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Department of State, Background Note

CIA World Fact Book

As always, fully updated but only statistical info.

Wikipedia

A very good source.

EU, Country Profile

British Foreign Office, Country Profile

Library of Congress, Country Study

Last update was MAR94, so it's only useful for the historical info and general social/political outlines.

Eurasianet.org, Azerbaijan Archive

Good news and analysis on all CIS countries at this site.

Caucasian Knot, News, Azerbaijan

Constantly updated, with a focus on human rights issues.

Institute for War and Peace Reporting: Caucasus

Newspapers

Baku Today

Today.az

AzerNews

525-ci Gazet

Regnum.ru

Blogs

Registan

Covering all of Central Asia, with a frequent focus on Azerbaijan.

Carpetblogger

US-expat in Baku. More culture than politics. (The author has since moved to Ukraine, but there may still be current reporting on Azerbaijan and the archives remain a rich source for cultural info.)

Blogrel

US-expat in Armenia. Direct link to posts categorized under Azerbaijan.

New Eurasia: Azerbaijan

Infrequent posting, but excellent when they come. See the rest of the site for more Central Asia news/analysis.

Government affiliated

Bank of Baku

Financial news.

Azertag

State information agency.

AzTV, News

The State TV and Radio Broadcasting Company of Azerbaijan Republic.

Our Century

Pro-government weekly newspaper.

It would be a good idea for the newcomer to Azeri affairs to first review the sources found under General Background in order to gain a familiarty with the country's concerns and ultimately a better understanding of them.

Nagorno-Karabakh

Nagorno Karabakh is still one of the most significant features of Azerbaijan's domestic and international agenda. A simple Google search will reveal several useful sources regarding the conflict. Here I hope to present a quick selection of the best of those and more.

Domestic Politcs

Petroleum and the economy

US Energy Information Administration (EIA): Country Analysis Brief

Also with info on the broader Caspian Sea Region

First Exchange: Caspian Oil Industry News

First Exchange: Azerbaijan: List of Reports

Ethnic rivalries

Refugees

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) - Azerbaijan

Much useful background and current information. Plus a nice (but depressing) map here (PDF)

US Committee for Refugees (USCR) - Azerbaijan

General history

Comprehensive listing of state and government links

Office of the President

Milli Meclis (Parliament)

Central Election Commission

Standing Commission of the Milli Mejlis on Human Rights

Ministries:

Ministry of Internal Affairs (az)

Ministry of Education (az)

Government affiliations:

GUUAM

Organization linking Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Moldova.

Military:

Military of Azerbaijan (Wikipedia)

Defence in the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerb.com)

The Emerging Army in Azerbaijan, by Patrick Gorman

A 1993 article from the Central Asia Monitor.

Army, Air Force and Navy rank insignia

Joint Contact Team Program, USEUCOM, ODC

Website has since been deactivated. Link to archive.com's last caching of it provided for informational purposes.

Police:

Ministry of Internal Affairs (az)

MIA - Police Academy

The United Nations Office in Azerbaijan

• Statistics from the CIA World Fact Book: Azerbaijani (Azeri) 89%, Russian 3%, Armenian 2%, other 6% (1995 est.)

• Russian is also widely understood in Azerbaijan. See our separate page on Russian for more.

Travlang, Azeri phrases with sound clips

Click on the Azeri flag to go to the phrases.

English-Azerbaijani Phrasebook

From Azerbaijan Internet Links

Omniglot - Azeri alphabets

For history on the many alphabets see here as a first stop, from AI: Early Alphabets in Azerbaijan

CenAsiaNet

Distance learning of the Azerbaijani language

AZERI.org - All about the Azeri Language

An excellent site for a more detailed look at the language. If you have any serious interest in the language, or even Azerbaijan in general, I'm sure you'll have read this entire site in no time! Be sure to check out the rest of the invaluable resources at Azerbaijan International.

AI - Sociolinguistically Speaking
Azerbaijan International published a series of articles explaining language in the social context. It is good not only for understanding the language but also for becoming familiar with some typical mannerisms in Azeri culture. These are some highlights:

Taboos and Euphemisms

Saying "Hello"

Getting to Know You

Saying Goodbye

Apologizing

Concepts of Time

AI - Names: History in a Nutshell

20th Century Personal Naming Practices in Azerbaijan

The Alternative Dictionary

WARNING! Page contains strong language. Please do not visit it if you are easily offended.

Listen to spoken Azeri:

Amerika Säsi Radiyosu

VOA in Azerbaijan.

BBC Azärbaycan Servisi

BBC's world service in Azeri.

More radio stations here

Azerb.com - A to Z of Azerbaijan

Explanations of all things Azeri.

Virtual Azerbaijan Republic

An internet portal/welcome site.

Azerbaijan Internet Links

Baku Pages

YouTube.com

Not specific to Azerbaijan, but it does have many videos, especially music videos, from the area. Try searches on "azerbaijan" for starters or more specific terms.

Religion

• Statistics from the CIA World Fact Book: Muslim 93.4%, Russian Orthodox 2.5%, Armenian Orthodox 2.3%, other 1.8% (1995 est.) NOTE: religious affiliation is still nominal in Azerbaijan; percentages for actual practicing adherents are much lower.

• Article 18 of the Azeri Constitution mandates no state religion and expresses a right for all religions to practice freely under the law.

Religion in Azerbaijan

A good overview of the religious evolution of Azerbaijan and current trends.

Islam

Wikipedia: Islam in Azerbaijan

Christianity

Eastern Orthodox background

Russian Orthodox background

Armenian Orthodox background

Judaism

Jewish History of Azerbaijan

Food

Azerbaijan Cookery

A section of the Azeroo web portal, on cuisine with several typical Azeri recipes.

Azerbaijan International: Food! Glorious Food!

The August 2000 issue, focusing on cuisine in Azerbaijan.

Google Directory

A few more links.

Music

Find an Azeri radio station online

Mz Records

A very good radio station! Modern Azeri music and more streamed over the web.

Mugham

MP3 sites:

(Make sure what you're downloading is legal before doing it. I cannot vouch for the day-to-day-status of these sites.)

Azerimp3

One of the best selections of Azeri pop music online.

mp3-az.com

mp3.az

Sport and Games

Azeri Football

Complete overview of the Azeri soccer scene.

Backgammon

Backgammon is a popular game in Azerbaijan. This site lists several variants of the game (not necessarily ones played in AZ), but really the traditional style, without doubling cube, is all you need to know.

Internet

Netty Awards: National awards for internet design (ru) (az)

Consular Information Sheet

A must-read for first time travellers anywhere.

US Embassy, Baku

An invaluable book, the only reliable book on travel in Azerbaijan is Azerbaijan, with excursions to Georgia by Mark Elliott. The latest edition is the 3rd, June 2004. You might find a discount on it at Froogle.

Photos

Flickr photos tagged with Azerbaijan

Maps

Soviet Union, General Staff - Topographic - 1984 - 1 : 100 000

Old Soviet era maps in Cyrillic.

Many useful maps on all regions of the country, urban and rural, up to date, can be found in the above mentioned book by Mark Elliott.

Region Profile: Ganja

Ganca.net

A semi-official site. Complete with a street map, yellow pages, etc. Good history and cultural info also.

OSI's Ganja Education Information Center

Wikipedia: Ganja

Azerbaijan Development Gateway: Ganca

Region Profile: AGDAM

NOTE: Travel is not recommended to Agdam. The region is currently held by Armenian military forces.

Azerb.com - Agdam (Aghdam)

Aghdam

A few pictures of the ruined town (from a pro-Armenian website!)

Azerbaijan Development Gateway