Azerbaijan

Airports

NA

Civil air

none

Highways

36,700 km total (1990); 31,800 km hard surfaced; 4,900 km earth

Inland waterways

NA km perennially navigable

Merchant marine

none - landlocked

Pipelines

NA

Ports

inland - Baku (Baky)

Railroads

2,090 km (includes NA km electrified); does not include industrial lines (1990)

Telecommunications

quality of local telephone service is poor; connections to other former USSR republics by landline or microwave and to countries beyond the former USSR via the Moscow international gateway switch; Azeri and Russian TV broadcasts are received; Turkish and Iranian TV broadcasts are received from INTELSAT through a TV receive-only earth station

Branches

Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops), National Guard; CIS Forces (Ground, Navy, Air, Air Defense)

Defense expenditures

$NA million, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability

males 15-49, NA; NA fit for military service; NA reach military age (18) annually

Agriculture

cotton, grain, rice, grapes, fruit, vegetables, tea, tobacco; cattle, pigs, sheep and goats

Budget

revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA (1992)

Currency

as of May 1992, retaining ruble as currency

Economic aid

NA

Electricity

6,025,000 kW capacity; 23,300 million kWh produced, 3,280 kWh per capita (1991)

Exchange rates

NA

Exports

$780 million (f.o.b., 1991) commodities: oil and gas, chemicals, oilfield equipment, textiles, cotton (1991) partners: mostly CIS countries

External debt

$1.3 billion (1991 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

GDP

$NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate --0.7% (1991)

Illicit drugs

illicit producer of cannabis and opium; mostly for domestic consumption; status of government eradication programs unknown; used as transshipment points for illicit drugs to Western Europe

Imports

$2.2 billion (c.i.f., 1990) commodities: machinery and parts, consumer durables, foodstuffs, textiles (1991)

Industrial production

growth rate 3.8% (1991)

Industries

petroleum and natural gas, petroleum products, oilfield equipment; steel, iron ore, cement; chemicals and petrochemicals; textiles

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

87% (1991)

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 accounts for 1.5% to 2% of the capital stock and output of the former Soviet Union. Although immediate economic prospects are not favorable because of civil strife, lack of economic reform, political disputes about new economic arrangements, and the skittishness of foreign investors, Azerbaijan's economic performance was the best of all former Soviet republics in 1991 largely because of its reliance on domestic resources for industrial output.

Unemployment rate

NA%

Climate

dry, semiarid steppe; subject to drought

Coastline

none - landlocked

Comparative area

slightly larger than Maine

Disputes

violent and longstanding dispute with Armenia over status of Nagorno-Karabakh, lesser dispute concerns Nakhichevan'; some Azeris desire absorption of and/or unification with the ethnically Azeri portion of Iran; minor irredentist disputes along Georgia border

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

Land area

86,100 km2; 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

2,013 km total; 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

Land use

NA% arable land; NA% permanent crops; NA% meadows and pastures; NA% forest and woodland; NA% other; includes 70% of cultivated land irrigated (1.2 million hectares)

Maritime claims

NA Exclusive fishing zone: NA nm; Azerbaijani claims in Caspian Sea unknown; 10 nm fishing zone provided for in 1940 treaty regarding trade and navigation between Soviet Union and Iran

Natural resources

petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nonferrous metals, alumina

Note

landlocked; major polluters are oil, gas, and chemical industries

Terrain

large, flat Kura 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

Total area

86,600 km2

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

Capital

Baku (Baky)

Constitution

adopted NA April 1978

Diplomatic representation

NA US: Ambassador (vacant); Robert MILES, Charge d'Affaires; Embassy at Hotel Intourist (telephone 8-011-7-8922-91-79-56) plus 8 hours; (mailing address is APO New York is 09862); telephone NA

Elections

National Parliament: last held NA September 1990 (next expected to be held late 1992); results - seats - (360 total) Communists 280, Democratic Bloc 45 (grouping of opposition parties), other 15, vacant 20; note - these figures are approximate President: held 8 September 1991 (next to be held 7 June 1992); results - Ebulfez ELCIBEY (6,390 unofficial)

Executive branch

president, Council of Ministers

Flag

three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), red, and green; a crescent and eight-pointed star in white are centered in red band

Independence

28 May 1918; on 28 April 1920, Azerbaijan became the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan; on 30 April 1992 it became the Azerbaijani Republic; independence declared 30 August 1991

Judicial branch

Supreme Court

Leaders

Chief of State: President-elect Ebulfez ELCIBEY (since 7 June 1992) Head of Government: Prime Minister Rahim GUSEYNOV (since 14 May 1992)

Legal system

based on civil law system

Legislative branch

National Parliament (Milli Majlis) was formed on the basis of the National Council (Milli Shura)

Long-form name

Azerbaijani Republic; short-form name: Azerbaijan

Member of

CIS, CSCE, IMF, OIC, UN, UNCTAD

National holiday

NA

Other political or pressure groups

Self-proclaimed Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

Political parties and leaders

NA

Suffrage

universal at age 18

Type

republic

Birth rate

26 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate

7 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

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

Infant mortality rate

45 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force

2,789,000; agriculture and forestry 32%, industry and construction 26%, other 42% (1990)

Languages

Azeri 82%, Russian 7%, Armenian 5%, other 6%

Life expectancy at birth

65 years male, 73 years female (1992)

Literacy

NA% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write (1992 est.)

Nationality

noun - Azerbaijani(s); adjective - Azerbaijani

Net migration rate

--3 migrants/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor

NA (1992)

Population

7,450,787 (July 1992), growth rate 1.6% (1992)

Religions

Moslem 87%, Russian Orthodox 5.6%, Armenian Orthodox 5.6%, other 1.8%

Total fertility rate

2.9 children born/woman (1992)