Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan flag

I

INTRODUCTION

Azerbaijan, republic in western Asia. Azerbaijan is the easternmost country in the South Caucasus (the southern portion of the region of the Caucasus), which occupies the southern part of the isthmus between the Black and Caspian seas. The country is bordered on the north by Russia, on the east by the Caspian Sea, on the south by Iran, on the west by Armenia, and on the northwest by Georgia.
Azerbaijan also shares a short border with Turkey through its autonomous exclave of Naxçivan (Nakhichevan), which is separated from the rest of Azerbaijan by a mountainous strip of Armenian territory. Azerbaijan includes the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian-inhabited enclave in western Azerbaijan. In Azeri, the official state language, the country is called Azarbaijchan Respublikasy (Azerbaijan Republic). Baku, a large port city on the Caspian Sea, is Azerbaijan’s capital and largest city.

After a mere two years of independence, Azerbaijan was invaded by the Bolshevik Red Army in 1920 and became part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922. In 1991 it became independent again. The republic’s first years of renewed independence were troubled by political upheaval, economic decline, and a war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Until a cease-fire agreement effectively ended the war in May 1994, Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh fought for secession of the enclave. In 1995 Azerbaijan held its first legislative elections since independence and passed its first post-Soviet constitution.

II

THE PEOPLE OF AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijan is more populated than the other South Caucasus states, Georgia and Armenia. Its population was an estimated 8,177,717 in 2008, giving it an average population density of 95 persons per sq km (246 per sq mi). The most densely populated area is the Abşeron Peninsula in the east, where Azerbaijan’s major cities are located. Despite its larger population, Azerbaijan is the least urbanized country of the South Caucasus, as only 50 percent of its population lives in urban areas. The largest city is Baku, the capital. Other important cities include Gäncä, the industrial center of western Azerbaijan, and Sumgayıt, located on the Caspian coast and the second most important industrial center after Baku.

A

Ethnic Groups

Azerbaijan, including the autonomous exclave of Naxçivan, is populated mostly by ethnic Azerbaijanis, who are also known as Azeris. The ethnic composition of the country changed due to a civil war between the government of Azerbaijan and Armenian secessionists in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. Beginning in 1988, when the people of Nagorno-Karabakh unilaterally decided to secede from Azerbaijan, nearly the entire Azerbaijani population in Armenia fled to Azerbaijan and northern Iran, while many ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan fled to Armenia. The number of Armenians in Azerbaijan decreased from slightly less than 6 percent of the total population to about 2 percent. Armenians now reside almost exclusively in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, where they constitute a majority. In the 1990s the proportion of Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan increased from about 80 percent of the total population to about 90 percent. This change was largely due to the civil war, but the emigration of many Russians and other Slavs after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 also contributed.

Dagestanis and Russians are the largest minority groups in Azerbaijan, followed by Armenians. Dagestanis, a people whose traditional homeland is Dagestan, a republic of Russia on Azerbaijan’s northern border, make up about 3 percent of the population. Russians constitute about 2.5 percent of the total (a reduction of about 3 percent since the 1989 census). Other ethnic groups include Lezgins, Kurds, and Talysh, who are geographically concentrated in the north, east, and south of the republic, respectively. There are also small communities of Georgians, Ukrainians, and Avars. Most of the republic’s ethnic groups have resided in the area for centuries, although Russians arrived in large numbers in the 19th and 20th centuries.

B

Languages

The official language of Azerbaijan is Azeri, a Turkic language of the Altaic family that is closely related to the Turkish and Turkmen languages (see Altaic Languages). Other languages spoken in Azerbaijan include Russian and Armenian. Azeri originally developed in the Arabic script, but in the 1920s a Latin (Roman) alphabet was introduced. In 1939 the Soviet regime mandated the use of the Cyrillic alphabet, the script of the Russian language. After Azerbaijan gained independence, the government decided to introduce a Turkish version of the Latin script. In 2001 a presidential decree abolishing the Cyrillic script for official and business purposes came into force.

C

Religion

Azerbaijanis are traditionally Muslim. Islam was introduced in the area of present-day Azerbaijan during the 7th century ad, and Shia Islam was established as the official religion of the Azerbaijanis in the 16th century. During the Soviet period, religious leaders were persecuted, mosques were closed or destroyed, and religious practice was officially condemned. Islam has experienced a revival in Azerbaijan since the late 1980s, when political reforms allowed most of the Soviet restrictions on religion to be lifted. Nearly all Azerbaijanis now identify as Muslim, although few actively practice their religion. About 70 percent of Azerbaijani Muslims are Shias, and about 30 percent are Sunnis. Christianity is practiced to varying degrees among the Georgian, Armenian, and Slavic minorities.

D

Education

Most adults in Azerbaijan can read and write. The country’s high adult literacy rate was achieved during the Soviet period, when an extensive, state-funded education system was developed. The first eight years of education are compulsory, but most students complete the full ten-year program of basic education, and many choose to continue their education at secondary or vocational schools. Baku is the seat of most of the country’s institutes of higher education, including Baku State University (founded in 1919 during Azerbaijan’s brief initial period of independence), Azerbaijan Technical University (1950), and Azerbaijan State Petroleum Academy (1920).

E

Culture

Azerbaijan’s cultural institutions, located primarily in Baku, include the State Museum of Shirvan-Shakh, which houses weapons and decorations from palaces of the khans (rulers), and the State Museum of Azerbaijan Literature. The culture of the peoples inhabiting eastern part of the South Caucasus developed during the ancient and medieval periods under a predominantly Persian influence, although Turkic influences also were present. Azerbaijanis contributed several notable literary and scientific works during the medieval period. After Azerbaijan became part of the Russian Empire in the early 19th century, Azerbaijani intellectuals such as scholar and poet Abbas Qoli Agha Bakikhanov began the study of the Azeri language and attempted to set up schools that would teach literacy. At times during the Soviet period, artistic expression that conveyed any hint of Azerbaijani nationalism was brutally suppressed.

Music has long been an important aspect of Azerbaijani life. The ancient Azerbaijani musical tradition has been kept alive by musicians known as ashugs, who improvise songs while playing a stringed instrument called a kobuz. Other vocal and instrumental compositions called mugams are also part of the oral folk tradition. Modern Azerbaijani composer Uzeir Hajjibekov is known internationally for his classical operas.

III

ECONOMY

The collapse of the Soviet Union had a devastating impact on Azerbaijan’s trade-dependent economy. As traditional markets and trading links were severed, Azerbaijan’s economy fell into severe decline. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which imposed an economic burden of providing for approximately 1 million refugees, compounded the economic crisis. Skyrocketing inflation caused consumer prices to rise by 1,664 percent in 1994, while also making the country’s new currency, the manat, practically worthless. As a consequence, living standards deteriorated for the majority of the population.

The economy began to recover after the government of Azerbaijan introduced an economic stabilization program in 1995 with the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Also that year, the government launched a program to transfer state-owned enterprises to the public sector. Azerbaijan’s gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the value of goods and services produced, began to show growth in 1996. In 2006 GDP was $19.9 billion.

Azerbaijan is one of the world’s oldest oil exporters, and development of the country’s extensive petroleum reserves remains central to its economic future. Foreign investment is focused almost exclusively in the petroleum industry. Other sectors have received relatively little development since independence.

A

Agriculture

Agriculture produced 7 percent of GDP in 2006. About 40 percent of the workforce is employed in agriculture. Cotton is the leading export crop. Fruits, vegetables, grains (primarily wheat), wine grapes, tea, and tobacco are also grown. Most crops are cultivated in lowland areas and require extensive irrigation. Some of Azerbaijan’s best farmland is located in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Kura and Aras rivers. Livestock raising is also important, and extensive pastures provide grazing lands for sheep, cattle, and goats.

Agricultural production declined during the 1990s. The conflict involving Nagorno-Karabakh contributed to the decline, in part because transportation links were disrupted. Production was also adversely affected by the breaking up of large state-owned and collective farms that had been established during the Soviet period. Those farms were replaced by smaller, privately owned farms, which for lack of machinery and fertilizers have tended to focus on subsistence agriculture (the cultivation of crops for personal consumption). In addition, the ability to bring agricultural products to market is hindered by the country’s underdeveloped distribution routes.

B

Mining and Manufacturing

The extraction of petroleum is the country’s largest industry, and it supports a number of other industries, including petroleum refining, petrochemicals processing, and equipment manufacturing. Other factories produce glass, ceramics, textiles, and clothing.

Most of Azerbaijan’s oil is found in fields under the Caspian Sea. Reserves of natural gas are also located in offshore fields. Azerbaijan also possesses deposits of iron ore, aluminum, copper, and zinc; industrial minerals, such as iodine and bromine; precious and semiprecious gems; and marble.

In the early 1990s Azerbaijan opened its oil industry to foreign investment as a way to fund development, both for the exploration of new offshore fields in the Caspian and for the construction of new export pipelines. The subsequent discovery of massive offshore oil and gas fields, the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field and the Shah Deniz gas field, significantly improved Azerbaijan’s export prospects.

The establishment of new, commercially viable oil and gas pipelines was critical to growth in exports. Initially, petroleum was exported solely via a pipeline to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. In 1999 a new pipeline opened between Baku and the Black Sea port of Supsa, Georgia, to facilitate the export of oil to Europe.

Another new pipeline opened in May 2005 linking Azerbaijan with Turkey, providing the first direct route between Caspian oil fields and the Mediterranean Sea. This pipeline was especially significant for reaching markets beyond Europe, as the Mediterranean is accessible to large oil tankers. The 1,770-km (1,100-mi) pipeline carries crude oil from Baku, through central Georgia via Tbilisi, to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey. Known as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, it will carry about 1 million barrels of oil a day once it reaches full capacity later in the decade. The pipeline was primarily developed as a conduit for Azerbaijan’s new Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field, but at full capacity it will take oil from Kazakhstan’s offshore fields as well. Meanwhile, construction began on a new gas pipeline following the discovery of massive reserves of natural gas in 1999. Scheduled to open in 2006, this pipeline will carry natural gas along a route roughly parallel to the BTC oil pipeline.

C

Energy

About 88 percent of Azerbaijan’s electricity comes from thermal power stations fueled by oil and natural gas. Hydroelectric facilities produce the remainder of the country’s electricity.

D

Currency and Trade

Since gaining independence, Azerbaijan has worked to develop new trading relationships with countries outside the former Soviet Union. Its leading markets for exports are Italy, France, Israel, Russia, and Turkey. Its main sources of imports are Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Oil and oil products are leading exports. Machinery and equipment are leading imports.

Until 1994 Azerbaijan used the Russian ruble as its currency. That year, the Azerbaijani manat became the sole legal tender (1 manats equal U.S.$1; 2006 average).

E

Transportation

The transportation system in Azerbaijan is considered inadequate for the country’s long-term needs. Paved roads extend along the Caspian Sea north to Russia and south to Iran. Other paved roads connect Baku with Tbilisi in Georgia. During the Soviet era, a rail line extending north was the country’s principal route for transporting goods; regional disputes have since occasionally closed the railroad. Azerbaijan now depends on a railroad through Georgia to ports on the Black Sea for much of its imports.

IV

HISTORY

The area of present-day Azerbaijan was settled beginning in about the 8th century bc by the Medes, an ancient Aryan tribe. It became part of the Persian Empire in the 6th century bc, and the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism was introduced. Between the 1st and 3rd centuries ad, the Romans conquered the area of present-day Azerbaijan, which then became known as Caucasian Albania. Christianity began to spread there in the 3rd century.

A much-disputed area, Caucasian Albania was conquered in the late 7th century by Arabs, and Islam predominated thereafter. In the mid-11th century Seljuk Turks led by Togrul Beg conquered present-day Azerbaijan as well as most of Iran and Iraq. Turkic tribes migrated to the area from the east and came to influence the linguistic and cultural development of the Azerbaijanis. With the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, the area fell under the domain of Mongol khans (see Mongol Empire). In the 16th century Azerbaijan again came under the control of Iran (formerly known as Persia), which was ruled by the Safavid dynasty, and the Shia doctrine of Islam was established as the official religion. The Ottomans, who were Sunni Muslims, went to war with Iran and held Azerbaijan from 1578 to 1603, but the Safavids continued to reign over the area until their dynasty fell in the early 18th century. Turkic Muslim khanates were then established in Baku, Naxçivan, and other areas.

A

Russian Conquest

Imperial Russia conquered the Caspian coast in the early 18th century, but soon relinquished the territory to the Muslim khans. In the early 19th century Russia again sought control of the area. In 1801 some western territory of present-day Azerbaijan was annexed to the Russian Empire along with adjacent territory in Georgia. Russia and Iran then engaged in war between 1804 and 1813 and again from 1826 to 1828. The treaties of 1813 and 1828 ceded Iranian territory north of the Aras River (present-day Azerbaijan) to Russia.

During the latter half of the 19th century, oil was discovered in Azerbaijan, and by the turn of the century the Abşeron Peninsula supplied most of Russia’s oil. Baku experienced rapid industrialization and population growth as the center of Russia’s oil industry. The influx of Russians and Armenians resulted in a highly segregated city, and violent clashes erupted in 1905 between the city’s Azerbaijani and Armenian communities. Azerbaijanis were edged out of the highest-paying positions in the oil industry, and wealthy Russians and Armenians gained control of local government.

B

Independent Republic

After Azerbaijan gained independence, the government abolished Nagorno-Karabakh’s autonomous status. The Armenian leadership in Nagorno-Karabakh responded by declaring the region’s independence. The conflict continued to plague Azerbaijan during its first years of independence. President Mutalibov was forced to resign in March 1992 after he was held directly responsible for the death of several hundred Azerbaijanis killed by Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. The interim president, Yagub Mamedov, was unable to control the political situation, and Mutalibov was reinstated in May. He was immediately deposed, however, when the PFA seized control in a nearly bloodless coup with the support of military units.

The leader of the PFA, Abulfaz Aliyev Elchibey, was elected president in June. Elchibey soon lost popularity, however, because of his inability to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh or improve Azerbaijan’s war-ravaged economy. Pressure on Elchibey increased when he attempted to disarm a disobedient military garrison based in Gäncä in June 1993. The garrison, led by Colonel Surat Huseinov, marched on Baku and seized control, and Elchibey fled to Naxçivan. The Milli Majlis voted to transfer Elchibey’s powers to former Communist Party official Heydar Aliyev, who had been elected chairperson of the assembly earlier that month. A national referendum supported Elchibey’s removal, and in October 1993 Aliyev was elected president in a virtually uncontested election. The Milli Majlis appointed Huseinov as prime minister, and he took over the coordination of the military effort in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Meanwhile, the government of Armenia continued publicly to support the Armenian secessionists in Nagorno-Karabakh. By August 1993 Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh, with reinforcements from Armenia, gained control of the enclave as well as some 20 percent of adjacent territory in western Azerbaijan, including a corridor linking the enclave with Armenia. Azerbaijanis fled the Armenian-controlled territory to other parts of Azerbaijan, resulting in 100,000 new refugees in the country. In December 1993 Azerbaijani forces began a renewed offensive in the region, recapturing some areas while suffering heavy casualties. By early 1994 an estimated 18,000 people had been killed and 25,000 wounded since the conflict began in 1988. The massive relocation of population had produced an estimated 1 million refugees and displaced persons (primarily Azerbaijanis and Armenians) in Azerbaijan alone. Initial cease-fire agreements failed to hold, and fighting continued in Nagorno-Karabakh until May 1994, when both sides agreed again to cease hostilities. Subsequent negotiations failed to achieve a final peace settlement, although the cease-fire remained in effect.

In other internal affairs, the Aliyev government faced mutinies among certain military troops (particularly the special militia attached to the Ministry of Internal Affairs) in October 1994 and March 1995. Forces loyal to Aliyev quickly crushed the revolts and reestablished government control. After the October revolt, Aliyev dismissed Prime Minister Huseinov as well as several high-level government and military officials, charging they had supported the mutinous forces. Aliyev declared a state of emergency and banned demonstrations. After the March revolt, which Aliyev described as part of another plot to oust him, the PFA was accused of involvement and banned by the government.

In November 1995 Azerbaijan held its first legislative elections since independence, for a new 125-seat Milli Majlis. The New Azerbaijan Party (NAP), aligned with Aliyev, won a majority of seats. Two opposition parties were allowed to participate—the PFA, which had been officially reinstated, and the National Independence Party (NIP)—and both won seats. International observers reported serious electoral violations such as the exclusion of a number of opposition parties and hundreds of independent candidates as well as restriction of the media. At the same time as the legislative elections, voters approved a new constitution that granted wide-ranging powers to the president.

After the 1995 elections, Aliyev maintained a strong position, in part because of an improved economy. However, his government continued to limit freedom of the press and opposition activities. In 1998 Aliyev won a second term, defeating five opposition candidates in an election marred by voting irregularities and strong pro-Aliyev bias in the media. Subsequently, Aliyev’s failing health due to a heart condition led to speculation over his ability to govern the country. His party, the NAP, won a majority of seats in the Milli Majlis in the legislative elections of 2000, which according to international observers were neither free nor fair. Aliyev’s health continued to deteriorate, and in mid-2003 he appointed his son, Ilham Aliyev, as prime minister. Under the country’s succession law, the prime minister assumes power if the president becomes incapacitated.

In the October 2003 presidential election Ilham Aliyev was declared the winner by an overwhelming majority in the first father-son succession in a former Soviet republic. Election observers with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), however, said the election failed to meet international standards for a free and fair election. The OSCE observers cited ballot stuffing and falsified vote counts. Violent protests by members of opposition parties erupted in the capital, Baku, in response to the election results.