|
Location: Southwestern Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea,
between Iran and Russia
Geographic coordinates: 40 30 N, 47 30 E
Map references: Commonwealth of Independent States
Area:
total: 86,600 sq km
land: 86,100 sq km
water: 500 sq km
note: includes the exclave of Naxcivan Autonomous Republic
and the Nagorno-Karabakh region; the region's autonomy was abolished
by Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet on 26 November 1991
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Maine
Land boundaries:
total: 2,013 km
border countries: Armenia (with Azerbaijan-proper) 566 km,
Armenia (with Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave) 221 km, Georgia 322 km,
Iran (with Azerbaijan-proper) 432 km, Iran (with Azerbaijan-Naxcivan
exclave) 179 km, Russia 284 km, Turkey 9 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
note: Azerbaijan borders the Caspian Sea (800 km, est.)
Maritime claims: none (landlocked)
Climate: dry, semiarid steppe
Terrain: large, flat Kur-Araz Ovaligi (Kura-Araks Lowland)
(much of it below sea level) with Great Caucasus Mountains to the
north, Qarabag Yaylasi (Karabakh Upland) in west; Baku lies on Abseron
Yasaqligi (Apsheron Peninsula) that juts into Caspian Sea
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m
highest point: Bazarduzu Dagi 4,485 m
Natural resources: petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nonferrous
metals, alumina
Land use:
arable land: 18%
permanent crops: 5%
permanent pastures: 25%
forests and woodland: 11%
other: 41% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 10,000 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: droughts; some lowland areas threatened
by rising levels of the Caspian Sea
Environment - current issues: local scientists consider
the Abseron Yasaqligi (Apsheron Peninsula) (including Baku and Sumqayit)
and the Caspian Sea to be the ecologically most devastated area
in the world because of severe air, water, and soil pollution; soil
pollution results from the use of DDT as a pesticide and also from
toxic defoliants used in the production of cotton
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity
Geography - note: landlocked
Azerbaijan
Country
Formal Name: Republic of Azerbaijan.
Short Form: Azerbaijan.
Term for Citizens: Azerbaijani(s).
Capital: Baku.
Date of Independence: October 18, 1991.
Geography
Size: Approximately 86,600 square kilometers.
Topography: About half mountainous; surrounded
by mountain ranges, most notably Greater Caucasus range to north.
Flatlands in center and along Caspian Sea coast.
Climate: Dry, semiarid steppe in center and east,
subtropical in southeast, cold at high mountain elevations to north,
temperate on Caspian Sea coast.
Data as of March 1994
Azerbaijan
Physical Environment
Three physical features dominate Azerbaijan: the Caspian Sea, whose
shoreline forms a natural boundary to the east; the Greater Caucasus
mountain range to the north; and the extensive flatlands at the
country's center . About the size of Portugal or the state of Maine,
Azerbaijan has a total land area of approximately 86,600 square
kilometers, less than 1 percent of the land area of the former Soviet
Union. Of the three Transcaucasian states, Azerbaijan has the greatest
land area. Special administrative subdivisions are the Nakhichevan
Autonomous Republic, which is separated from the rest of Azerbaijan
by a strip of Armenian territory, and the NagornoKarabakh Autonomous
Region, entirely within Azerbaijan. (The status of Nagorno-Karabakh
was under negotiation in 1994.) Located in the region of the southern
Caucasus Mountains, Azerbaijan borders the Caspian Sea to the east,
Georgia and Russia to the north, Iran to the south, and Armenia
to the southwest and west . A small part of Nakhichevan also borders
Turkey to the northwest. The capital of Azerbaijan is the ancient
city of Baku, which has the largest and best harbor on the Caspian
Sea and has long been the center of the republic's oil industry.
Data as of March 1994
Azerbaijan
Topography and Drainage
The elevation changes over a relatively short distance from lowlands
to highlands; nearly half the country is considered mountainous.
Notable physical features are the gently undulating hills of the
subtropical southeastern coast, which are covered with tea plantations,
orange groves, and lemon groves; numerous mud volcanoes and mineral
springs in the ravines of Kobustan Mountain near Baku; and coastal
terrain that lies as much as twenty-eight meters below sea level.
Except for its eastern Caspian shoreline and some areas bordering
Georgia and Iran, Azerbaijan is ringed by mountains. To the northeast,
bordering Russia's Dagestan Autonomous Republic, is the Greater
Caucasus range; to the west, bordering Armenia, is the Lesser Caucasus
range. To the extreme southeast, the Talysh Mountains form part
of the border with Iran. The highest elevations occur in the Greater
Caucasus, where Mount Bazar-dyuzi rises 4,740 meters above sea level.
Eight large rivers flow down from the Caucasus ranges into the central
Kura-Aras lowlands, alluvial flatlands and low delta areas along
the seacoast designated by the Azerbaijani name for the Mtkvari
River and its main tributary, the Aras. The Mtkvari, the longest
river in the Caucasus region, forms the delta and drains into the
Caspian a short distance downstream from the confluence with the
Aras. The Mingechaur Reservoir, with an area of 605 square kilometers
that makes it the largest body of water in Azerbaijan, was formed
by damming the Kura in western Azerbaijan. The waters of the reservoir
provide hydroelectric power and irrigation of the KuraAras plain.
Most of the country's rivers are not navigable. About 15 percent
of the land in Azerbaijan is arable.
Data as of March 1994
Azerbaijan
Climate
The climate varies from subtropical and dry in central and eastern
Azerbaijan to subtropical and humid in the southeast, temperate
along the shores of the Caspian Sea, and cold at the higher mountain
elevations. Baku, on the Caspian, enjoys mild weather, averaging
4° C in January and 25° C in July. Because most of Azerbaijan
receives scant rainfall--on average 152 to 254 millimeters annually--agricultural
areas require irrigation. Heaviest precipitation occurs in the highest
elevations of the Caucasus and in the Lenkoran' Lowlands in the
far southeast, where the yearly average exceeds 1,000 millimeters.
Environmental Problems
Air and water pollution are widespread and pose great challenges
to economic development. Major sources of pollution include oil
refineries and chemical and metallurgical industries, which in the
early 1990s continued to operate as inefficiently as they had in
the Soviet era. Air quality is extremely poor in Baku, the center
of oil refining. Some reports have described Baku's air as the most
polluted in the former Soviet Union, and other industrial centers
suffer similar problems.
The Caspian Sea, including Baku Bay, has been polluted by oil leakages
and the dumping of raw or inadequately treated sewage, reducing
the yield of caviar and fish. In the Soviet period, Azerbaijan was
pressed to use extremely heavy applications of pesticides to improve
its output of scarce subtropical crops for the rest of the Soviet
Union. Particularly egregious was the continued regular use of the
pesticide DDT in the 1970s and 1980s, although that chemical was
officially banned in the Soviet Union because of its toxicity to
humans. Excessive application of pesticides and chemical fertilizers
has caused extensive groundwater pollution and has been linked by
Azerbaijani scientists to birth defects and illnesses. Rising water
levels in the Caspian Sea, mainly caused by natural factors exacerbated
by man-made structures, have reversed the decades-long drying trend
and now threaten coastal areas; the average level rose 1.5 meters
between 1978 and 1993. Because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
large numbers of trees were felled, roads were built through pristine
areas, and large expanses of agricultural land were occupied by
military forces.
Like other former Soviet republics, Azerbaijan faces a gigantic
environmental cleanup complicated by the economic uncertainties
left in the wake of the Moscow-centered planning system. The Committee
for the Protection of the Natural Environment is part of the Azerbaijani
government, but in the early 1990s it was ineffective at targeting
critical applications of limited funds, establishing pollution standards,
or monitoring compliance with environmental regulations. Early in
1994, plans called for Azerbaijan to participate in the international
Caspian Sea Forum, sponsored by the European Union (EU).
Data as of March 1994
|
