Azerbaijan, the nation and former Soviet republic, is bounded by the Caspian Sea and Caucasus Mountains, which span Asia and Europe. Its capital, Baku, is famed for its medieval walled Inner City. Within the Inner City lies the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, a royal retreat dating to the 15th century, and the centuries-old stone Maiden Tower, which dominates the city skyline.
Azerbaijan (UK: /ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn, –ˈdʒæn/ (
listen), US: /ˌɑːzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn, ˌæz-/;[9] Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan [ɑːzæɾbɑjˈdʒɑn]), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan,[b] is a country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.[10] It is a part of the South Caucasus region, and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south. Baku is the capital and largest city.
The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic proclaimed its independence from the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic in 1918 and became the first secular democratic Muslim-majority state, taking its name from the adjacent region of northwestern Iran for political reasons.[11][12][13][14][15] In 1922, the country was incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Azerbaijan SSR.[16][17]
The modern Republic of Azerbaijan proclaimed its independence on 30 August 1991,[18][19] shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the same year. In September 1991, the ethnic Armenian majority of the Nagorno-Karabakh region formed self-proclaimed Republic of Artsakh.[20] The region and seven surrounding districts are internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, while negotiations on the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are facilitated by the OSCE. Nagorno-Karabakh became de facto independent with the end of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994.[21][22][23][24] Following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, the seven districts and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh were returned to Azerbaijani control.[25]
