Azerbaijan History, Geography, Economy and Important Events

There are many types of concepts about the origin of the name Azerbaijan. The most prevalent theorem is that the name derives from the word atropatan. Atropt was a satrap in the time of the Persian Akaminaid dynasty, invaded and defeated by Alexander the Great and Atropton gained independence. At that time this area was known as Media Atropatia or Atropatin. In 1918 the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic declared its independence and became the first secular democratic Muslim-majority state.

Azerbaijan is a republic in the eastern part of the Caucasus, located in the middle of Eastern Europe and Asia. Geographically, it is part of Asia. Its frontier countries are: Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Iran, Turkey and its coastal part bordered by the Caspian Sea. It was part of the former Soviet Union until 1991. Azerbaijan is a secular country and a member of the Council since 2001. Most of the population is a follower of the religion of Islam and this country is also a member nation of the Islamic Conference Association. This country is slowly moving towards formal but authoritarian democracy.

After gaining independence in 1991, Azerbaijan became a member of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Islamic Development Bank and the Asian Development Bank. Azerbaijan's banking system consists of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, commercial banks and non-banking credit organizations. The National (now Central) Bank was formed in 1992 on the basis of Azerbaijan State Savings Bank, an affiliate of the former State Savings Bank of the USSR. The Central Bank acts as the central bank of Azerbaijan, which has the authority to issue national currency, Azerbaijani mannets, and to monitor all commercial banks. The two major commercial banks are UniBank and Azerbaijan's state-owned international banks, run by Dr. Jahangir Hajyev.

The official language is Azerbaijan, which is an Ottoman language. Azerbaijan is spoken by around 92% of the population as mother tongue. Russian and Armenian (spoken only in Nagorno-Karbakh) are spoken, and each is the mother tongue of approximately 1.5% of the population respectively. Russian and English play an important role as the second or third language of education and communication. A dozen other minority languages ​​are spoken in the country. Avar, Budukh, Georgian, Juhuri, Khinalugh, Kriyats, Lezifian, Rutul, Talish, Tat, Tsakhur and Udi are all spoken by small minorities. Some of these language communities are very small and their numbers are decreasing. Armenian is almost exclusively spoken in the break-away Nagorno-Karbakh region.

Armenia [L] , Georgia [L] , Iran [LM] , Kazakhstan [M] , Russia [LM] , Turkey [L] , Turkmenistan [M] ,
Definition of international border: L = Land Border | M = Maritime Border