDP growth has slowed down substantially.

Azerbaijan is one of the top ten most fossil fuel-dependent economies in the world, and its oil wealth has significantly strengthened the stability of President Ilham Aliyev's regime and enriched the ruling elites. The country has used its energy revenues to create a government-run fund involved in international projects and to rebuild its army.

Azerbaijan has the largest agricultural basin in the 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. Livestock, dairy products, and wine and spirits are also important farm products.

The country's convenient location on the crossroads of 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 economic hub in the transportation of raw materials, carrying oil from the Caspian Sea oilfields to global markets.

Azerbaijan's economy is characterized by corruption and inequality, with the private sector being weak as the economy is dominated by state-owned enterprises. More than half of the formal labor force works for the government, and the banking sector remains small relative to the size of the economy.

The country has set economic diversification as a priority and is working to expand its renewable energy sector, with plans to install 1500 MW in renewable energy capacity by 2030. Azerbaijan is also promoting its tourism industry, having been a popular tourist destination in the 1980s.

In 2022, Azerbaijan's GDP was $78.7 billion, with a foreign trade increase of 55.4% to $52.7 billion. The country's top export destinations in 2022 were Italy, Turkey, Israel, and India.

Demographics

Azerbaijan is a transcontinental country at the boundary of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia's republic of Dagestan to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south. The capital of Azerbaijan is Baku, which is also its largest city. The country has a population of over 10 million people, with the majority of the population living in urban areas. The official language is Azerbaijani, a Turkic language, and the country is considered the most secular Muslim-majority country, with around 97% of the population being Muslim.

Azerbaijan has over 80 ethnic groups, with the largest being the Azerbaijanis, who make up 91.6% of the population. Other ethnic groups include Lezgins, Russians, Armenians, Talysh, Avars, Turks, Tats, Ukrainians, Tsakhurs, Georgians, Jews, Kurds, and others. The country has a high literacy rate, with 99.8% of the population being literate.

The population of Azerbaijan is continuing to grow but is in the early stages of aging, with a declining fertility rate and increasing life expectancy. The country has a low infant mortality rate and a high life expectancy, with the total population having a life expectancy of 75.9 years.

The economy of Azerbaijan is largely based on oil and gas production, with the country having rich oil and natural gas reserves. The country has directed some revenue from its energy production towards developing its infrastructure and reducing poverty. However, corruption remains an issue, and the country faces environmental challenges due to pollution and the effects of climate change.

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