Republic of Azerbaijan
President: Ilham Aliyev (2003)
Prime Minister: Artur Rasizade (2003)
Land area: 33,436 sq mi (86,600 sq km); total area: 33,436 sq mi (86,600 sq km)
Population (2009 est.): 8,238,672 (growth rate: 0.7%); birth rate: 17.6/1000; infant mortality rate: 54.6/1000; life expectancy: 66.6; density per sq mi: 243
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Baku, 2,118,600 (metro area), 1,235,400 (city proper), a port on the Caspian Sea
Other large cities (2004 est.): Ganja, 303,000; Sumgait, 280,500
Monetary unit: Manat
National Name: Azarbaycan Respublikasi
Current government officials
Languages: Azerbaijani Turkic 89%, Russian 3%, Armenian 2%, other 6% (1995 est.)
Ethnicity/race: Azeri 90.6%, Dagestani 2.2%, Russian 1.8%, Armenian 1.5%, other 3.9% (1999). Note: almost all Armenians live in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region
Religions: Islam 93%, Russian Orthodox 3%, Armenian Orthodox 2%, other 2% (1995 est.)
National Holiday: Founding of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan, May 28
Literacy rate: 98.8% (1999 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $72.2 billion; per capita $9,000. Real growth rate: 31%. Inflation: 16%. Unemployment: 8.5% official rate (2005 est.). Arable land: 20.62%. Agriculture: cotton, grain, rice, grapes, fruit, vegetables, tea, tobacco; cattle, pigs, sheep, goats. Labor force: 5.243 million (2007 est.); agriculture and forestry 41%, industry 7%, services 52% (2001). Industries: petroleum and natural gas, petroleum products, oilfield equipment; steel, iron ore; cement; chemicals and petrochemicals; textiles. Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nonferrous metals, alumina. Exports: $19.53 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): oil and gas 90%, machinery, cotton, foodstuffs. Imports: $6.376 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.): machinery and equipment, oil products, foodstuffs, metals, chemicals. Major trading partners: Italy, Israel, Turkey, France, Russia, Iran, Georgia (2006).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 1.189 million (2006); mobile cellular: 3.324 million (2006).
Radio broadcast stations: AM 10, FM 17, shortwave 1 (1998).
Television broadcast stations: 2 (1997). Internet hosts: 3,067 (2007).
Internet users: 829,100 (2006).
Transportation: Railways: total: 2,122 km (2006).
Highways: total: 59,141 km ; paved: 29,210 km; unpaved: 29,931 km (2004).
Ports and harbors: Baku (Baki).
Airports: 35 (2007).
International disputes: Armenia supports ethnic Armenian secessionists in Nagorno-Karabakh and since the early 1990s has militarily occupied 16% of Azerbaijan; over 800,000 mostly ethnic Azerbaijanis were driven from the occupied lands and Armenia; about 230,000 ethnic Armenians were driven from their homes in Azerbaijan into Armenia; Azerbaijan seeks transit route through Armenia to connect to Naxcivan exclave; Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) continues to mediate dispute; Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia have ratified Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance, while Iran continues to insist on an even one-fifth allocation and challenges Azerbaijan's hydrocarbon exploration in disputed waters; bilateral talks continue with Turkmenistan on dividing the seabed and contested oilfields in the middle of the Caspian; Azerbaijan and Georgia continue to discuss the alignment of their boundary at certain crossing areas.
