Introduction to Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan Republic of Azerbaijan, §¡§Ù§Ö§â§Ò§Ñ§Û§Õ§Ø§Ñ§ß§ã§Ü§Ñ§ñ §²§Ö§ã§á§å§Ò§Ý§Ú§Ü§Ñ
¡¾Physical Geography¡¿The Republic of Azerbaijan is located in the eastern part of the Transcaucasus region at the junction of Eurasia. It is bordered by the Caspian Sea to the east, Iran and Turkey to the south, Russia to the north, and Georgia and Armenia to the west. The enclave-Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic is surrounded by Armenia, Iran and Turkey.
Area: 86,600 square kilometers
Population: 10,143,500 (as of May 1, 2023) There are 43 ethnic groups, of which 91.6 per cent are Azerbaijanis, 2.0 per cent are Rezgen, 1.3 per cent are Russian, 1.3 per cent are Armenia and 1.3 per cent are Taresh.
¡¾Capital¡¿ Baku, §¢§Ñ§Ü§å, population 2,303,100 (as of the beginning of 2022).
¡¾Language¡¿ The official language is Azerbaijan. Most of the residents are fluent in Russian.
¡¾Religion¡¿ Most of them believe in Islam and belong to Shia Muslims, but they do not emphasize the differences between sects.
¡¾National Day¡¿ May 28
¡¾Currency¡¿ Manat, 1 US dollar ≈ 1.7 manat
¡¾Administrative Divisions¡¿ The basic units are districts and municipalities directly under the central government, and the whole territory includes 66 districts and 11 municipalities directly under the central government, of which 7 districts and 1 municipality are located in the enclave of Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic.
¡¾Brief History¡¿ Azerbaijan tribes were formed between the 11th and 13th centuries AD. From the 13th to the 16th centuries, it was repeatedly invaded and partitioned by foreign tribes. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, it was ruled by the Safavid dynasty of Iran. In the mid-18th century, it was divided into a dozen small feudal states. In the thirties of the 19th century, Northern Azerbaijan (now the Republic of Azerbaijan) was incorporated into Tsarist Russia. In November 1917, the Baku Commune, a Soviet power, was established. On May 28, 1918, the Azerbaijan bourgeoisie established the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. It was replaced by the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic on April 28, 1920. On March 12, 1922, it joined the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (in December of the same year, the federal republic joined the Soviet Union). On December 5, 1936, it was changed to a union republic directly under the Soviet Union. On February 6, 1991, the country was renamed the Republic of Azerbaijan, and on October 18, it officially became independent.
¡¾Head of State¡¿ President Il·ham Aliyev (§ª§Ý§î§ç§Ñ§Þ §¡§Ý§Ú§Ö§Ó), first elected in October 2003. He was re-elected four times in October 2008, October 2013, April 2018 and February 2024 until 2031.
Parliament: The highest legislative body of the country, known as the National Assembly. It is unicameral and consists of 125 members for five-year terms. The main functions are to formulate, ratify and abolish legal treaties, decide on administrative divisions, approve the State budget and supervise its implementation, remove the President in accordance with the impeachment procedure on the request of the Constitutional Court, and determine a referendum. The current (sixth) National Assembly was elected in February 2020 and Sahi·ba Gafarova (§³§Ñ§ç§Ú§Ò§Ñ §¤§Ñ§æ§Ñ§â§à§Ó§Ñ) was elected President of the National Assembly.
¡¾Government¡¿ The current government was formed in April 2018 ·with Ali Asadov (§¡§Ý§Ú §¡§ã§Ñ§Õ§à§Ó) as Prime Minister (since October 2019). The main government officials are: Foreign Minister Je·yhun Bayramov (§¥§Ø§Ö§Û§ç§å§ß §¢§Ñ§Û§â§Ñ§Þ§à§Ó), Minister of ·Internal Affairs Vilayat Eyvazov (§£§Ú§Ý§Ñ§ñ§ä §¿§Û§Ó§Ñ§Ù§à§Ó), Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov (§©§Ñ§Ü§Ú§â §¤§Ñ§ã§Ñ§ß§à§Ó), Minister of Economy · Mikayil Jabbarov · Minister of Economy, §®§Ú§Ü§Ñ§Ú§Ý §¥§Ø§Ñ§Ò§Ò§Ñ§â§à§Ó) and so on.
¡¾Politics¡¿ The presidential system is implemented, and the political situation is stable. President Aliyev is firmly in power, and his new Azerbaijan party has a broad public base.
The current constitution was adopted by referendum on 12 November 1995. On September 28, 2016, the Azerbaijan amended the constitution in the form of a referendum, extending the presidential term from 5 to 7 years, establishing the positions of first vice president and vice president, giving the president the power to dissolve parliament, abolishing the age limit for presidential candidates, and lowering the age threshold for parliamentary candidates.
¡¾Economy¡¿ The oil and gas industry is a pillar industry in Argentina. In 2020, due to the double impact of the epidemic and oil price fluctuations, the overall economic situation in Afghanistan declined. Since 2021, with the gradual resumption of foreign exchanges and cooperation and the steady recovery of energy prices, the economy has stopped falling and rebounded. In 2023, Argentina's GDP will be about 72.3 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 1.1%; The total foreign trade volume was about 51 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 3.8%.
Diplomacy pursues a policy of independence, pluralism and balance, and emphasizes the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, equality and mutual benefit, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs in international affairs. Actively use international and regional organizations such as the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement to expand diplomatic space. China has been hostile to Armenia for a long time, diplomatic relations have not yet been established, and the crux of bilateral relations is the "Nagorno-Karabakh" issue. From September to November 2020, armed clashes broke out in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, resulting in a large number of casualties. On November 9 of the same year, the two countries, under the coordination of Russia, issued a joint statement of the heads of state of the three countries, deciding to immediately achieve a ceasefire, Russia to send peacekeeping troops to the conflict zone, and Armenia to return the areas around "Nagorno-Karabakh" to Azerbaijan. On September 19-20, 2023, the Ministry of National Defense of Afghanistan carried out a "regional counter-terrorism operation" in the "Nagorno-Karabakh" region. On January 1, 2024, according to a statement issued by the authorities of "Nagorno-Karabakh", the "Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh" officially ceased to exist.
¡¾Resources¡¿ Afghanistan is adjacent to the Caspian Sea and has abundant oil and natural gas reserves. The proven reserves of oil are 4 billion tons, and the proven reserves of natural gas are 2.55 trillion cubic meters. In 2022, oil production was 32.6 million tons and natural gas production was 46.7 billion cubic meters.