Azərbaycan Respublikası
Republic of Azerbaijan
Flag Coat of arms

Anthem: Azərbaycan Respublikasının Dövlət Himni
(March of Azerbaijan)

 

Location of Sri Lanka

Capital
(and largest city)
Baku
40°22′N, 49°53′E
Official languages Azerbaijani
Demonym Azerbaijani
Government Presidential republic
 -  President Ilham Aliyev
 -  Prime Minister Artur Rasizade
Independence from the Soviet Union 
 -  Declared August 30, 1991 
 -  Completed October 18, 1991 
Area
 -  Total 86,600 km² (113th)
33,436 sq mi 
 -  Water (%) 1.6%
Population
 -  July 2008 estimate 8,676,000 [2] (91st)
 -  2002 census 8,265,000 
 -  Density 97/km² (100th)
251/sq mi
GDP (PPP) 2007 estimate
 -  Total $52.35 billion (77th)
 -  Per capita $6.476 (96th)
GDP (nominal) 2007 estimate
 -  Total $31.32 billion (77th)
 -  Per capita $3,633 (88th)
Gini (2006) 36.5 (58th)
HDI (2007) 0.746 (medium) (98th)
Currency Manat (AZN)
Time zone (UTC+4)
 -  Summer (DST)  (UTC+5)
Internet TLD .az
Calling code +994

Azerbaijan (IPA: /ˌæzəbaɪˈʤɑːn/ (UK), [ˌæzɚbaɪˈʤɑn] (help·info) (US); Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası), is the largest and most populous country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the west and northwest, Armenia to the southwest, and Iran to the south. The Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan is bordered by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and Turkey to the west and southwest. Nagorno-Karabakh, along with 7 other districts in Azerbaijan's southwest, have been occupied by Armenia since the end of the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994.[1] Four United Nations Security Council Resolutions (822, 853, 874, and 884) called for "the withdrawal of occupying forces from occupied areas of the Azerbaijani Republic"[2] The country's territory also encompasses several islands in the Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan, a nation with an ethnic Azeri and Shi‘ite Muslim majority population,[3][4] is a secular and unitary republic. The country has been a co-founder of GUAM and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and has been a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States since September 1993.[5] The country has a Permanent Mission to the European Union, hosts a Special Envoy of the European Commission and is a member of the United Nations, OSCE, Council of Europe, and the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) program.