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Azerbaijan - Country Profile
- General Profile
- State Symbols - Flag
- State Symbols - Coat of Arms
- State Symbols - National Anthem
- National Holidays
- History Outlines
- Map
General Profile
Form of Government
Republic with a presidential governing systemPresident is the head of state, 5 year term
Parliament – Milli Mejlis
Highest legislative body with single camera consisting of 125 members elected for 5 yearsArea
Area is 86,600 sq. km. including the exclave of Nakhchivan Autonomous RepublicBoundaries
total: 2,013 kmborder countries: Armenia (with Azerbaijan-proper) 566 km, Armenia (with Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave) 221 km, Georgia 322 km, Iran (with Azerbaijan-proper) 432 km, Iran (with Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave) 179 km, Russia 284 km, Turkey 9 km; length of the coastal line with the Caspian Sea 800 km
Elevation extremes
lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 mhighest point: Bazarduzu Dagi 4,466 m
Population
Total 8,200,000 (October 2003)
| Azerbaijanis | 7,205,500 | 90.8 % |
| Lezgins | 178,000 | 2.2 % |
| Russians | 141,700 | 1.8 % |
| Armenians | 120,700 | 1.5 % |
| Talysh | 76,800 | 1.0 % |
| Avars | 50,900 | 0.6 % |
| Turks | 43,400 | 0.5 % |
| Tartars | 30,000 | 0.4 % |
| Ukrainians | 29,000 | 0.4 % |
| Tsakhurs | 15,900 | 0.2 % |
| Georgians | 14,900 | 0.2 % |
| Tats | 10,900 | 0.13 % |
| Jews | 8,900 | 0.1 % |
| Udins | 4,200 | 0.05 % |
| Others | 9,500 | 0.12 % |
Religion
Separated from the state. Muslim 93.4%, Orthodox Christian 4.8%, Jewish 1%, other 0.8%.
Azerbaijan State Symbols
State symbols of the Republic of Azerbaijan are the Republic of Azerbaijan Flag, the Republic of Azerbaijan Emblem, the Republic of Azerbaijan National Anthem.
National Flag
The Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan shall consist of three wide stripes. The upper stripe shall be of blue colour, the middle stripe shall be red and the lower one shall be green. There shall he a white crescent and eight pointed star in the middle of the red stripe on both sides of the Flag. The proportion of the width to the length shall be 1 by 2. III. The design of the Republic of Azerbaijan Flag and the Republic of Azerbaijan State Emblem, the music and the text of the Republic of Azerbaijan National Anthem shall be defined by the Constitutional Law
On February 5, 1991 the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan considered a solicitation for recognition three colored flag as a National Flag of Azerbaijan.
National Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan consists of three equal in length horizontal stripes. The upper stripe is blue, middle is red, lower is green colored. Blue color has meaning of Turkic origin, red color has reflects the heading to modernization of society and development of democracy, and the green color shows affiliation to Islamic civilization. In the center of red stripe on both sides of flag there is white crescent and eight-angled star. Proportion of width of the flag to the length is 1:2.
National Coat Of Arms
On January 30, 1920 the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic adopted resolution on announcement a competition of the best National emblem of the Republic. It was mentioned in the resolution that adoption of the emblem will be on May 28. But in the result of fall on April 28, 1920 of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic emblem wasn't adopted.
On November 17, 1990 Parliament of Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, after having discussed question on National emblem solicited the Parliament of Azerbaijan on announcement a competition for processing the National emblem.
Competition was announced on February 5, 1991 according to resolution of the Parliament of Azerbaijan. During 1991-1992 there were tens of projects of new National emblem, on discussions there were also suggestions on adoption on the projects designed in 1919-1920.
On January 19, 1993 the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan passed Constitutional Law according to which project of National emblem of 1919-1920 with some changes was adopted.
National emblem of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the symbol of sovereignty of the state of Azerbaijan. National emblem represents an image of oriental escutcheon, placed on the arch composed of oak branches and ears. On the escutcheon in background of colors of National flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan there is image of eight-angled star and in the center of star there are tongues of flame.
Convex image of National flag (emblem) shall be represented:
- at the residence and office room of the President of the Republic
of Azerbaijan;
- on the wall of Parliament building, in the session hall and office
room of the Chairman of Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
- on the walls of buildings of all courts, military tribunals, in the
halls of court sessions, in the office rooms of Chairmen of Constitutional
Court and Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan;
- on the walls of buildings of state structures as provided by legislation;
- in diplomatic missions of the Republic of Azerbaijan
- in other cases provided for by legislation
National Anthem
On January 30, 1920 the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic adopted resolution on elaboration of the National Anthem of the Republic and launched a competition. But in the result of fall on April 28, 1920 of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic an anthem was not adopted.
On May 27, 1992 Milli Majlis adopted the Law "About the State Hymn of the Republic of Azerbaijan", according which the "Azerbaijani March" of composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov and poet Ahmed Javad, which was created in 1919, was approved as the State Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Music by Useyir Hajibeyov |
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National Holidays
January 1 - New Year's Day
January 20 - Day of the Martyrs
March 8 - Women's Day
March 21 - Novruz Bayrami
May 9 - Victory in World War II Day
May 28 - Republic Day
June 15 - National Salvation Day
June 26 - Army and Navy Day
October 18 - National Independence Day
November 12 - Constitution Day
November 17 - Day of National Revival
December 31 - Day of Solidarity of Azerbaijanis of the World
Ramadan
Gurban Bayrami
History Of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan is among the areas of earliest human settlement, with evidence of human habitation since the Paleolithic age. Settlements engaging in agriculture and livestock-raising were widely distributed over this area in the seventh and sixth millennia BC. Rock paintings in Gobustan near Baku are dated by scholars to the end of the seventh and beginning of the sixth millennia BC. The well-known Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdal, who made special trips to Baku in 1979 and 1994 to study these rock paintings, believes that the shores of the Caspian Sea were one of the cradles of the human civilization. The Gobustan rock paintings of boats surmounted by an image of the sun also attest to the ties between the early settlements of Azerbaijan and the Sumero/Akkadian civilization of Mesopotamia, whose cultural heritage includes very similar depictions. Over the period from the late ninth to the seventh centuries BC, the Mannaean kingdom came into being in the area of Lake Urmia which was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid kingdom in the mid-sixth century BC. The Cimmerian-Scythian-Saka kingdom flourished in the seventh and sixth centuries BC in the south-west of Azerbaijan.
The conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great led to the emergence of the state of Atropatena in 323 BC. Historians suggest that the name ‘Azerbaijan’ is connected with ‘Atropatena’ (Adarbaygan).
The Caucasian Albanian state was created in the north of Azerbaijan in the third millennium BC, with the river Araxes as its southern frontier. The people of Albania included a number of different tribes. Christianity was adopted in Albania in 313 AD. The territory of Albania also included the mountainous part of Karabagh, which was known at that time as Artsakh. Over the period from the first to the fourth centuries, when the Caucasus area was under the Roman yoke, Albania remained the only independent state with its own autocephalous Albanian Catholicosate Church.
Afterwards the invasion by the Arabs, the dominant religion from the early eighth century in Azerbaijan became Islam. Most of the Albanians also converted to Islam and only a minority retained their former religion. Bowing to the influence of the Byzantine Empire in the southern Caucasus, the Albanian Church, together with the Georgian Church, had accepted the dyophysite doctrine shortly before the Arab invasion. To create a barrier to the influence of Byzantine, the Arab Caliphate - enlisting the help of the Armenian Church - steered the Albanian Church towards monophysitism and brought it under the dominion of the monophysite Armenian Gregorian Church, opening the way for the subsequent gradual Gregorianization of the Albanians living in the mountainous areas of Karabagh.
Following the anti-Caliphate rising by the local population, several new states arose in the territory of Azerbaijan in the ninth century, the most powerful of which was the State of Shirvan, with its capital at Shemakha ruled by the Shirvanshah dynasty. This dynasty reigned until the sixteenth century and played an enormous role in the history of the Medieval Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan was ruled by the Turk Seljuk dynasty from the end of the eleventh century. Over the period 1136-1225, the Atabek Eldegiz state held sway over Azerbaijan. This period was remarkable in the history of Azerbaijan’s arts, science and literature. It was a time of synergy of various religious and ethnic groups under leadership of Turkic dynasties. A medieval Armenian chronicler, Kirakos Gandzaketsi wrote about the leadership of one of the first Turkic Seljuk leaders, Melik Shah, who freed the Armenian priesthood from having to pay taxes: “He tamed the universe, not by violence, but through love and peace.”
From the mid-thirteenth century, the Azerbaijani states fell under domination of the Mongol Hulagid dynasty (1258-1356). In the mid-fourteenth century, following an uprising by the local population to cast off the yoke of the invaders, the local Jalairid feudal lords took up the reins of power and, with the support of the Azerbaijani nobility, established the Jalairid state (1359-1410). The Turkic dynasties of Qara-Qoyunlu and Aq-Qoyunlu ruled over Azerbaijan in 1410-1468 and 1468-1501. In 1501, the Safavid state was founded by a Turkic tribe kyzylbashi, named after the ruling dynasty. The territory of the Safavid state stretched from the Amu Darya river to the Euphrates, and from Derbent to the shores of the Persian Gulf.
In the 1740s Azerbaijan disintegrated into some 20 khanates. At the end of the eighteenth and in the first third of the nineteenth centuries, Azerbaijan was fought over by the Persian, Russian and Ottoman empires, each eager to secure hegemony over this country whose geopolitical situation lent it significant strategic advantages. A number of the khanates rose in arms to defend their sovereignty, while others were forced, in an effort to defend their own interests, to conclude agreements reducing them to the status of vassaldom. Thus, on 14 May 1805 a treaty between Russia and the Azerbaijani Karabakh khan Ibrahim Halil was signed on the banks of the river Kura under terms of which the independent Azerbaijani khanate of Karabagh was placed under Russian overlordship.
The first Russo-Persian war of 1804-1813, fought to establish dominance over the Azerbaijani khanates, resulted in the first division of Azerbaijani territories between Russia and Persia. The peace treaty of Gulistan, signed on 12 October 1813 by Russia and Persia, gave legal recognition to the annexation by Russia over the period 1800-1806 of the khanates of northern Azerbaijan, with the exception of Nakhichevan and Erivan. The second Russo-Persian war of 1826-1828 ended up with the signing of the Turkmanchai peace treaty on 10 February 1828, under terms of which Persia officially renounced its claims to northern Azerbaijan and finally recognized the Russia’s annexation, with the inclusion of the Nakhichevan and Erivan khanates.
Under the Treaty of Turkmanchai and the peace treaty concluded in Edirne in 1829, the Armenians then inhabiting Persia and the Ottoman empire were resettled to Azerbaijan, primarily to the khanates of Nakhichevan, Erivan and Karabagh. A well-known Russian diplomat and poet Alexander Griboedov wrote: “For the most part, the Armenians were settled on the estates of Mohammedan landowners. [T]hese new settlers are crowding out the Mohammedans. [W]e have also given careful thought to the council which must be given to the Mohammedans, so as to reconcile them to this aggravation, which will not be long in duration, and to dispel any apprehensions which they may have that the Armenians will take permanent possession of the lands where they have been initially settled.” Between 1828 and 1920, in pursuit of a policy designed to change the entire demographic make-up of Azerbaijan more than 2 million Muslims were forcibly expelled and an unknown number killed. Under a decree promulgated by Tsar Nicholas I on 21 March 1828, the Azerbaijani khanates of Nakhichevan and Erivan were dissolved and replaced by a new administrative entity known as the “Armenian oblast”, administered by Russian officials; in 1849, the Armenian oblast was renamed the province (“guberniya”) of Erivan.
After the revolutionary events of 1917 in Russia, the processes of disintegration of the empire became more dramatic and the conditions were ripe for the formation of independent states. Thus, on 28 May 1918, the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic was proclaimed in the territory of the eastern part of the southern Caucasus - the first parliamentary democracy in the Islamic east - which was to play a historic role in the renaissance and formation of the sense of ethnic identity and statehood of the Azerbaijan’s Nation.
The development of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic was based on the doctrine of “Azerbaijanism”, which tailored to the principles of Modernism, Islamism and Turanism, symbolizing the Azerbaijani people’s aspiration for progress based on preservation of their adherence to Islamic civilization and Turkic culture and on their separate ethnic identity.
In its brief existence of less than two years, the multi-party Azerbaijani parliament and the coalition Government managed to take a number of important steps in the process of nation-building and the development of statehood, and in such areas as education, formation of an army, development of independent financial and economic systems and securing international recognition for the young republic as a full member of the international community. On 11 January 1920, the Paris Peace Conference, with the Treaty of Versailles, accorded de facto recognition of the independence of the Azerbaijani Republic, to whose capital - Baku - 20 countries had already sent their diplomatic representatives.
In late 1919 and early 1920, however, the political situation of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic - both at home and abroad - worsened considerably. The country found itself caught up in a ferocious tug-of-war between the countries of the Entente, Turkey, Russia and Persia, each pursuing its own geopolitical goals in this strategically important and oil-rich area. The political decision by the Bolshevist Government of the Russian Socialist Federative Republic (RSFSR) not to recognize the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic, the deployment of the Eleventh Red Army on the frontiers of the Azerbaijani Republic in Spring 1920, the aggression waged by Dashnak-ruled Armenia against Azerbaijan in Karabagh and Zangezur, the terrorist strikes by Armenian groups and the Bolsheviks against the peaceful Azerbaijani population inside Azerbaijan and the social and economic crisis gripping the country - all these factors combined to bring about the weakening of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic and eventually led to the occupation of its capital by the Eleventh Army on 27-28 April 1920. As stated in a telegram from the general staff of the Caucasian front to the Eleventh Red Army command, dated 1 May 1920, RSFSR troops had been instructed to take possession of the entire territory of Azerbaijan lying within the confines of the former Russian Empire, but without crossing the Persian border.
The 70 years during which Azerbaijan was part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) marked a new stage in the development of Azerbaijan’s statehood, however within communist ideology.
From the economic viewpoint, the country became a reservoir of fuel, supplier of raw materials and agricultural products to the Soviet economy. Culturally, the imposition of the Cyrillic alphabet to replace the Latin one, destruction of mosques, oppressions of intelligentsia, etc. was designed to suppress any efforts of the Azerbaijan’s people to maintain and manifest their ethnic and cultural identity and to study the true history of their country.
During the Soviet period, the territories of Zangezur, Gekcha, part of Nakhchivan and other districts were hived off from Azerbaijan and attached to neighbouring Armenia. As a result, the country’s area, which during the period of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic in 1920 had been 114,000 square kilometres was reduced to 86,600 square kilometres.
In addition, on 7 July 1923, on the initiative of the Moscow Bolshevist leaders, Nagorny Karabakh Autonomous Region, with a predominantly Armenian population, was established on a part of the territory of Greater Karabagh, the majority of which had been Azerbaijanis. That decision marked the first step in the political campaign to annex Nagorny Karabakh from Azerbaijan.
During the years 1988-1990, the national democratic movement in Azerbaijan launched a campaign aimed at the restoration of the country’s independence. In order to suppress this movement, on 20 January 1990, with the approval of the Soviet leadership Soviet army units stormed Baku killing hundreds of innocent Azerbaijan’s citizens, including women, children and elderly. A state of emergency was declared in the country which remained in force until mid-1991. Notwithstanding these setbacks, the struggle for independence culminated in the adoption on 31 August 1991, by the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan, of a Declaration on the Restoration of the State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
On 18 October 1991 the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan passed an Act establishing the State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan. With this act, the Republic of Azerbaijan once again, after a 71-year interval, became an independent state. On 2 March 1992 Azerbaijan was admitted to the United Nations within internationally recognized territorial borders, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Map of Azerbaijan
