Azerbaijan: Difference between revisions

Republic of Azerbaijan Azərbaycan Respublikası
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: none
Anthem: Azərbaycan Respublikasının Dövlət Himni (March of Azerbaijan)
Capital and largest city	Baku
Official languages	Azerbaijani
Government	Republic
• President	Ilham Aliyev
• Prime Minister	Artur Rasizade
Independence  from the Soviet Union
• Declared	August 30 1991
• Completed	December 25 1991
• Water (%)	negligible
Population
• 2005 estimate	8,411,000 (90th)
• 1999 census	7,953,438
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
• Total	$38.71 billion (88th)
• Per capita	$4,601 (106th)
Gini (2001)	36.5 medium inequality (54th)
HDI (2003)	0.729 high (101st)
Currency	Manat (AZN)
Time zone	UTC+4
• Summer (DST)	UTC+5
Calling code	994
ISO 3166 code	AZ
Internet TLD	.az

Azerbaijan [ɑ:zɚbai'ʤɑ:n] (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası), is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (an exclave of Azerbaijan) borders Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and Turkey to the northwest. The Nagorno-Karabakh region in the southwest of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia in 1991, but it is not recognized by any nation and considered a legal part of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is a secular state, and has been a member of the Council of Europe since 2001, a partner of the European Union's European Neighbourhood Policy since 2006, a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace since 1994, a member of NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan since 2004^[1] and a Commonwealth of Independent States's member since 1991. The Azerbaijani people (or simply Azeris) are the majority population, most of whom (about 70%) are traditionally adherents of Shi'a Islam. The remaining Muslims are Sunni. Other religions include Russian Orthodoxy (2.5%), other (6%). The country is formally an emerging democracy, but with strong authoritarian rule.

The name Azerbaijan itself is thought to be derived from Atropates,^[2] the Satrap (governor) of Media in the Achaemenid empire, who ruled a region found in modern Iranian Azarbaijan called Atropatene.^[3] Atropates name is believed to be derived from the Old Persian roots meaning "protected by fire."^[4] The name is also mentioned in the Avestan Frawardin Yasht: âterepâtahe ashaonô fravashîm ýazamaide which translates literally to: We worship the Fravashi of the holy Atare-pata.^[5]

The objective of archeology is to study ancient peoples' appearance, their development and formation. Archeology attempts to familiarize modern humans with the ancient past of humankind through the material finds of culture remnants.

Comprehensive evidence of material culture that is related to the time of the first inhabitants was found during archeological excavations in the territory of Azerbaijan. As a result, Azerbaijan was included in the list of countries which hosted the first sites of ancient people. The most ancient artifacts related to the appearance of the first primitive people in Azerbaijan from 1.7-1,8 million years ago have recently been found in the country.

Within the last fifty years the complex research, conducted in Azerbaijan, discovered the patterns of material culture and comprehensive scientific materials for the exploration of the history of the appearance, formation and evolution of ancient people. On the basis of discovered scientific materials the distant past, the initial stages of evolution of the first people and the characteristic features of the patterns of the material culture of our ancestors are being studied and explored.

Scientific research conducted by Azerbaijani and German scientists proved that primitive people appeared on the territory of Azerbaijan 2 million years ago. Yet in the period before 1950 the notion of the settlement of ancient people in Azerbaijan had been rejected. Yet in recent years the archeological research conducted by Azeri archeologists proved the groundlessness of such statements and the existence and formation of ancient people on the territory of the country by means of scientific materials. At the same time the civilization was of a specific kind on the territory of Azerbaijan.

Comprehensive research conducted on the territory of Karabakh registered extensive camps of the Paleolithic era and carried out further scientific exploration.

The scientific research conducted pointed out that it took thousands of years for the ancient inhabitants of Azerbaijan to create implements and to develop them further. Research shows that primitive people mainly settled in the natural caverns, on riverbanks, in caves and other places with favorable conditions.

Rich archeological camps of different stages of the Stone Age were discovered on the territory of Karabakh during exploration work that was conducted in connection with the Paleolithic era in Azerbaijan. The archeological survey conducted by the archeological expedition of the Institute of History under the National Academy of Sciences under the leadership of M.M.Guseynov in the Guruchay and Kondelenchay river valleys discovered cave dwelling camps at Azykh and Taghlar in May of 1960.

It was discovered that karst caves were typical of the mountainous regions of Karabakh. However, the most comprehensive patterns of material culture were registered only in the Azykh and Taghlar caves in the region.

Multi-layer Azykh Paleolithic camps located in one of the most picturesque places on the left bank of the river Guruchay, at a height of 900 above sea level 16 kilometers were found in Fuzuli on the Tugh lowland.

As a result of scientific research that was held in Azerbaijan it was not only proven that primitive people lived in Azerbaijan, but also that Azerbaijan is one of the places with the most ancient of civilizations and that primitive people settled and lived here for a long time. Therefore, the complex scientific research that was conducted in Karabakh had rather important scientific relevance.

Comprehensive archeological materials on patterns of material culture of Olduvay, Ahsel, Mustye, Orinyak, Solyutre, Madlen, Azil, Mezolit, Neolit, Kur-Araz and dyed dishes found in Araz Quruchay, Arpachay, Terterchay, Vileshchay, Zuvandchay and other valleys were also discovered by way of archeological research.

The patterns of material culture that were found in the ancient dwelling places in Azerbaijan informs us about the cave life of primitive people, the production of implements, hunting, first acquaintance with fire, primitive dwellings, rock carvings and the ancient history of Karabakh. At the same time, the material sources further teach us about ancient history and the stages of the formation and settlement of primitive people and the first inhabitants in this area .

Complex scientific research conducted in the dwelling places of the first inhabitants of Azerbaijan proved the existence of primitive people in Azerbaijan. The long formation and settlement of ancient people was proven through scientific evidence.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Azerbaijan"

The first kingdom to emerge in the territory of present-day Republic of Azerbaijan was Mannae in the ninth century BCE, lasting until 616 BCE when it became part of the Median Empire, which later became part of the Persian Empire in 549 BCE. The satrap of Caucasian Albania was established in the fourth century BCE and included the approximate territories of the present-day Azerbaijan nation-state and southern parts of Dagestan.

Islam spread rapidly in Azerbaijan following the Arab conquests during the seventh and eighth centuries. After the power of the Arab Khalifate waned, several semi-independent states have been formed, the Shirvanshah kingdom being one of them. In the eleventh century, the conquering Seljuk Turks became the dominant force in the Caucasus and laid the linguistic foundation of contemporary Azerbaijanis. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the country experienced Mongol-Tatar invasions.

After the Safavid dynasty, Azerbaijan underwent a brief period of feudal fragmentation in the mid-eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries, and consisted of independent khanates. Following the two wars between Qajar Iranian Empire, as well as the Ganja, Guba, Baku and other independent khanates, and the Russian Empire, the Caucasus was acquired by Russia through the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813, and the Treaty of Turkmenchay in 1828, and several earlier treaties between the Russian tsar and the khans concluded in the first decade of the nineteenth century. In 1873, oil was discovered in the city of Baku, Azerbaijan's future capital. By the beginning of the twentieth century almost half world's oil supply came from Azerbaijan.^[6]

After the collapse of the Russian Empire during World War I, Azerbaijan together with Armenia and Georgia became part of the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. When the republic dissolved in May 1918, Azerbaijan declared independence as the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The ADR was the first parliamentary Muslim republic in the world and lasted only two years, from 1918 until 1920, when the Soviet Red Army invaded Azerbaijan. 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 constituent republic of the USSR as the Azerbaijan SSR.

During World War II, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The primary objective of Adolf Hitler's Operation Edelweiss offensive was to capture Azerbaijan's oil-rich capital of Baku. For the war effort, Soviet oil workers were obliged to work non-stop and citizens were to dig entrenchments and antitank obstacles into order to block a possible enemy invasion. However, Operation Edelweiss was unsuccessful. The German army was at first stalled in the mountains of Caucasus, then decisively defeated at the Battle of Stalingrad.

In 1990, Azeris gathered to protest Soviet rule and push for independence. The demonstrations were brutally suppressed by Soviet intervention in what Azeris today refer to as Black January. In 1991, Azerbaijan re-established its independence upon the collapse of the Soviet Union. The early years of its independence were overshadowed by a war with Armenia and separatist Armenians over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Despite a cease-fire in place since 1994, Azerbaijan has yet to resolve its conflict with Armenia. Since the end of the war, Azerbaijan lost control of 14% of its territory including Nagorno-Karabakh itself.^[7] As a result of the conflict, both countries faced problems with refugees and internally displaced persons as well as economic hardships.

Former Soviet Azeri leader Heydar Aliyev sought to exploit the wealthy oil reserves in Baku. Although Aliyev managed to cut down the country's unemployment rate substantially, revenue from oil income went to the governing elite.^{[citation needed]} Aliyev became increasingly autocratic and created a cult of personality around himself. Political opponents were detained and freedom of speech limited. The political situation in Azerbaijan remains tense especially after Aliyev, nearing death, selected his son Ilham as his party's sole presidential candidate. Azeri opposition forces are not satisfied with this new dynastical succession and are pushing for a more democratic government.

State symbols of the Azerbaijan Republic are, according to the Article 23 of Constitution, the flag, the coat of arms and the national anthem.

Azerbaijan is a presidential republic. The head of state and head of government are separate from the country’s law-making body. The people elect the president for a five-year term of office. The president appoints all cabinet-level government administrators. A fifty-member elected national assembly makes the country’s laws. Azerbaijan has universal suffrage above the age of eighteen.

After the presidential elections of October 15, 2003, an official release of the Central Election Committee (CEC) gave İsa Qambar — leader of the largest opposition bloc, Bizim Azərbaycan ("Our Azerbaijan") — 14% percent of the electorate and the second place in the election. Third, with 3.6%, came Lala Shevket, leader of the National Unity Movement, the first woman to run in presidential election in Azerbaijan. Nevertheless, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, Human Rights Watch and other international organizations, as well as local independent political and NGOs voiced concern about observed vote rigging and a badly flawed counting process.

Several independent local and international organizations that had been observing and monitoring the election directly or indirectly declared Isa Gambar winner in the 15 October election. Another view shared by many international organisations is that in reality a second tour of voting should have taken place between the two opposition candidates Isa Gambar and Lala Shevket.

… the government has heavily intervened in the campaigning process in favor of Prime Minister Ilham Aliev, son of current President Heidar Aliev. The government has stacked the Central Election Commission and local election commission with its supporters, and banned local non-governmental organizations from monitoring the vote. As the elections draw nearer, government officials have openly sided with the campaign of Ilham Aliev, constantly obstructing opposition rallies and attempting to limit public participation in opposition events. In some cases, local officials have closed all the roads into town during opposition rallies, or have extended working and school hours—on one occasion, even declaring Sunday a workday—to prevent participation in opposition rallies.

— Human Rights Watch^[8][9]

Azerbaijan held parliamentary elections on Sunday, 6 November 2005.

Azerbaijan was elected as one the members of the newly established Human Rights Council (HRC) by the General Assembly on 9 May 2006. Term of office will begin on 19 June 2006.^[10]

Modern national armed forces of Azerbaijan were formed by presidential decree in October 1991. The Azerbaijan Armed Forces consists of four military branches: the army, air force, navy, air defense force and four sub-branches the national guard, interior guard, border guard and the coast guard.

Azerbaijan is divided into fifty-nine rayons (rayonlar, singular rayon), eleven cities (şəhərlər, singular şəhər), and one autonomous republic (muxtar respublika), Nakhichevan. Nakhichevan itself is subdivided into seven rayons and one city. The city of Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan contains nine of the eleven climatic zones. It is arid, dry, and subtropical with hot summers and mild winters. Temperatures vary by season and area. In the southeast lowland, temperatures average 6 °C (43 °F) in the winter and 26 °C (79 °F) in the summer — though daily maxima typically reach 32 °C (90 °F). In the northern and western mountain ranges, temperatures average 12 °C (54 °F) in the summer and −9 °C (16 °F) in the winter.

Annual rainfall over most of the country varies from 200 mm (8 in) to 400 mm (16 in) and is generally lowest in the northeast. In the far southeast, however, the climate is much moister and annual rainfall can be as high as 1,300 mm (51 in). For most of the country, the wettest periods are in spring and autumn, with summers being the driest.

Azerbaijan's economy is largely based on industry. Industries include machine manufacture, petroleum and other mining, petroleum refining, textile production, and chemical processing. Agriculture accounts for one-third of Azerbaijan’s economy. Most of the nation’s farms are irrigated. In the lowlands, farmers grow such crops as cotton, fruit, grain, tea, tobacco, and many types of vegetables. Silkworms are raised for the production of natural silk for the clothing industry. Azerbaijan’s herders raise cattle, domestic sheep and goats near the mountain ranges. Seafood, including caviar and fish are obtained from the nearby Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan has a highly dynamic economy, mainly because of oil, and its annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth soared 34.5% to reach $20.6 billion in 2006, making it the fastest growing economy in the world for the second-year straight. GDP per capita rose 33% to make $2,373.^[11] The 2007 GDP growth forecast ranges from 18% to 22%.^[12][13]

Azerbaijan has population of 8.4 million,^[14] 90.6% of whom are ethnic Azerbaijani (also called Azeris; 1999 census figures). The second largest ethnic group are Russians, who now form roughly 1.8% of the population, most having emigrated since independence. Numerous Dagestani peoples live around the border with Dagestan. The main peoples are the Lezgis, Avars and the Tsakhurs. Smaller groups include the Budukh, Udins, Kryts and Khinalug or Ketsh around the village of Xinalıq.

Azerbaijan also contains numerous smaller groups, such as Georgians, Kurds, Talysh, Tatars and Ukrainians. Some people argue that the number of Talysh is greater than officially recorded, as many of them are counted as Azerbaijanis.^{[citation needed]} Around the town of Quba in the north live Mountain Jews, who are also to be found in Dagestan. Many Jews have emigrated to Israel in recent years, though this trend has slowed and even reversed more recently. The country’s large Armenian population mostly emigrated to Armenia and to other countries with the beginning of the Armenian-Azeri conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. During the same period, Azerbaijan also received a large influx of Azerbaijanis fleeing Armenia and later Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent provinces occupied by the Armenians. Virtually all of Azerbaijan’s Armenians now live in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Azerbaijan is 93.4% Muslim and most Azerbaijanis are Twelver Shia Muslim. They represent over 75%^[15] of the Muslim population. Other religions or beliefs that are followed by many in the country are Sunni Islam, the Armenian Apostolic Church (in Nagorno-Karabakh), the Russian Orthodox Church, and various other Christian and Muslim sects. Mountain Jews in Quba, as well as several thousand Ashkenazim Jews in Baku, follow Judaism. Adherence to religious dogmas is nominal for the majority of the population and attitudes are secular. Traditionally, villages around Baku and the Lenkoran region are considered stronghold of Shi‘ism, and in some northern regions populated by Sunni Dagestani people, the Salafi sect has gained a following. Folk Islam is widely practiced, but an organized Sufi movement is absent.

The official language of Azerbaijan is Azerbaijani, a member of the Oghuz subdivision of the Turkic language family, and is spoken by around 95% of the republic’s population, as well as about a quarter of the population of Iran. Its closest relatives in language are Turkish, Turkmen and Gagauzian. As a result of the language policy of the Soviet Union, Russian is also commonly spoken as a second language among the urbane. A bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics has been placed by Azerbaijan, with Baku as the host city.

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• Forrest, Brett (Nov. 28, 2005). "Over a Barrel in Baku". Fortune, pp. 54–60.

Azerbaijani language edition of Wikipedia

• "Azerbaijan". The World Factbook (2024 ed.). Central Intelligence Agency.
• BBC Country Profile: Azerbaijan
• Azerbaijan Portal
• Library of Congress Portals to the World: Azerbaijan directory category
• Azerbaijan from A to Z
• Azerbaijan International world's largest website about Azerbaijan
• Virtual Azerbaijan Republic
• Travel Information About Azerbaijan
• Baku Today
• Independent newspaper Azadliq
• State Statistical Committee of the Azerbaijan Republic
• United Nations Office in Azerbaijan with a country report
• IFEX: Press Freedom in Azerbaijan
• Amnesty International on Human Rights in Azerbaidjan
• Azerbaijan Links

ru-sib:Зербажан