Wednesday 14 December 2011

Azerbaijan

The capital city of Azerbaijan, Baku, has in the last few decades transformed itself into a vibrant modern city, but many of the surrounding villages and towns are still archaic and largely untouched by modernity.

The country has two main distinct faces. One looks to Eastern Europe and is strongly influenced by the former Soviet Union and the countries around it - which were also part of the union, but distinct in their various cultures. The other face of the country looks to its Asian neighbours; a point which is clearly illustrated by the biggest religion in the country which is Islam.

The countries which share borders with Azerbaijan are Georgia, on its west and north-western border, Armenia in its southwest, Iran and Turkey in the south and Russia in the north. Turkey only borders Azerbaijan as a result of its proximity to Nachichevan, which is an enclave of Azerbaijan, separated by Armenia. There are 69 cities in the country, spread out across the 65 regions of which Baku is the capital. The official language is Azerbaijani, but as a result of Russia’s occupation of the country in the past, Russian (and Turkish) are also wildly spoken in the region.
What might surprise most Western travellers however is that Arabic, German and English are also spoken relatively wildly in some of the regions of the country.

The state is secular but the majority of its inhabitants are either Shia Muslims, like Iranians, or ethnic Azeris. Orthodox Jews and Christians form a minority group in the country.

Apart from oil and gas which is the country’s biggest export and money earner, agriculture also plays a role in the economy, especially the production of cotton. Tourism, however, is a growing industry in the region. Much of what was hidden to the rest of the world by the Iron Curtain has now been revealed to travellers and the country is responding to the demand. A good example is the Baku Hotel. One can predictably say that, so long as the region can find a solution to its political tensions, more and more travellers will visit. More Baku hotels will pop to meet the demands of intrepid travellers drawn to the country, which is unique and fascinating.

No comments:

Post a Comment