Azerbaijan is a republic with a presidential form of government. This state is considered the largest in the South Caucasus. Let us further consider the features that distinguish the Republic of Azerbaijan.
General information
The capital of the state is Baku. The country is considered secular. The state is located in Western Asia. The regions of Azerbaijan are inhabited by more than 9 million people. (for 2013). The area of the country's territory is 86 thousand square meters. km. The official language of the state is Azerbaijani. The country is multi-confessional and multi-ethnic. Most of the population professes Islam, a smaller one - Christianity and Judaism. Every citizen of Azerbaijan since September 1, 2013 has a biometric passport. It is used for movement within the country and travel abroad. The monetary unit is the Azerbaijani manat (1 AZN is about 42 Russian rubles).
Azerbaijani holidays
Officially celebrated in the country:
- New Year (Jan 1).
- International Women's Day (March 8).
- Novruz Bayramy (21.03).
The holidays of Azerbaijan also include days:
- Victory (May 9).
- Republics (May 28).
- Armed Forces (June 26).
- Independence (October 18).
- The National Flag (November 9).
- Constitution (November 12).
- National Revival (November 17).
- Solidarity of Azerbaijanis around the world (December 31).
March 31 is Genocide Day.
President
He acts as head of state. The president is elected by popular vote. Length of tenure is 5 years. The powers of the president include the appointment of government officials. If it is not possible to carry out elections under the conditions of hostilities, the term of office shall continue until their completion. The decision on this is made by the Constitutional Court at the request of the state body, whose competence includes ensuring the holding of elections.
Peculiarities of Azerbaijan's policy
The highest representative body is the National Unicameral Assembly - Milli Majlis. The laws of Azerbaijan are adopted by 125 deputies. The representative body is elected by popular vote. The term of office is 5 years. The first elections were held in 1955. There are more than 30 parties and movements in the country. Joins are considered key:
- "New Azerbaijan".
- "Musavat".
- Democratic Party.
- "People's Front".
- Liberal Party.
- Social Democratic Movement.
People's Economic Complex
The Republic of Azerbaijan is an industrial-agrarian country. Industry is well developed in the state. The country's agriculture is diversified. The key place in the national economic complex is occupied by gas and oil production, chemical, mining, machine-building industry, non-ferrous metallurgy. Food industries are well developed: tea, tobacco, canning, wine-making. Large volumes of production are noted in the light industry (cotton, cotton ginning, wool, silk, carpet weaving). The economy of Azerbaijan is considered the leader in terms of growth rates among the CIS countries. Between 2003 and 2008 The country's GDP increased 2.6 times, and the poverty rate decreased from 45 to 11%. In 2006, GDP increased by 36.6%. The Azerbaijani economy has continued to grow continuously since 1996. Over the past 10 years, it has grown by an average of 13.6% every year.
Geographic location
The Republic of Azerbaijan is washed by the Caspian Sea. On land, the country neighbors with Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Iran. Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, an exclave of Azerbaijan, borders Armenia in the northeast, Iran in the southwest, and Turkey in the northwest.
Relief
More than half of the territory of the state is occupied by mountains. Their northern part is included in the system of the Greater, the western and southwestern - the Lesser Caucasus. There are glaciers in the highlands. The turbulent rivers of Azerbaijan also flow here. In the middle mountains there are deep gorges. Ranges of the Greater Caucasus from west to east, firstgradually, then sharply decrease. They are replaced by low ridges. In the Lesser Caucasus, the mountains do not differ in high height. They include numerous ranges and the Karabakh highlands with extinct volcanoes. The extreme southeast is occupied by the Lankaran Mountains. They consist of 3 parallel ridges. The Talysh Range is considered the highest. Its main peak Kemryukei reaches 2477 m.
Between the mountains of the Lesser and Greater Caucasus passes the Kura-Araks lowland. Its northern and northwestern part is represented by a system of hills, valleys and low ridges. Alluvial plains lie in the east and in the center. Near the sea coast is the low delta of the Kura. In the northeast direction from the Greater Caucasus lies the Kusar Plain. The Caspian Sea includes the Kura Spit and the Apsheron Peninsula. The main water artery of the country is the river. Kura. It crosses the Republic from the northwest towards the southeast, flowing into the Caspian Sea. The main tributary is the Araks. Most of the country's rivers belong to the Kura basin. In total, there are about a thousand streams in the territory, but only 21 have a length of more than a hundred kilometers.
History
The Republic of Azerbaijan was formed during the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Ayaz Mutalibov acted as the first president. At the end of August 1991, a declaration was adopted by the Supreme Council of the country. In accordance with it, the Republic of Azerbaijan restored its independence. In pursuance of the declaration, a constitutional act was adopted. It laid down the foundationseconomic, political and state structure of Azerbaijan. In June 1992, Ayaz Mutalibov was replaced by Abulfaz Elchibey. At that time in Azerbaijan, he was the leader of the Popular Front. Yagub Mammadov and Isa Gambar also acted as interim acting heads of the country. Both were prime ministers in Azerbaijan at one time.
New head of state
During the military confrontation, there were a number of failures due to the incompetence of the Popular Front. All this caused a crisis of power. On June 4, 1993, the rebellion of Suret Huseynov began in Ganja. To prevent the unleashing of a civil war, Heydar Aliyev was invited to Baku. At that time he lived in Nakhichevan. Heydar Aliyev was given the power of the head of the Republic. During the events, a group of Talysh officers led by Colonel Gummatov proclaimed autonomy in Lankaran. Heydar Aliyev did not recognize her, and on August 23 this uprising was crushed.
Territorial disputes
At the turn of 1991-1992. There have been some territorial changes. In particular, the Artsvashen exclave came under the control of the Republic of Azerbaijan. At the same time, there were non-sovereign regions in it, which began to belong to Armenia. In particular, such regions of Azerbaijan as Upper Askipara, Bakhurdaly, Karki passed to it.
Ceasefire Agreement
It was signed with the mediation of the CIS countries in May 1994. During the war, the Armenians were ousted by the Azerbaijanis from several regions. Previously, the latter were the majority in these territories. Mostly, the NKR army and the Armenian forces supporting it regained control over some regions located outside the declared in 1991 sections of Nagorno-Karabakh, in which previously predominantly Azerbaijanis lived. These actions in 1993 were regarded by the UN Security Council as an occupation. After a while, the NKR authorities, who continued to maintain control over these areas, included them in their administrative-territorial structure.
Contract of the Century
He was imprisoned in 1994, on September 20, in the Gulustan Palace. This contract has become one of the largest agreements. The contract provided for the share distribution of products obtained from the deepwater deposits of Chirag, Azeri and Gunashli. This agreement was one of the largest both in terms of the volume of hydrocarbon reserves and the amount of proposed investments. The contract took 400 pages and was executed in 4 languages. 13 companies from 8 countries participated in the agreement. Preliminary calculations showed that the estimated oil reserves at first amounted to 511 million tons. But later, appraisal drilling was done, and according to updated information, the presence of 730 million tons of raw materials was established. In this regard, the amount of investments was increased to 11.5 billion dollars. According to the contract, 80% of the total net profit was due to Azerbaijan, and 20% - to investors. Since the beginning of the implementation of the agreement, a significant turning point has occurred in the national economic complex of the country, a huge amount of work has been launched. In 1995, under the primary oil production project, according to internationalstandards, restoration work on the platform "Chygrak-1" was carried out. For drilling wells with a higher inclination, the upper module was upgraded and re-equipped. A new type of drilling rig made it possible to drill horizontally to the well layers. A large volume of oil began to flow from the most obliquely drilled channels. Production at the Chirag field began in 1997.
Present
Azerbaijan today is a fairly developed country in terms of economics. Heydar Aliyev died in 2003. He was replaced as president by his son, Ilham. In 2010, 2 villages of the Magaramkent region of Dagestan with 600 Lezgins, citizens of the Russian Federation, moved to the Khachmas region of Azerbaijan. In addition, the flow of the river was divided. Samur. In May 2013, 3 pasture areas of the Dokuzparinsky district of Dagestan also went to Azerbaijan.
Attractions
In 70 km south of Baku, the largest accumulation of rock carvings in the CIS countries, Kobystan, was discovered. There are also more than 4 thousand unique sites, fortresses, caves and burial grounds. All of them are over 10 thousand years old. The monuments present on the territory constitute a historical and cultural reserve. The village of Surakhani lies 30 km northeast of Baku. It contains the temple complex "Ateshgah". The original construction of the monument dates back to the 2nd century. BC e. There are fortresses throughout the Absheron Peninsula. They were built by the Shirvan shahs. Castles in Mardakan, sunken ruinsBailov castle, Tuba-Shakhi mosque, various fortifications in Buzovny, Shuvelany, Kishly, Sabunchi, Amirjany, Mashtagi, Kala, on about. Pirallahi and others. The city of Shabran is located in the north-east of Azerbaijan. It was part of the Derbent defensive system in the Middle Ages. In the same direction is the capital of the Cuban ancient Khanate, the city of Cuba.
Shemakha is considered one of the most interesting and ancient cities of Azerbaijan. It is located 130 km west of the country's capital. The city of Sheki is located 380 km not far from the border with Georgia. Archaeological evidence indicates that it may be one of the oldest settlements in the Caucasus. In the suburbs of Sheki, there are a large number of historical and cultural monuments. These, for example, include the Kumbazi towers in Kutkashen, the fortresses of Sumug, Gelesen-Geresen, Kish, the tower and temple of Orta-Zeyzit, the Ilisu mosque, the mausoleum in Babaratma, etc. The region itself is amazingly beautiful. It is intricately dotted with narrow and deep valleys with a huge number of springs, waterfalls, cleanest rivers, and mineral springs. All this splendor is surrounded by alpine meadows and dense forests. The city of Lankaran was previously the capital of the Talysh Khanate. It is located in the southeastern part of the country, near the border with Iran.
To the north, 100 km is one of the most beautiful medieval towns of Haneg. The walls of the fortress, the mosque, the tomb of Pir Hussein and other structures have survived to this day. Near the confluence of the river. Chickens in the sea is the old town of Neftchala. It preserved the Goltuk fortress, the ruins of defensivestructures, Piratavan sanctuary, Khilli mosque. To the northwest of the city, archaeologists continue to find new historical monuments. In particular, the city of Orenkala, the mounds of Garatepe, Gyzyltepe, Goshatepe, Mukhurtepe and others were discovered. Fortified towers, mausoleums, castles, monasteries of the Middle Ages are located along the border with Nagorno-Karabakh.
There are numerous nature reserves, fishing and resort towns on the Caspian coast. Areas at the mouth of the river. Chickens are considered traditional sturgeon fishing grounds. The ridges of the Talysh mountains lie along the border with Iran. This area is considered the most exotic in the country. In the subtropical zone there are mixed and broad-leaved forests. Many representatives of the Hyrcanian flora live here. This area is known as one of the best resorts in Azerbaijan. Another of the oldest cities is Kabala. It is considered the religious and political center of Caucasian Albania. In Arabic sources, he is known as Khazar. A mosque, the mausoleums of Mansur and Badreddin, the castles of Sary-Tepe and Ajinne-Tepe have survived to this day. The city of Nakhichevan is also ancient. To the south is the city of Ordubad. It has been known since the 12th century. Dilber and Juma mosques, khan's courts, madrasahs, as well as a huge number of medieval buildings, which are combined into a state historical architectural reserve, are located here.
