Azerbaijan is located in Asia, which is north of the Equator and east of the Prime Meridian. In Asia, it borders the countries Russia, Iran, Armenia, and Georgia. The outsides of the country are more mountainous than the center, which is flat. Temperatures in this country are similar to temperatures in Virginia. The highest average high is in July and August at 86ºF and the low 72ºF. The lowest average high is in February at 43ºF and the low is 34ºF. One major recent disaster in Azerbaijan was an oil rig fire. December 5, 2015, an oil platform caught fire do to high winds as a result 1 worker was found dead and 30 others went missing.
Azerbaijan was put on the list of countries that had ancient people first inhabit it. The primitive people were presumed to be there around 1.7 to 1.8 million years ago. Caucasian Albanian were some of the first cultures to live there. Although there isn’t much information about the early settlers of this country, many empires tried to take over this country and even Alexander the Great was trying to obtain this country. The results of this was the spread of Zoroastrianism, which is a religion. Then in 1920, Soviet Russia invaded and ruled this country, making it a Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1988, the Soviet ends in violence as there were six killings in Azerbaijani town of Sumqayit. Currently in Azerbaijan, there have been fights in Nagorno-Karabakh versus the Azerbaijani army and ethnic Armenian troops. On top of that, terrorism is striking all over, around and inside Azerbaijan.
One of the special holidays in Azerbaijan is Novruz, a holiday that celebrates the Persian New Year, it dates back 5,000 years ago. They take off 5 days from work for the Spring Equinox. Some of the Azerbaijani cuisine consists of meat and different vegetables. One of their most delicious dishes is Qutab, which is a pancake that has different stuffings like meat, spinach, cheese, and/or pumpkin. A unique version of this is camel meat which is abundant in many Baku restaurants. When it comes to religion a whopping 97% of Azerbaijan’s population are Muslim, but according to a 2010 Gallup Poll, 49% of Azerbaijanis do not think religion is important in their daily lives, which is one of the highest rates of all the Muslim-majority countries. They have their own language called Azerbaijani or Azeri, which is close to the modern day Turkish language. Salam means hello, güle güle is goodbye, əyləncə translates to fun, musiqi means music, and finally futbol is soccer.
Azerbaijan contains natural gas, iodobromide waters, lead, zinc, iron, and copper ores, nepheline syenites utilized in the production of aluminum, common salt, and a great variety of building materials, including marl, limestone, and marble. Therefore, the two most important industries to the economy of Azerbaijan are petroleum and natural gases as they are easy to aquire. Since these are the most important industries, the best professions within Azerbaijan are any job within the oil and gas field as there are plenty of jobs and workers can make thousands of manats. Manats are Azerbaijan’s currency. One manat is equal to 59 cents USD. Azerbaijan mainly imports machinery and equipment, oil products, foodstuffs, metals, chemicals from Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and the U.S. For exports they usually export oil and gas, machinery, cotton, and foodstuffs to Italy, Germany, Indonesia, France, Czech Republic.
In 1991, a revolution after running out the Soviet Union saw Azerbaijan establish a better government taking the path of a Republic type of government. The population of Azerbaijan is 9,973,697, which is approximately 121 people per square kilometer.
Azerbaijan has many interesting places to visit, this includes: Baku, Icheri Seher, and the Garasu Volcano. Baku is the capital of the country and contains lots of history and breathtaking sights. Within Baku is a neat town called Icheri Seher, this town is very historical dating back to the 12th century. Lastly, Garasu Volcano is a mud volcano that is a perfect tourist sight. One reason why many tourists do not travel here is because of the dangers of the countries surrounding the country with lots of terrorism. If I were to visit Azerbaijan, I would travel to Baku and from there I would visit different towns and landmarks that are old in that capital. I would then proceed to go to Garasu Volcano to see the crazy mud volcano.
Azerbaijan is a cool country to visit with its mountainous edges and beautiful cities, buildings, and sites. I like the cool building structures in Baku and the mud volcanoes. The only bad thing about this country is the location near all the terrorism in the middle east. Although I’ve never been to Azerbaijan, I would visit when the threats calm down in the neighboring countries. Azerbaijan is a lot more different than Virginia and the United States, other than the weather, their religion and culture is different than in America and they aren’t as wealthy.
Did you know that Azerbaijanis sweeten their tea with jam? Or that their country contains a city that is only built on stilts? Azerbaijan is a very cool country with lots of interesting facts. Most people have at least one gold tooth and they have an arm wrestling federation in the capital, Baku. The wackiest fact, though, is that bread is sacred to them. If you were to drop a piece of bread it is customary to kiss it or if a loaf goes stale you hang it up instead of throwing it away.
Azerbaijan has an abundance of oil rigs and mud volcanoes, which makes them a unique country. Another thing that makes them special is their media freedom. Azerbaijan has absolutely no media freedom. An example of this is, in 2015 they hosted the European Games and investigative journalists and campaigners were not allowed in.
This country surprised me with their many cool facts and cultures. I didn’t know they were a communist country at one point and that bread was sacred to them. It’s interesting because normally some type of animal is sacred not a type of food. An example is India, goats roam the streets freely as they are a sacred animal. Overall, this country is interesting and I would like to visit later in the future if the terrorism calms down in the middle east.