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Communications

Airports [time series]

total: 65 useable: 33 with permanent-surface runways: 26 with runways over 3,659 m: 0 with runways 2,440-3,659 m: 8 with runways 1,220-2,439 m: 23

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

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

Pipelines [time series]

crude oil 1,130 km, petroleum products 630 km, natural gas 1,240 km

Ports [time series]

inland - Baku (Baky)

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

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

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

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

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Army, Air Force, Navy, National Guard, Security Forces (internal and border troops)

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

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 [time series]

males age 15-49 1,842,917; fit for military service 1,497,640; reach military age (18) annually 66,928 (1993 est.)

Economy

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]

1 manat (abbreviation NA) = 10 Russian rubles; ruble still used

Economic aid [time series]

wheat from Turkey

Electricity [time series]

6,025,000 kW capacity; 22,300 million kWh produced, 2,990 kWh per capita (1992)

Exchange rates [time series]

Exports [time series]

$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

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$1.3 billion (1991 est.)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Illicit drugs [time series]

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 [time series]

$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 (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate -27% (1992)

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]

20% per month (1992 est.)

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

GDP $NA

Real GDP per capita (National product per capita) [time series]

$NA

Real GDP growth rate (National product real growth rate) [time series]

-25% (1992)

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 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 [time series]

0.2% includes officially registered unemployed; also large numbers of underemployed workers

Geography

Area [time series]

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 [time series]

dry, semiarid steppe; subject to drought

Coastline [time series]

0 km (landlocked) note: Azerbaijan does border the Caspian Sea (800 km, est.)

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

Disputes - international (International disputes) [time series]

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 [time series]

14,010 km2 (1990)

Land boundaries [time series]

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 [time series]

arable land: 18% permanent crops: 0% meadows and pastures: 25% forest and woodland: 0% other: 57%

Location [time series]

Southeastern Europe, between Armenia and Turkmenistan, bordering the Caspian Sea

Map references [time series]

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 [time series]

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 [time series]

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

Note [time series]

landlocked

Terrain [time series]

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

Government

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; writing a new constitution mid-1993

Digraph [time series]

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

chief of mission: Ambassador Hafiz PASHAYEV chancery: 1615 L Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: NA

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

President: last held 8 June 1992 (next to be held NA); results - Abdulfaz Ali ELCHIBEY, won 60% of vote 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

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]

30 August 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court

Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]

Chief of State: President Ebulfez ELCHIBEY (since 7 June 1992) 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)

Legal system [time series]

based on civil law system

Legislative branch [time series]

National Parliament (National Assembly or Milli Mejlis)

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

BSEC, CSCE, EBRD, ECO, ESCAP, IBRD, IDB, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT, ITU, NACC, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO

Country name (Names) [time series]

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 holiday [time series]

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

self-proclaimed Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

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

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

Suffrage [time series]

18 years of age; universal

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic

Diplomatic representation from the US (US diplomatic representation) [time series]

chief of mission: Ambassador Richard MILES embassy: Hotel Intourist, Baku mailing address: APO AE 09862 telephone: 7-8922-91-79-56

People

Birth rate [time series]

24.09 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate [time series]

6.61 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)

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]

35.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)

Labor force [time series]

2.789 million by occupation: 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]

total population: 70.6 years male: 66.77 years female: 74.63 years (1993 est.)

Literacy [time series]

age 9-49 can read and write (1970) total population: 100% male: 100% female: 100%

Nationality [time series]

noun: Azerbaijani(s) adjective: Azerbaijani

Net migration rate [time series]

-2.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)

Population [time series]

7,573,435 (July 1993 est.)

Population growth rate [time series]

1.5% (1993 est.)

Religions [time series]

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

Total fertility rate [time series]

2.76 children born/woman (1993 est.)