Azerbaijan

Overview

Azerbaijan is a Turkic state in the Caucasus of Southeastern Europe. It achieved independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It has borders with Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia and Turkey as well as a Caspian Sea coastline. Conflict has been ongoing with neighbouring Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, and the country is regarded internationally as something of a kleptocracy. Located on the very crossroads of Eastern and Western civilizations, Azerbaijan was exposed to the influence of both of them. As a part of the greatest empires in the history of human kind, Azerbaijan was the site of the most decisive events and had seen many mighty conquerors, including Haroun al-Raschid, Chingis Khan, Pompey, and Alexander the Great. Azerbaijan has been hosting travellers since silk worms started to spin. Azerbaijan was once a major stopover on the Great Silk Route, and there are many captivating sights to see in this ancient country - Bronze Age petroglyphs, medieval minarets and mosques, the famous carpets, unique nature. One of many republics which emerged from the former Soviet Union, Azerbaijan is probably one of the less known. When you visit the capital Baku, it becomes clear soon that this country has always been a crossroads for travellers from Europe and the East. Landmarks confirming this can be seen throughout the city. The Greeks, Persians, and so many other ancient peoples have visited and left their marks in this country. Azerbaijan is a unique reserve of...more

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. Several ancient tribes inhabited the land of Azerbaijan, and some areas became known after these tribes: Caspian, Mannai, Media and Caucasian Albania. Some of the states that emerged in the area from the 3rd millennium BC were powerful and quite advanced, specially the Mannai and the Medes. The Medes invaded the kingdom of the Mannai in the Xth century BC. The Medes, an ancient Indo-European people, ancestors of the modern Kurds, eventually built their empire, Media, stretching as far west as Cappadocia. By the 8th century BC Media was raided and settled - but not defeated - by the Scynthians, coming from the banks of the Black sea. In 550 BC the king of the Medes, Astyages, was defeated and imprisoned by his grandson Cyrus II the Great, and the region was first integrated into the Persian empire. This mighty state reached from the Caspian to the Indian ocean. Only the Greeks resisted the power of Persia, and defeated first Darius...more