Azerbaijan

Azerbaijani Democratic Republic
Flag Coat of arms
Capital	Ganja
Largest city	Baku
Official languages	Azerbaijani
Demonym(s)	Azerbaijani, Azeri
Government	Unitary semi-presidential republic under a hereditary dictatorship
• President	Kamari Al-Qasim
Legislature	Azerbaijani National Congress
Establishment
• Sassanid Vassal	252
• Shirvanshah Rule	861
• Safavid Rule	1500s-1900s
• Russian Dominance	18th Century-1923
• Transcaucasian Federation	1923-1925
• Independance from Russia	1925-1926
• Derzhavist Rule	1926-1938
• Independance Restored	1938
• Karabakh Wars	1954-1985
• Kamari Dictatorship	2010-Present
Currency	Manat
Driving side	right
ISO 3166 code	AZ

  

Azerbaijan, officially the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic, is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Republic of Dagestan to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and The Anatolian Republic to the west, and Iran to the south. Ganja is the capital and Baku is the largest city.

^{Flag of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic}

^{Politicians of the Azerbaijani State (Ganja, 1920s)}

The territory of what is now Azerbaijan was first ruled by Caucasian Albania and later various Persian empires. Until the 19th century, it remained part of Qajar Iran, but the Russo-Persian wars of 1804–1813 and 1826–1828 forced the Qajar Empire to cede its Caucasian territories to the Russian Empire; the treaties of Gulistan in 1813 and Turkmenchay in 1828 defined the border between Russia and Iran. The region north of the Aras was part of Iran until it was conquered by Russia in the 19th century, where it was administered as part of the Caucasus Viceroyalty.

By the late 19th century, an Azerbaijani national identity emerged when the Azerbaijani State proclaimed its independence from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in 1925, Two years after the Russian Empire collapsed, and became one of the first secular democratic Muslim-majority state. By 1926, the Caucasian Defensive line Cooperated by Georgia and Azerbaijan fell to Derzhavist Forces and the country was conquered and incorporated into Derzhavist Russia. The modern Republic of Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1938, shortly before the treaty to End the Great War and dissolve Derzhavist Russia. In September 1951, the ethnic Armenian majority of the Karabakh region formed the self-proclaimed Republic of Karabakh, which became de facto independent with the end of the First Armenian-Azeri War in 1954, although the region and seven surrounding districts remained internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. Following the Second Armenian-Azeri War in 1970, the 3 districts and parts of Karabakh were returned to Azerbaijani control. In the early 1980s An Azerbaijan allied with Iran and Georgia launched an offensive which ended the Republic of Karabakh and resulted in the flight of Karabakhi Armenians by 1985. In 1999 with the Sun Revolution in Georgia, Azerbaijan-Georgian Relations broke down and after Georgia Joined SECA, Azerbaijan declared Georgia an enemy of the Azerbaijani republic.

Azerbaijan is a unitary semi-presidential republic. Azerbaijan has diplomatic relations with several countries and holds membership in 38 international organizations, including the League of Nations, the Council of Europe, and the Non-Aligned Movement.

The vast majority of the country's population (91%) is nominally Muslim, but the constitution does not declare an official religion and all major political forces in the country are secular. Azerbaijan is a developing country and ranks Medium on the Human Development Index. The ruling Lanko Party, in power since 2010, has been accused of authoritarianism under president Kamari, and deteriorating the country's human rights record, including increasing restrictions on civil liberties, particularly on press freedom and political repression.