The official name is the Republic of Azerbaijan. Located in eastern Transcaucasia. The area is 86.6 thousand km2, the population is 8.2 million people. (2002). The state language is Azerbaijani. The capital is Baku (2 million people, 2002). Public holidays: Republic Day on May 28 (since 1918), Independence Day on October 18 (since 1991), Constitution Day on November 12 (since 1995), National Revival Day on November 17. The monetary unit is the manat. Member of the CIS, the UN and its specialized organizations, OSCE, Council of Europe, WTO (observer), EBRD, IBRD, IMF, OECD, etc.
Geography of Azerbaijan
Located between 44° and 52° east longitude and 38° and 42° north latitude. It is washed by the Caspian Sea, the length of the coastline is 800 km. Azerbaijan includes three peninsulas: Absheron (2000 km2), Sarah (100 km2) and Kura Spit (76 km2), as well as numerous islands: Artyoma (Pir-Allahi) (14.4 km2), Zhiloy (Chilov) (11,5 km2), Bulla (Hera-zire) (3.5 km2), Nargin (Boyuk-zire), Clay (Gilzire), Pig (Senki Mugan), Duvanny (Zembil), Wulf (Dash-zire). In the north, Azerbaijan borders on the Russian Federation, in the northwest on Georgia, in the west on Armenia, in the south on Iran and in the extreme southwest on Turkey.
Azerbaijan combines vast flat lowlands lying below the level of the World Ocean, and mountain peaks, deserts and alpine meadows, salt marshes and subtropical forests. In the north of Azerbaijan rises the Greater Caucasus – the Main and Side Ranges. Highest points: Bazar-Dyuzi (4466 m), Shahdag (4243 m), Tufandag (4191 m), Salavat pass (2895 m). The Lesser Caucasus is located in the southwest of Azerbaijan. Highest points: Kapydzhik (3906 m), Gyamyshdag (3724 m), Bichenek pass (2345 m). Between the ridges and spurs of the Lesser Caucasus lies the Karabakh volcanic highlands, the highest point of which is the Big Ishihly (3552 m). In the southeast of Azerbaijan are the Talysh mountains, which descend to the Lankaran lowland, the highest points are Kemurköy (2477 m) and Kyzyurda (2438 m).
More than 1/2 of the territory of Azerbaijan is occupied by lowlands. The largest is the Kura-Araks, bordered by sloping plains and low mountains. In addition, on the territory of the republic there are elevated Kusar and Sharuro-Ordubad inclined plains and the Samur-Divichinsky lowland. More than 1000 rivers flow through the territory of Azerbaijan, but only 21 of them have a length of more than 100 km. All rivers belong to the Caspian Sea basin, the largest are Kura (1364 km) and Araks (1072 km). The republic has an irrigation system regulated by reservoirs. There are only six of them: Mingachevir, Varvara, Sarsang, Jeyranbatan, Akstafa, Arpachay. The largest Mingachevir, in the middle reaches of the Kura. From it originate the main irrigation canals – Upper Karabakh and Upper Shirvan. There are 250 lakes in Azerbaijan,
The vegetation of Azerbaijan is distinguished by a variety of species (over 4100), among which there are rare and endangered ones. Broad-leaved species are common in forests. There are separate relic massifs of ancient trees. In the deserts and semi-deserts of the plains, wormwood, wormwood-saltwort and semi-shrub vegetation dominate. The plains are inhabited by rodents, reptiles and reptiles, as well as gazelles. Representatives of European forests are common on the slopes of the Greater Caucasus. The world of birds is diverse in the shallow bays of the Caspian Sea.
Azerbaijan has explored large reserves of oil, industrial deposits of gas, magnetic iron ore (Dashkesan), rock salt (Nakhichevan), marble, tuff, pumice. In various regions of the republic, deposits of polymetallic ores containing gold, silver, and copper have been explored. In total, more than 70 oil and gas fields, more than 40 ore and St. 300 non-metallic deposits.
Most of Azerbaijan is located in the subtropical zone. There are several types of climate – from dry and humid subtropical (Lenkoran) to mountain tundra. Soils: from mountain-meadow alpine highlands to gray soils of semi-deserts and yellow soils in the Lankaran subtropics.
Population of Azerbaijan
According to Countryaah, birth rate 18.44‰, death rate 9.55‰ (2001). Average life expectancy is 63 years (58.6 years for men and 67.5 years for women). Infant mortality 83.08 pers. per 1000 newborns. It was estimated that in 2001 children and adolescents under the age of 15 accounted for 32%. There are more women in the republic than men (4.4 million and 3.9 million people, respectively). The predominance of the female population is explained by the high mortality among men and their more intense migratory ability. 51% of the population lives in cities. The dynamics of rural population growth exceeds urban indicators by almost 2 times.
The economically active population is 3.776 million people. (2002). Between 1991 and 2001, approximately 1.5 million people left for Russia to work. The number of pensioners is 1215 thousand people. (late 2001). Retirement age: 62 for men, 57 for women.
The educational level of the population is quite high. 98% of the adult population of the country have secondary education. Azerbaijanis make up 91% of the country’s population, Dagestanis 3.2%, Russians 2.5%, others (Ukrainians, Tatars, Tats, Kurds, Avars, Turks, Georgians) 3.3%. Despite the fact that the state language is Azerbaijani, Russian is often used in everyday life. By 2000, the Russian population had decreased by more than 2.5 times, amounting to 150 thousand people in 2002. The number of Armenians living mainly in Nagorno-Karabakh by 2001 was approximately 130 thousand people. The main religion is Islam. Most Muslims are adherents of the Jafarite school (madhhab) in Shiism. Approximately 70% of all Muslims are Shiites, 30% are Sunnis. There are also Orthodox and Jewish communities in Azerbaijan.
