Azerbaïdjan

See also: Azerbaïdjan (homonymy)

The Azerbaïdjan is a country of the the Caucasus. Its Capitale is Bakou, the official language is the Azeri and the currency the Manat. The country left the USSR since 1991.

History

See also: History of Azerbaïdjan

In 1804, the Tsar Alexandre conquers Gandja with the Perse, which becomes Elizavetpol. The Traité of Golestan in 1813 gives to the Russia the provinces of Persia located at the north of the Araks. The town of Bakou is annexed and becomes the capital of a governorship under the terms of the Traité of Turkmanchai of 1828 and of the peace treaty concluded with Edirne.

During the war 1877 - 1878, Russia seizes the area of Kars-Ardagan. At the end of the XIXe century, Russia discovers the high contents in oil of the country. Bakou becomes the first world oil producer. A relatively structured Azeri movement emerges at the same time.

In 1918, Azerbaïdjan proclaims independent republic and form with its frontier countries the federative Republic transcaucasienne. The Democratic republic of Azerbaïdjan existed until 1920. It is then the first Moslem democratic country of Asia, and the first Moslem country to give the right to vote with the women. In 1920, the country is occupied by the Red Army and attached to the Soviet Union before being integrated in 1922 into the transcaucasienne Federation and the Soviet Union in the form of the Soviet socialist République of Azerbaïdjan.

Azerbaïdjan proclaims its independence after the collapse of the communist bloc the August 30th 1991.

Əbülfəz Elçibəy, the chief of the Azeri Popular front (FPA), is elected president by the vote for all with 55% of the voices in June 1992. Following a short civil war, it is relieved in June 1993 and is temporarily replaced by the former Soviet leader Heydər Əliyev, chief of the Communist party. The dismissal of Eltchibey “is accepted” by referendum in October 1993 and Aliev is elected president with 98,8% of the votes at the time of an uncontested poll.

Geography

See also: Geography of Azerbaïdjan

  • Surface: 86.100 km ²

  • Density: 89 hab. /km ²
  • Land borders: 2.013 km (Arménie 787 km; Iran 611 km; Georgia 322 km; Russia 284 km; Turkey 9 km)
  • Littoral: 800 km (Caspian Sea)
  • Ends of altitude: -28 m > + 4.485 m

Subdivisions

See also: Subdivisions of Azerbaïdjan

Azerbaïdjan is divided into:

  • 59 districts (in Azeri: Raion in the singular, raionlar in the plural);
  • 11 cities ( şəhər in the singular);
  • 1 autonomous republic ( muxtar respublika ), the Nakhitchevan, which contains itself:
    • 7 districts;
    • 1 city.

Cities

See also: Towns of Azerbaïdjan

Policy

See also: Political of Azerbaïdjan

(Note: in Azeri, the letter ə decides between has and E.)

Azerbaïdjan is a republic with democratic presidential regime. The leaders chose political alliance with the the United States.

Today, the the United States are well established in the country interested by the strategic position of Azerbaïdjan in the Caucasus and by the presence of oil. The Russia found a broad influence in Bakou. Iran also approached the country because of the presence of a strong Azeri minority in Iran (about 20 million people), but also because they seek an alliance to counterbalance the Turkish influence on the area. The Azerbaijani is a language of the Turkish group and there exist strong cultural and political bonds with the Turkey.

  • Effective soldiers: 72.000 (2002)

  • Budget of the army: 118 million $ (2002)

The president Heydər Əliyev, former member of the PCUS (Communist party of the Soviet Union), directed the country of 1993 to 2003, of an iron hand. Seriously sick, it made elect his son İlham Əliyev with the presidency at the time of the elections of 2003. The opposition is descended in the street but the repression and the lack of support of the “international community” (contrary to the close Georgia) quickly closed any dispute. Hardly 38% of the population of Azerbaïdjan trust its army According to a survey carried out by the Gallup institute on 1400 citizens of Azerbaïdjan, hardly 38% of the questioned people make confidence with their army and 37% “partially confidence”. A survey which shows once more that the massive investments in the army, announced many times by Bakou, did not reach their target yet. A situation which consolidates the position of the Armenian ex-minister of Defense, Serge Sarksian who affirmed that the best armed is not those of the richest countries. On the other hand, 52% of the Azeris would be satisfied of the economic situation of their country. In 2003 they were only 31% to affirm it. 60% of the questioned people are said trustful on the economic evolution of the country and 66% of declare interested by the policy and the work of their government.

Despite everything a conflict between Arménie and Azerbaïdjan persists about the Haut-Karabagh.

For the questions of religious minorities in Azerbaïdjan, to see the article Orthodoxy in Azerbaïdjan .

Economy

See also: Economy of Azerbaïdjan

The economy of Azerbaïdjan is strongly dependant on the exploitation of the Pétrole in Caspian Sea, which accounts for 70% of its exports and 50% of the budget of the State.

  • GDP: 5.585 million $

  • PNB/habitants: 650 $

Economy

Azerbaïdjan, which profits from the confidence of the IFI, knows one of the best macro-economic situations of the CEI (35,1% of growth in 2006): controlled deficit and debt, monetary reserves and trade surplus substantial. The growth is fed, in particular, by the beginning of the exploitation of the principal oil and gas layers and the startup of the Bakou-Tbilissi-Ceyhan pipeline and, soon, the Bakou-Tbilissi-Erzurum gas pipeline. Even if the massive entries of currencies, related on the overseas investments and the export earnings, fed a big rise of inflation (nearly 13% in 2006), the experts risk-country of OECD, under these favorable conditions, reclassified Azerbaïdjan of category 6 with category 5. The authorities implemented structural reforms (new taxation laws, program privatizations, introduction of the funds tanker and rationalization of the official economic structures…) but still pain to take up the challenges as regards good governance: according to the established ranking by International Transparency in 2006, Azerbaïdjan occupies the 130e row on 163 examined countries. The proportion of the population living under the poverty line strongly decreased, of almost 49% in 2003 to 29% in 2005, according to the official figures.

The main challenge of Azerbaïdjan in the next years will be to carry out a diversification of its resources and a harmonious distribution of the fruits of the growth. To date, if the capital started to overcome the effects of the collapse of the Soviet block, the standard of living of the major part of the population remains limited. The oil sector accounts for 66% of the industrial production in 2006, against 11% with the beginning of the year 1990. Exports, made up to 90% of oil products attest strong concentration of the local economy and vulnerability of its external accounts with the fluctuations of the raw material courses.

Update: 20.06.07 http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/pays-zones-geo_833/azerbaidjan_457/presentation-azerbaidjan_929/economie_6298.html

Equipment

  • Telephone lines: 663.000 (in 1997)

  • Cellphones: 40.000 (in 1997)
  • Radios: 175.000 (in 1997)
  • Television stations: 170 00 (in 1997)
  • Users of Internet: 8.000 (in 2000)
  • Many suppliers of access Internet: 2 (in 2000)
  • Roads: 24.981 km (including 23.057 tarred km) (in 1998)
  • Railways: 2.125 km (in 1993)
  • inland Waterways: 0 km
  • Many airports: 52 (including 9 with tarred tracks, in 2000)

Demography

See also: Demography of Azerbaïdjan

  • Population: 7.771.092 inhabitants (in 2001), 8.081.000 inhabitants (in 2002).

  • Old: 0-14 years: 28,95%; 15-64 years: 63,93%; + 65 years: 7,12%
  • Life expectancy of the men: 59 years (in 2001)
  • Life expectancy of the women: 67 years (in 2001)
  • Growth rate of the population: 0,32% (in 2001)
  • Birth rate: 18,44 ‰ (in 2001)
  • Death rate: 9,55 ‰ (in 2001)
  • infantile Death rate: 79,00 ‰ (in 2006)
  • Fertility rate: 2,24 children/woman (in 2001; 1,7 in 2007 according to Emmanuel Todd)
  • Rate of migration: -5,67 ‰ (in 2001)

Personalities

Cook Azerbaijani

See also: Azerbaijani Kitchen

The Azerbaijani national kitchen is one of richest world. It does not understand that the preparation of the meals, but it synthesizes also the culinary culture, its history, its philosophy, its practices and a certain poetry of the kitchen.

The climate plays a big role in the formation of the kitchen and Azerbaïdjan has nine climatic zones. Thanks to this variety the Azerbaijani kitchen is very coloured and rich. The notes of the foreign travellers visiting Azerbaïdjan, show that people cultivated corn, rice, sesame, the beet, the vine, the apples, the tobacco, cotton, the quince and produced meat (especially ovine), caviar and practiced fishing. Y.D. Angabadzé and N.Q. Volkova in their book Old Tiflis write: The Azerbaijanis brought cheeses which they sold at the market of Tiflis. The trout of Goydjé is very délicieuse. The Azerbaijani kitchen influenced the Russian, Bulgarian and Yugoslav kitchens much.

The names of the national meals find their origins in the technique of their preparations and point out the areas from where they come. For example, the name of the dolma comes from two words: doldurmaq means “to fill” and dolamaq means “to roll”.

In the Azerbaijani national kitchen the meat of bovines and sheep is very much used. The files prove that the meat of horse and camel were also used. The Azeris prefer the meat of the animals of mountain. One uses also grease, meat offals and the tripe of the animals in the Azerbaijani kitchen. Thanks to the variety of the rivers and rivers the Azerbaijani kitchen contains many fish dishes. The tastes of fish roasted, stuffed and the Chachlik (skewers) with fish are very appreciated. Among the products poulterers the eggs are very much used in our national kitchen. The omelets with the eggs ( sebzi kuku ), the chicken with the eggs ( çığırtma ) are very appreciated current mets. The Azeris like to use the dairy products in their kitchen: atlama , dovğa , doğramac , ayranaşı . The Azerbaijanis respect much the bread. Various kinds of bread like lavache , yuxa , sengah , xamrali , to tendir coreyi , decorate the Azerbaijani tables. As soon as there is the bread on the table, the meal starts one starts to eat.

The pastes occupy an important place in the Azerbaijani kitchen. It is desirable to note that the pastes are specific for all the Turkish kitchens. In the Azerbaijani kitchen the meals prepared with the flour like duchbéré , gurzé , will horra , xechile , xengel , etc, are rather eaten in winter.

Pastry makings are omnipresent in the Azerbaijani kitchen. Previously the peasants cultivated sugar beets, they produced honey and they used it in their kitchen. The Azeris are proud of their baklavas, will chekerbouras, halvas, etc Various jams appeared thanks to the local production of sugar. The production of sugar refined in Azerbaïdjan started with the Xe century. Jams of quinces, cornouilles, grapes, fig, nut and other fruits are very delicious and are been useful with the. The sorbets prepared with fruits and sugar are been useful with pilafs.

The Azerbaijani national kitchen is also rich by its drinks. The vodkas ( araq in Azeri) made containing cornouilles and of blackberries are especially used like treatment of certain diseases. Previously the Azeris prepared a drink called buzé , connected with beer.

The has a very important place in the Azerbaijani daily life.

The variety of the Azerbaijani kitchen was appreciated by the foreigners. The English traveller of the XVe-XVIe century Antonio Djenkinson writes that during the dinner with the palate of Abdullah Khan Oustachli, like entry, one served 140 national dishes and 150 principal dishes.

Appendices

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