*Azerbaijan, Geography

Location:
  Southeastern Europe, between Armenia and Turkmenistan, bordering the Caspian
  Sea
Map references:
  Africa, Asia, Commonwealth of Independent States - Central Asian States,
  Commonwealth of Independent States - European States, Middle East, Standard
  Time Zones of the World
Area:
 total area:
  86,600 km2
 land area:
  86,100 km2
 comparative area:
  slightly larger than Maine
 note:
  includes the Nakhichevan' Autonomous Republic and the Nagorno-Karabakh
  Autonomous Oblast; region's autonomy was abolished by Azerbaijan Supreme
  Soviet on 26 November 1991
Land boundaries:
  total 2,013 km, Armenia (west) 566 km, Armenia (southwest) 221 km, Georgia
  322 km, Iran (south) 432 km, Iran (southwest) 179 km, Russia 284 km, Turkey
  9 km
Coastline:
  0 km (landlocked)
 note:
  Azerbaijan does border the Caspian Sea (800 km, est.)
Maritime claims:
  NA
 note:
  Azerbaijani claims in Caspian Sea unknown; 10 nm fishing zone provided for
  in 1940 treaty regarding trade and navigation between Soviet Union and Iran
International disputes:
  violent and longstanding dispute with Armenia over status of
  Nagorno-Karabakh, lesser dispute concerns Nakhichevan; some Azerbaijanis
  desire absorption of and/or unification with the ethnically Azeri portion of
  Iran; minor irredentist disputes along Georgia border
Climate:
  dry, semiarid steppe; subject to drought
Terrain:
  large, flat Kura-Aras Lowland (much of it below sea level) with Great
  Caucasus Mountains to the north, Karabakh Upland in west; Baku lies on
  Aspheson Peninsula that juts into Caspian Sea
Natural resources:
  petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nonferrous metals, alumina
Land use:
 arable land:
  18%
 permanent crops:
  0%
 meadows and pastures:
  25%
 forest and woodland:
  0%
 other:
  57%
Irrigated land:
  14,010 km2 (1990)

*Azerbaijan, Geography

Environment:
  local scientists consider Apsheron Peninsula, including Baku and Sumgait,
  and the Caspian Sea to be "most ecologically devastated area in the world"
  because of severe air and water pollution
Note:
  landlocked

*Azerbaijan, People

Population:
  7,573,435 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
  1.5% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
  24.09 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
  6.61 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
  -2.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
  35.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
 total population:
  70.6 years
 male:
  66.77 years
 female:
  74.63 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
  2.76 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
 noun:
  Azerbaijani(s)
 adjective:   Azerbaijani
Ethnic divisions:
  Azeri 82.7%, Russian 5.6%, Armenian 5.6%, Daghestanis 3.2%, other 2.9%, note
  - Armenian share may be less than 5.6% because many Armenians have fled the
  ethnic violence since 1989 census
Religions:
  Moslem 87%, Russian Orthodox 5.6%, Armenian Orthodox 5.6%, other 1.8%
Languages:
  Azeri 82%, Russian 7%, Armenian 5%, other 6%
Literacy:
  age 9-49 can read and write (1970)
 total population:
  100%
 male:
  100%
 female:
  100%
Labor force:
  2.789 million
 by occupation:
  agriculture and forestry 32%, industry and construction 26%, other 42%
  (1990)

*Azerbaijan, Government

Names:
 conventional long form:
  Republic of Azerbaijan
 conventional short form:
  Azerbaijan
 local long form:
  Azarbaijchan Respublikasy
 local short form:
  none
 former:
  Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic
Digraph:
  AJ
Type:
  republic
Capital:
  Baku (Baky)
Administrative divisions:
  1 autonomous republic (avtomnaya respublika); Nakhichevan (administrative
  center at Nakhichevan)
 note:
  all rayons except for the exclave of Nakhichevan are under direct republic
  jurisdiction; 1 autonomous oblast, Nagorno-Karabakh (officially abolished by
  Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet on 26 November 1991) has declared itself
  Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Independence:
  30 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Constitution:
  adopted NA April 1978; writing a new constitution mid-1993
Legal system:
  based on civil law system
National holiday:
  NA
Political parties and leaders:
  New Azerbaijan Party, ALIYEV; Musavat Party (Azerbaijan Popular Front -
  APF), Isa GAMBAROV; National Independence Party (main opposition party),
  Etibar MAMEDOV; Social Democratic Party (SDP), Zardusht Ali ZADE; Party of
  Revolutionary Revival (successor to the Communist Party), Sayad Afes OGLV,
  general secretary; Party of Independent Azerbaijan, SOVLEYMANOV
Other political or pressure groups:
  self-proclaimed Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
Suffrage:
  18 years of age; universal
Elections:
 President:
  last held 8 June 1992 (next to be held NA); results - Abdulfaz Ali ELCHIBEY,
  won 60% of vote
 National Council:
  last held 30 September and 14 October 1990 for the Supreme Soviet (next
  expected to be held late 1993 for the National Council); seats for Supreme
  Soviet - (360 total) Communists 280, Democratic Bloc 45 (grouping of
  opposition parties), other 15, vacant 20; note - on 19 May 1992 the Supreme
  Soviet was disbanded in favor of a Popular Front-dominated National Council;
  seats - (50 total) 25 Popular Front, 25 opposition elements
Executive branch:
  president, council of ministers
Legislative branch:
  National Parliament (National Assembly or Milli Mejlis)

*Azerbaijan, Government

Judicial branch:
  Supreme Court
Leaders:
 Chief of State:
  President Ebulfez ELCHIBEY (since 7 June 1992)
 Head of Government:
  Prime Minister Penah HUSEYNOV (since 29 April 1993; resigned 7 June 1993;
  likely replacement - E'tibar MAMEDOV); National Parliament Chairman Isa
  GAMBAROV (since 19 May 1992; resigned 13 June 1993; likely replacement
  Geydar ALIYEV)
Member of:
  BSEC, CSCE, EBRD, ECO, ESCAP, IBRD, IDB, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, ITU, NACC, OIC,
  UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO
Diplomatic representation in US:
 chief of mission:
  Ambassador Hafiz PASHAYEV
 chancery:
  1615 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20036
 telephone:
  NA
US diplomatic representation:
 chief of mission:   Ambassador Richard MILES
 embassy:
  Hotel Intourist, Baku
 mailing address:
  APO AE 09862
 telephone:
  7-8922-91-79-56
Flag:
  three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), red, and green; a crescent and
  eight-pointed star in white are centered in red band

*Azerbaijan, Economy

Overview:
  Azerbaijan is less developed industrially than either Armenia or Georgia,
  the other Transcaucasian states. It resembles the Central Asian states in
  its majority Muslim population, high structural unemployment, and low
  standard of living. The economy's most prominent products are cotton, oil,
  and gas. Production from the Caspian oil and gas field has been in decline
  for several years. With foreign assistance, the oil industry might generate
  the funds needed to spur industrial development. However, civil unrest,
  marked by armed conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region between Muslim
  Azeris and Christian Armenians, makes foreign investors wary. Azerbaijan
  accounted for 1.5% to 2% of the capital stock and output of the former
  Soviet Union. Azerbaijan shares all the formidable problems of the ex-Soviet
  republics in making the transition from a command to a market economy, but
  its considerable energy resources brighten its propects somewhat. Old
  economic ties and structures have yet to be replaced. A particularly galling
  constraint on economic revival is the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said to
  consume 25% of Azerbaijan's economic resources.
National product:
  GDP $NA
National product real growth rate:
  -25% (1992)
National product per capita:
  $NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  20% per month (1992 est.)
Unemployment rate:
  0.2% includes officially registered unemployed; also large numbers of
  underemployed workers
Budget:
  revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992)
Exports:
  $821 million to outside the successor states of the former USSR (f.o.b.,
  1992 est.)
 commodities:
  oil and gas, chemicals, oilfield equipment, textiles, cotton (1991)
 partners:
  mostly CIS and European countries
Imports:
  $300 million from outside the successor states of the former USSR (c.i.f.,
  1992 est.)
 commodities:   machinery and parts, consumer durables, foodstuffs, textiles (1991)
 partners:
  European countries
External debt:
  $1.3 billion (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
  growth rate -27% (1992)
Electricity:
  6,025,000 kW capacity; 22,300 million kWh produced, 2,990 kWh per capita
  (1992)
Industries:
  petroleum and natural gas, petroleum products, oilfield equipment; steel,
  iron ore, cement; chemicals and petrochemicals; textiles
Agriculture:
  cotton, grain, rice, grapes, fruit, vegetables, tea, tobacco; cattle, pigs,
  sheep and goats

*Azerbaijan, Economy

Illicit drugs:
  illicit producer of cannabis and opium; mostly for CIS consumption; limited
  government eradication program; used as transshipment points for illicit
  drugs to Western Europe
Economic aid:
  wheat from Turkey
Currency:
  1 manat (abbreviation NA) = 10 Russian rubles; ruble still used
Exchange rates:
  NA
Fiscal year:
  calendar year

*Azerbaijan, Communications

Railroads:
  2,090 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
Highways:
  36,700 km total (1990); 31,800 km hard surfaced; 4,900 km earth
Pipelines:
  crude oil 1,130 km, petroleum products 630 km, natural gas 1,240 km
Ports:
  inland - Baku (Baky)
Airports:
 total:
  65
 useable:
  33
 with permanent-surface runways:
  26
 with runways over 3,659 m:
  0
 with runways 2,440-3,659 m:   8
 with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
  23
Telecommunications:
  domestic telephone service is of poor quality and inadequate; 644,000
  domestic telephone lines (density - 9 lines per 100 persons (1991)), 202,000
  persons waiting for telephone installations (January 1991); connections to
  other former USSR republics by cable and microwave and to other countries
  via the Moscow international gateway switch; INTELSAT earth station
  installed in late 1992 in Baku with Turkish financial assistance with access
  to 200 countries through Turkey; domestic and Russian TV programs are
  received locally and Turkish and Iranian TV is received from an INTELSAT
  satellite through a receive-only earth station

*Azerbaijan, Defense Forces

Branches:
  Army, Air Force, Navy, National Guard, Security Forces (internal and border
  troops)
Manpower availability:
  males age 15-49 1,842,917; fit for military service 1,497,640; reach
  military age (18) annually 66,928 (1993 est.)
Defense expenditures:
  2,848 million rubles, NA% of GDP (1992 est.); note - conversion of the
  military budget into US dollars using the current exchange rate could
  produce misleading results