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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 Battle of Kalbajar took place in March and April 1993, during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. It resulted in the capture of the Kalbajar District of Azerbaijan by Armenian military forces.

Kalbajar lies outside the contested enclave of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO). The offensive was the first time Armenian forces from Nagorno-Karabakh had advanced beyond the boundaries of the enclave (besides the capture of Lachin in 1992). Kalbajar District, located between Armenia and the western border of the former NKAO, was composed of several dozen villages and its provincial capital, also named Kalbajar. The Armenian side launched an attack from four directions, including Armenia proper. After initial heavy resistance, the Azerbaijani defence quickly collapsed and the provincial capital fell on April 3, 1993. Armenian forces captured an area of more than 1,900 square kilometres, establishing a second overland link between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. (Full article...)

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Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the adoption of the Declaration of Independence of Azerbaijan made the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic the first successful republic in the Muslim world?
... 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 the blue stripe in the Azerbaijani flag reflects the country's Turkic heritage?
... that with the help of Turkish and Azerbaijani agents, Muslims in Armenia revolted in 1919–1920 and massacred over 10,000 Armenians?
... that Marina Nekrasova was the first woman artistic gymnast to represent Azerbaijan at the Olympics?
... that a 14th-century work, originally attributed to another poet, was discovered in 2018 to be the creation of the Azerbaijani poet Yusuf Meddah?

More Did you know

...that Leyla Mammadbeyova (pictured) was the first Azerbaijani female aviator and the second parachutist woman in the former Soviet Union?

...that the Azerbaijani singer Muslim Magomayev, who sang with great success at the Paris Olympia, was not allowed to pursue an international career by the Soviet Ministry of Culture?

...that the name of the Azerbaijani settlement Ramana, with natural gas vents where Zoroastrians still hold fire rites, is probably derived from Romana, the Latin word for ancient Rome?

More did you know facts

General images

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

Image 1Ismail I's empire (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 2Sasanid silver plate from Shamakhi District (Azerbaijan State Museum of History) (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 3Heydar Aliyev during a 1997 Pentagon visit (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 4Ateshgah of Baku, a Hindu and Zoroastrian temple (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 5Gobustan rock art (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 6Carpet based on Nizami Ganjavi's 12th-century Layla and Majnun (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 7Azerbaijan map of Köppen climate classification zones (from Geography of Azerbaijan)
Image 8Shah Abbas I of Safavid at a banquet. Detail from a ceiling fresco, Chehel Sotoun palace, Isfahan. (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 915th-century Shirvanshah mausoleum in Baku (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 10Topographic map of Azerbaijan (from Geography of Azerbaijan)
Image 11Baku's first film studio during the early 1920s (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 12The Maiden Tower, in Baku's Old City (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 13Iran around 1900 (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 14Azerbaijani deputies to the 1907 Second Russian State Duma. Seated left is Fatali Khan Khoyski; seated right is Khalil Khasmammadov. (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 15Momine Khatun Mausoleum in Nakhchivan (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 16Cut pomegranate (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 171748 maps of Shirvan, the Caucasus and Persia (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 18Late-19th-century rug market in Ganja (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 191996 Azerbaijani postage stamp commemorating Novruz (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 20Transcaucasia in the early 19th century (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 21Roman inscription in Qobustan (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 22Early caliphates:
  Muhammad, 622–632

  Rashidun Caliphate, 632–661

  Umayyad Caliphate, 661–750
(from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 23Qajar-style painting of mullahs with the shah (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 24Ilham Aliyev in Munich in 2010 (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 25"Hounds and Jackals" game (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 26Pottery from Kul-Tepe I (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 27Shah Abbas I at a banquet (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 28Battle-scene miniature in the Palace of Shaki Khans (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 29Oil derricks in Balaxanı around 1890 (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 30Salt bag circa 1880, Karabakh (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 31Side view of the Church of Kish (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 32Goytepe site (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 33Soviet postage stamp commemorating Azerbaijani musical instruments (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 34The 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 35Petroglyphs in Gobustan National Park date back to 10000 BC. (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 36The Achaemenid empire at its greatest extent (from History of Azerbaijan)
Image 3719th-century Gasimushaghi carpet from Şəlvə, Lachin (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 38Arabic inscriptions on the surviving Gate of Ganja (from Culture of Azerbaijan)
Image 39Mammad 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)