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Geography |
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Capital |
Baku. |
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Area |
33,774 sq. mi. (includes Nakhchivan and Nagorno-Karabakh);
slightly smaller than Maine. |
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Terrain |
Caucasus Mountains to the north, lowland in the central
area through which the Kura River flows. |
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Climate |
Dry, subtropical with hot summers and mild winters; forests,
meadows, and alpine tundra in the mountains. |
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People |
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Nationality |
Noun--Azerbaijani(s), Azeri. Adjective--Azerbaijani, Azeri. |
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Population |
(July 2005 est.): 7,911,974. |
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Groups |
Azeri 90.6%, Dagestani 2.2%, Russian
1.8%, Armenian 1.5%, other 3.9%. Note: the separatist
Nagorno-Karabakh region is populated almost entirely by Armenians. |
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Religions |
Muslim 93.4% (majority Shi'a), Russian Orthodox 2.5%,
Armenian Orthodox Church 2.3%, and other 1.8%. |
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Languages |
Azerbaijani 89%, Russian 3%, Armenian 2%, and other 6%. |
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Azerbaijan combines the heritage of two venerable
civilizations--the Seljuk Turks of the 11th century and
the ancient Persians. Its name is thought to be derived
from the Persian phrase "Land of Fire," referring both
to its petroleum deposits, known since ancient times,
and to its status as a former center of the Zoroastrian
faith. The Azerbaijani Republic borders the Iranian
provinces of East and West Azerbaijan, although they
have not been united into a single state in modern
times. |
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Government &
History |
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Official Name |
Republic of Azerbaijan |
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Government |
Republic. |
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Independence |
August 30, 1991 (from Soviet Union). |
Little is known about Azerbaijan's history until its
conquest and conversion to Islam by the Arabs in 642 AD.
Centuries of prosperity as a province of the Muslim
caliphate followed. After the decline of the Arab
Empire, Azerbaijan was ravaged during the Mongol
invasions but regained prosperity in the 13th-15th
centuries under the Mongol II-Khans, the native Shirvan
Shahs, and under Persia's Safavid Dynasty.
Due to its location astride the trade routes connecting
Europe to Central Asia and the Near East and on the
shore of the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan was fought over by
Russia, Persia, and the Ottomans for several centuries.
Finally, the Russians split Azerbaijan's territory with
Persia in 1828 by the Treaty of Turkmenchay,
establishing the present frontiers and extinguishing the
last native dynasties of local Azerbaijani khans. The
beginning of modern exploitation of the oil fields in
the 1870s led to a period of unprecedented prosperity
and growth in the years before World War I.
At the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, an
independent republic was proclaimed in 1918 following an
abortive attempt to establish a Transcaucasian Republic
with Armenia and Georgia. Azerbaijan received de facto
recognition by the Allies as an independent nation in
January 1920, an independence terminated by the arrival
of the Red Army in April. Incorporated into the
Transcaucasian Federated Soviet Socialist Republic in
1922, Azerbaijan became a union republic of the U.S.S.R.
(Soviet Union) in 1936. The late 1980s were
characterized by increasing unrest, eventually leading
to a violent confrontation when Soviet troops killed 190
nationalist demonstrators in Baku in January 1990.
Azerbaijan declared its independence from the U.S.S.R.
on August 30, 1991. |
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