86,100 km²; includes the Nakhichevan' Autonomous Republic and the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast; region's autonomy was abolished by
Azerbaijan Supreme Soviet on 26 November 1991

violent and longstanding dispute with Armenia over status of
Nagorno-Karabakh, lesser dispute concerns Nakhichevan'; some Azeris desire absorption of and/or unification with the ethnically Azeri portion of Iran; minor irredentist disputes along Georgia border

large, flat Kura Lowland (much of it below sea level) with
Great Caucasus Mountains to the north, Karabakh Upland in west; Baku lies on
Aspheson Peninsula that juts into Caspian Sea

Azeri 82.7%, Russian 5.6%, Armenian 5.6%, Daghestanis 3.2%, other 2.9%; note - Armenian share may be less than 5.6% because many
Armenians have fled the ethnic violence since 1989 census

local scientists consider Apsheron Peninsula, including
Baku and Sumgait, and the Caspian Sea to be "most ecologically devastated area in the world" because of severe air and water pollution

1 autonomous republic (avtomnaya respublika),
Nakhichevan' (administrative center at Nakhichevan'); note - all rayons except for the exclave of Nakhichevan' are under direct republic jurisdiction;1 autonomous oblast, Nagorno-Karabakh (officially abolished by
Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet on 26 November 1991) has declared itself
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic

28 May 1918; on 28 April 1920, Azerbaijan became the
Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan; on 30 April 1992 it became the
Azerbaijani Republic; independence declared 30 August 1991

last held NA September 1990 (next expected to be held late 1992); results - seats - (360 total) Communists 280, Democratic
Bloc 45 (grouping of opposition parties), other 15, vacant 20; note - these figures are approximate

Ambassador (vacant); Robert MILES, Charge d'Affaires; Embassy at
Hotel Intourist (telephone 8-011-7-8,922-91-79-56) plus 8 hours; (mailing address is APO New York is 9,862); telephone NA

Azerbaijan is less developed industrially than either Armenia or Georgia, the other Transcaucasian states. It resembles the Central Asian states in its majority Muslim population, high structural unemployment, and low standard of living. The economy's most prominent products are cotton, oil, and gas. Production from the Caspian oil and gas field has been in decline for several years. With foreign assistance, the oil industry might generate the funds needed to spur industrial development. However, civil unrest, marked by armed conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region between
Muslim Azeris and Christian Armenians, makes foreign investors wary.
Azerbaijan accounts for 1.5% to 2% of the capital stock and output of the former Soviet Union. Although immediate economic prospects are not favorable because of civil strife, lack of economic reform, political disputes about new economic arrangements, and the skittishness of foreign investors,
Azerbaijan's economic performance was the best of all former Soviet republics in 1991 largely because of its reliance on domestic resources for industrial output.