General Information

Azerbaijan is situated in the eastern part of Transcaucasia on the Caspian Sea coast. Area occupies 86,600 Square Kilometers. It borders on Iran and Turkey in the South, Russia and Georgia in the north west and Armenia in the West.

The capital is Baku.

The Azeri is language of Azerbaijan.

The majority of the people are Muslims.

The population is more than 8 million. The population consists of 90% Azeris, 3.2% Dagestani peoples, 2.5% Russians, 2.3% Armenians, 2% of Jews, Talysh, Kurds, Avars, Udins, Lezghins, Turks, Georgians, Ukrainians, German and other nationalities.

There are more than 1,000 rivers in Azerbaijan. The Kura (1415 km), the largest river of Transcaucasia, flows through Azerbaijan from northwest to southeast and empties into the Caspian Sea. The main tributary of the Kura (in Sabirabad) is the Araks. Most Azerbaijani rivers are in the Kura basin. In the plains the rivers are used for irrigation. The large Mingaevir Hydroelectric Power Plant and the Mingaevir Reservoir, 605 sq km in area, are on the Kura. Most of the 250 lakes in Azerbaijan are small. The largest are Lake Hajikabul, with an area of 16 sq km, and Lake Boyukshor, with an area of 10 sq km.

Azerbaijan has a unique climate compilation, nine climatic zones out of thirteen existing. These range from arid subtropical and humid subtropical climates to mountainous tundra climate. The mean annual temperature ranges from 15°C in the lowlands to 0°C in the mountains. The mean temperatures in July are 26°C in the lowlands and 5°C in the highlands. The summers are dry in the lowlands. The distribution of annual rainfall is highly uneven: 250-300 mm in the coastal region and in the southeastern lowlands; 300-950 mm in the foothills of the medium-elevation mountains; 1,000-1,300 mm on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus; and 1,100-1,400 mm in the southern Lankran Lowland. In the Lankran Lowland precipitation falls in the winter; in the mountains and foothills it falls primarily from April to September.

The National Hymn of Azerbaijan