24 Awe-Inspiring Facts About Azerbaijan

Looking to boost your local knowledge of this beautiful country? Take a look at these 24 interesting facts about Azerbaijan!

Geographical stats…

  1. Azerbaijan is a beautiful and historical country in Asia.
  2. It is bordered by Georgia and Russia to the north, Iran to the south and Armenia and Turkey to the west. It has a coastline along the Caspian Sea to the east.
  3. To discover the historic caves and natural wonders of this lovely country, head for the coordinates of 40.3000° N, 47.7000°
  4. The terrain here is mixed, with great mountains in the north, uplands to the west whilst the rest of the country is made up of flat to rolling plains, much of which is actually below sea level!
  5. The total land area of Azerbaijan is 33,436 square miles (86,600 square kilometres)…
  6. …that’s around 4 times the size of Wales.
  7. Azerbaijan’s population was 9,780,780 in 2015…
  8. …that’s only around 3 times the population of Wales.
  9. Residents here are known as Azerbaijanis.
  10. The capital is Baku; it covers an area of 822 square miles (2,130 square kilometres) and had a population of 2,374,000 in 2015.
  11. Azerbaijanis enjoy a continental climate with warm summers and very cold, dry winters.
  12. Yanar Dag, or ‘Burning Mountain’, is a natural gas fire that is constantly ablaze on a hillside near the Caspian Sea. The flames literally rise out of the ground and can be as high as 3m!
  13. Among the incredible archaeological finds that have been documented in Azerbaijan, there is evidence of what could be the first ever fireplace that was created in an inhabited cave around 700,000 BC!
  14. Azerbaijan boasts the highest number of mammal species of any European country; an amazing 107 species of mammal have been recorded in Azerbaijan, 3 of which are endemic!

Social intricacies

  1. The official language of Azerbaijan is Azerbaijani, although Russian is also spoken here.
  2. If you fancy purchasing one of the many silk scarves or ornate pieces of pottery, you’ll need to exchange your GBP for Azerbaijani Manat, the official currency here.
  3. The average life span here is 72 years.
  4. Azerbaijan hosts an interesting (ahem) competition each year – in the ‘Seven Beauties‘ competition, 7 girls are given different coloured threads and crochet hooks and asked to crochet a pair of quality stockings… whoever finishes the best quality pair of stockings first, wins!
  5. Azerbaijan is home to a young man who is part of an elite club; Teimour Radjabov is an International Chess Grandmaster and in 2001 he became the 2nd youngest grandmaster ever (he is now ranked 8th, thanks to 6 children of various nationalities gaining the accolade at a younger age).
  6. Drinking tea is a large part of Azerbaijani hospitality and often takes place before a meal. They do, however, drink it in a seemingly unusual way – you must pop some sugar or jam into your mouth before sipping the tea and combining the two in your mouth… are you thinking what we’re thinking?

Industry insights…

  1. Azerbaijan grows cotton, grain, grapes and rice; they also rear cattle, pigs, goats and sheep.
  2. Its industry consists of petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas, oil field equipment, steel, cement and textiles.
  3. Azerbaijan exports oil and gas, cotton, machinery and foodstuffs.

Bonus Fact!

  1. Do you know someone lucky enough to live in Azerbaijan? You can make cheap calls to Azerbaijan through Cherry Call using the international dialling code of 00994.

To keep up-to-date with what’s going on in Azerbaijan, head over to the AzerNews website.

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