Friday, July 3, 2009

Azerbaijan







Azerbaijan (pronounced /ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ ( listen); Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), formally the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası), is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe,[4] it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhichevan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest. The Nagorno-Karabakh region in the southwest of Azerbaijan proper declared itself independent from Azerbaijan in 1991, but it is not recognized by any nation and considered a legal part of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan, a nation with a majority Turkic[5] and Shi‘ite Muslim[6] population, is a secular and unitary republic. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was the first successful attempt to establish a democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world.[7][8] Azerbaijan is one of the founder members of GUAM and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and joined the Commonwealth of Independent States in September 1993.[9] A Special Envoy of the European Commission is present in the country, which is also a member of the United Nations, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) program.







Capital(and largest city)
Baku40°22′N 49°53′E / 40.367°N 49.883°E / 40.367; 49.883
Official languages
Azerbaijani
Demonym
Azerbaijani
Government
Presidential republic
-
President
Ilham Aliyev
-
Prime Minister
Artur Rasizade
Independence from the Soviet Union
-
Declared
30 August 1991
-
Completed
18 October 1991
Area
-
Total
86,600 km2 (113th)33,436 sq mi
-
Water (%)
1.6%
Population
-
July 2008 estimate
8,177,717[1] (91st)
-
1999 census
7,953,438[2]
-
Density
97/km2 (100th)251/sq mi
GDP (PPP)
2008 estimate
-
Total
$74.734 billion[3] (77th)
-
Per capita
$8,620[3] (88th)
GDP (nominal)
2008 estimate
-
Total
$46.378 billion[3] (77th)
-
Per capita
$5,349[3] (88th)
Gini (2006)
36.5 (58th)
HDI (2007)
▲ 0.746 (medium) (98th)
Currency
Manat (AZN)
Time zone
(UTC+4)
-
Summer (DST)
(UTC+5)
Drives on the
right
Internet TLD
.az
Calling code
994






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