Azerbaijan Information Online

Southwestern Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Russia, with a small European portion north of the Caucasus range

Lowest Point: Caspian Sea -28 m
Highest Point: Bazarduzu Dagi 4,485 m

Capital: Baku, Baku Hotels

Largest City: Baku, Baku Hotels

Religion: Muslim 93.4%, Russian Orthodox 2.5%, Armenian Orthodox 2.3%, other 1.8% (est.)

Languages Spoken in Azerbaijan: Azerbaijani (Azeri) 89%, Russian 3%, Armenian 2%, other 6%

See also: Languages spoken in Asia, Languages of the world

Introduction & Brief History
Azerbaijan - a nation with a Turkic and majority-Muslim population - regained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Despite a 1994 cease-fire, Azerbaijan has yet to resolve its conflict with Armenia over the Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh enclave (largely Armenian populated). Azerbaijan has lost 16% of its territory and must support some 571,000 internally displaced persons as a result of the conflict. Corruption is ubiquitous and the promise of widespread wealth from Azerbaijan's undeveloped petroleum resources remains largely unfulfilled.