Country Profiles: Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is located in the Middle East. Azerbaijan was briefly independent from 1918 to 1920 and regained independence in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union. With an area of 86,600 sq km, Azerbaijan is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of Maine.


Azerbaijan is bordered by Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Russia, and Turkey. Azerbaijan is large and flat with mountains in the north.





People who live in Azerbaijan are called Azerbaijani, which is also the adjective used to describe an item from this country. The population is composed mostly of Azeri (90.6%), with some Dagestani (2.2%), Russian (1.8%), and Armenian (1.5%). The official language of Azerbaijan is Azerbaijani (90.3%), though Lezgi (2.2%), Russian (1.8%), and Armenian (1.5%) are also spoken. The population is mostly Muslim (93.4%), with some Russian Orthodox (2.5%) and Armenian Orthodox (2.3%).


The country's official name is Republic of Azerbaijan. The capital is Baku, and the country is divided into 59 rayons, 11 cities, and 1 autonomous republic. The Azerbaijani Constitution was drafted in 1978 and can be found here through Constitution Finder. The current president is Ilham Aliyev. Information about the leaders of the Azerbaijan government can be found here. The currency is the Azerbaijani manats (abbreviated AZN), which stands at .8035 AZN per USD as of 2010.





All of this information was gathered from the CIA World Factbook. For more information, check out these resources...

Azerbaijan Government Site

President of Azerbaijan Site

Azerbaijan, CIA World Factbook

Background Note: Azerbaijan, U.S. Department of State

Azerbaijan 2010 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, U.S. Department of State.

You can also check out the Country Studies tab on our Fed Docs libguide here for more resources on all of the countries.


Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents
Reference & Instruction Librarian
Subject Specialist: Legal Research, Political Science
Urban and Transportation Studies, Engineering