Airports [time series]

NA

Civil air [time series]

none

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

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

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

NA km perennially navigable

Merchant marine [time series]

none - landlocked

Pipelines [time series]

NA

Ports [time series]

inland - Baku (Baky)

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

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

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

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

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

$NA million, NA% of GDP

Manpower availability [time series]

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

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

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

Budget [time series]

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

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

as of May 1992, retaining ruble as currency

Economic aid [time series]

NA

Electricity [time series]

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

Exchange rates [time series]

NA

Exports [time series]

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

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$1.3 billion (1991 est.)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

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

Illicit drugs [time series]

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 [time series]

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

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate 3.8% (1991)

Industries [time series]

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

87% (1991)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

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 [time series]

NA%

Climate [time series]

dry, semiarid steppe; subject to drought

Coastline [time series]

none - landlocked

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly larger than Maine

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

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 - current issues (Environment) [time series]

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

Area (Land area) [time series]

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 [time series]

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 [time series]

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 [time series]

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 [time series]

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

Note [time series]

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

Terrain [time series]

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

Area (Total area) [time series]

86,600 km2

Administrative divisions [time series]

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 [time series]

Baku (Baky)

Constitution [time series]

adopted NA April 1978

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

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

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

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 [time series]

president, Council of Ministers

Flag [time series]

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

Independence [time series]

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 [time series]

Supreme Court

Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]

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

Legal system [time series]

based on civil law system

Legislative branch [time series]

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

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Azerbaijani Republic; short-form name: Azerbaijan

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

CIS, CSCE, IMF, OIC, UN, UNCTAD

National holiday [time series]

NA

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

Self-proclaimed Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

NA

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 18

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic

Birth rate [time series]

26 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate [time series]

7 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

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 [time series]

45 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force [time series]

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

Languages [time series]

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

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

65 years male, 73 years female (1992)

Literacy [time series]

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

Nationality [time series]

noun - Azerbaijani(s); adjective - Azerbaijani

Net migration rate [time series]

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

Organized labor [time series]

NA (1992)

Population [time series]

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

Religions [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

2.9 children born/woman (1992)