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The Azerbaijan Portal

A view of Baku, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia's republic of Dagestan to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south. Baku is the capital and largest city.

The territory of what is now Azerbaijan was first ruled by Caucasian Albania and later various Persian empires. Until the 19th century, it remained part of Qajar Iran, but the Russo-Persian wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 forced the Qajar Empire to cede its Caucasian territories to the Russian Empire; the treaties of Gulistan in 1813 and Turkmenchay in 1828 defined the border between Russia and Iran. The region north of the Aras was part of Iran until it was conquered by Russia in the 19th century, where it was administered as part of the Caucasus Viceroyalty.

Azerbaijan is a unitary semi-presidential republic. It is one of six independent Turkic states and an active member of the Organization of Turkic States and the TÜRKSOY community. Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with 182 countries and holds membership in 38 international organizations, including the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Non-Aligned Movement, the OSCE, and the NATO PfP program. It is one of the founding members of GUAM, the CIS, and the OPCW. Azerbaijan is also an observer state of the WTO. (Full article...)

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The Eurovision Song Contest 2012 was the 57th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Baku, Azerbaijan, following the country's victory at the 2011 contest with the song "Running Scared" by Ell and Nikki. It was the first time Azerbaijan hosted the contest – only four years after the country made its debut. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster İctimai Television (İTV), the contest was held at the Baku Crystal Hall, and consisted of two semi-finals on 22 and 24 May, and a final on 26 May 2012. The three live shows were presented by Azerbaijani television presenter Leyla Aliyeva, newsreader Nargiz Birk-Petersen and singer Eldar Gasimov, the latter of whom was one of the previous edition's winners.

Forty-two countries participated in the contest. Montenegro returned to the contest for the first time since 2009. Meanwhile, Armenia withdrew due to security concerns in relation to the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan. Poland also did not participate due to financial concerns. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that with the help of Turkish and Azerbaijani agents, Muslims in Armenia revolted in 1919–1920 and massacred over 10,000 Armenians?
... that the blue stripe in the Azerbaijani flag reflects the country's Turkic heritage?
... that Azerbaijan has been a member of the Council of Europe, an organization promoting human rights, for more than twenty years, despite holding political prisoners and rigging elections?
... that the Nakhichevan uezd was home to more than 54,000 Armenians until they perished through the events of 1918–1920 as a result of the Russian Revolution?
... that the 14th- and 15th-century Azerbaijani poet Imadaddin Nasimi was possibly flayed alive after he was accused of being a kafir by Sunni scholars?
... that in 2017 the British travel magazine Wanderlust rated Azerbaijan's electronic visa as the easiest visa to obtain in the world?

More Did you know

... that the historical Bibi-Heybat Mosque near Baku, Azerbaijan, destroyed in 1934 as result of the Soviet anti-religious campaign, was reopened in 1997 at the same location after the country gained independence?

... that celebrated Azerbaijani activist of the French Resistance Ahmadiyya Jabrayilov was persecuted by the NKVD upon his return to the USSR?

...that in the early 1990s, Surat Huseynov successfully led a military coup d'état in Azerbaijan to become the Prime Minister?

More did you know facts

General images

The following are images from various Azerbaijan-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The Achaemenid empire at its greatest extent (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 2Ilham Aliyev in Munich in 2010 (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 3"Hounds and Jackals" game (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 4Baku's first film studio during the early 1920s (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 5Early caliphates:
  Muhammad, 622–632

  Rashidun Caliphate, 632–661

  Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750
(from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 6Arabic inscriptions on the surviving Gate of Ganja (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 7Salt bag circa 1880, Karabakh (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 8Late-19th-century rug market in Ganja (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 9The Caucasus after the Treaty of Gulistan, in which Persia ceded most of its northern khanates to Russia after the first Russo-Persian war (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 10Soviet postage stamp commemorating Azerbaijani musical instruments (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 11Gobustan rock art (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 12Sasanid silver plate from Shamakhi District (Azerbaijan State Museum of History) (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 1315th-century Shirvanshah mausoleum in Baku (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 14Iran around 1900 (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 15Transcaucasia in the early 19th century (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 16Topographic map of Azerbaijan (from Geography of Azerbaijan)
Image 17Shah Abbas I at a banquet (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 18Shah Abbas I of Safavid at a banquet. Detail from a ceiling fresco, Chehel Sotoun palace, Isfahan. (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 19Heydar Aliyev during a 1997 Pentagon visit (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 20Momine Khatun Mausoleum in Nakhchivan (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 211748 maps of Shirvan, the Caucasus and Persia (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 22Side view of the Church of Kish (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 23Azerbaijan map of Köppen climate classification zones (from Geography of Azerbaijan)
Image 24Petroglyphs in Gobustan National Park date back to 10000 BC. (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 251996 Azerbaijani postage stamp commemorating Novruz (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 26Roman inscription in Qobustan (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 27Ismail I's empire (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 28Pottery from Kul-Tepe I (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 29Ateshgah of Baku, a Hindu and Zoroastrian temple (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 30Qajar-style painting of mullahs with the shah (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 31Oil derricks in Balaxanı around 1890 (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 3219th-century Gasimushaghi carpet from Şəlvə, Lachin (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 33Azerbaijani deputies to the 1907 Second Russian State Duma. Seated left is Fatali Khan Khoyski; seated right is Khalil Khasmammadov. (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 34Mammad Amin Rasulzade, a founder and spokesperson of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918, was widely regarded as Azerbaijan's national leader. (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 35Cut pomegranate (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 36Carpet based on Nizami Ganjavi's 12th-century Layla and Majnun (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 37Battle-scene miniature in the Palace of Shaki Khans (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 38Goytepe site (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 39The Maiden Tower, in Baku's Old City (from Culture of Azerbaijan)