1993 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1993 (Project Gutenberg)
Geography
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
Climate
dry, semiarid steppe; subject to drought
Coastline
0 km (landlocked) note: Azerbaijan does border the Caspian Sea (800 km, est.)
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
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
Irrigated land
14,010 km2 (1990)
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
Land use
arable land: 18% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 25% forest and woodland: 0% other: 57%
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
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
Natural resources
petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nonferrous metals, alumina
Note
landlocked
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
People and Society
Birth rate
24.09 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate
6.61 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
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
35.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Labor force
2.789 million by occupation: agriculture and forestry 32%, industry and construction 26%, other 42% (1990)
Languages
Azeri 82%, Russian 7%, Armenian 5%, other 6%
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 70.6 years male: 66.77 years female: 74.63 years (1993 est.)
Literacy
age 9-49 can read and write (1970) total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100%
Nationality
noun: Azerbaijani(s) adjective: Azerbaijani
Net migration rate
-2.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Population
7,573,435 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate
1.5% (1993 est.)
Religions
Moslem 87%, Russian Orthodox 5.6%, Armenian Orthodox 5.6%, other 1.8%
Total fertility rate
2.76 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Government
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)
Chief of State
President Ebulfez ELCHIBEY (since 7 June 1992)
Constitution
adopted NA April 1978; writing a new constitution mid-1993
Digraph
AJ
Diplomatic representation in US
chief of mission: Ambassador Hafiz PASHAYEV chancery: 1615 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: NA
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
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)
Independence
30 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)
Judicial branch
Supreme Court
Legal system
based on civil law system
Legislative branch
National Parliament (National Assembly or Milli Mejlis)
Member of
BSEC, CSCE, EBRD, ECO, ESCAP, IBRD, IDB, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, ITU, NACC, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO
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
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
National holiday
NA
Other political or pressure groups
self-proclaimed Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
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
President
last held 8 June 1992 (next to be held NA); results - Abdulfaz Ali ELCHIBEY, won 60% of vote
Suffrage
18 years of age; universal
Type
republic
US diplomatic representation
chief of mission: Ambassador Richard MILES embassy: Hotel Intourist, Baku mailing address: APO AE 09862 telephone: 7-8922-91-79-56
Economy
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
1 manat (abbreviation NA) = 10 Russian rubles; ruble still used
Economic aid
wheat from Turkey
Electricity
6,025,000 kW capacity; 22,300 million kWh produced, 2,990 kWh per capita (1992)
Exchange rates
NA
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
External debt
$1.3 billion (1991 est.)
Fiscal year
calendar year
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
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
Industrial production
growth rate -27% (1992)
Industries
petroleum and natural gas, petroleum products, oilfield equipment; steel, iron ore, cement; chemicals and petrochemicals; textiles
Inflation rate (consumer prices)
20% per month (1992 est.)
National product
GDP $NA
National product per capita
$NA
National product real growth rate
-25% (1992)
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.
Unemployment rate
0.2% includes officially registered unemployed; also large numbers of underemployed workers
Communications
Airports
total: 65 useable: 33 with permanent-surface runways: 26 with runways over 3,659 m: with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 8 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 23
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)
Railroads
2,090 km; does not include industrial lines (1990)
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
Military and Security
Branches
Army, Air Force, Navy, National Guard, Security Forces (internal and border troops)
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
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.)