Azerbaijan

B

Languages

The official language of Azerbaijan is Azeri, a Turkic language of the Altaic family that is closely related to the Turkish and Turkmen languages (see Altaic Languages). Other languages spoken in Azerbaijan include Russian and Armenian. Azeri originally developed in the Arabic script, but in the 1920s a Latin (Roman) alphabet was introduced. In 1939 the Soviet regime mandated the use of the Cyrillic alphabet, the script of the Russian language. After Azerbaijan gained independence, the government decided to introduce a Turkish version of the Latin script. In 2001 a presidential decree abolishing the Cyrillic script for official and business purposes came into force.

C

Religion

Azerbaijanis are traditionally Muslim. Islam was introduced in the area of present-day Azerbaijan during the 7th century ad, and Shia Islam was established as the official religion of the Azerbaijanis in the 16th century. During the Soviet period, religious leaders were persecuted, mosques were closed or destroyed, and religious practice was officially condemned. Islam has experienced a revival in Azerbaijan since the late 1980s, when political reforms allowed most of the Soviet restrictions on religion to be lifted. Nearly all Azerbaijanis now identify as Muslim, although few actively practice their religion. About 70 percent of Azerbaijani Muslims are Shias, and about 30 percent are Sunnis. Christianity is practiced to varying degrees among the Georgian, Armenian, and Slavic minorities.

D

Education

Most adults in Azerbaijan can read and write. The country’s high adult literacy rate was achieved during the Soviet period, when an extensive, state-funded education system was developed. The first eight years of education are compulsory, but most students complete the full ten-year program of basic education, and many choose to continue their education at secondary or vocational schools. Baku is the seat of most of the country’s institutes of higher education, including Baku State University (founded in 1919 during Azerbaijan’s brief initial period of independence), Azerbaijan Technical University (1950), and Azerbaijan State Petroleum Academy (1920).

E

Culture

Azerbaijan’s cultural institutions, located primarily in Baku, include the State Museum of Shirvan-Shakh, which houses weapons and decorations from palaces of the khans (rulers), and the State Museum of Azerbaijan Literature. The culture of the peoples inhabiting eastern part of the South Caucasus developed during the ancient and medieval periods under a predominantly Persian influence, although Turkic influences also were present. Azerbaijanis contributed several notable literary and scientific works during the medieval period. After Azerbaijan became part of the Russian Empire in the early 19th century, Azerbaijani intellectuals such as scholar and poet Abbas Qoli Agha Bakikhanov began the study of the Azeri language and attempted to set up schools that would teach literacy. At times during the Soviet period, artistic expression that conveyed any hint of Azerbaijani nationalism was brutally suppressed.

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Music has long been an important aspect of Azerbaijani life. The ancient Azerbaijani musical tradition has been kept alive by musicians known as ashugs, who improvise songs while playing a stringed instrument called a kobuz. Other vocal and instrumental compositions called mugams are also part of the oral folk tradition. Modern Azerbaijani composer Uzeir Hajjibekov is known internationally for his classical operas.

IV

Economy

The collapse of the Soviet Union had a devastating impact on Azerbaijan’s trade-dependent economy. As traditional markets and trading links were severed, Azerbaijan’s economy fell into severe decline. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which imposed an economic burden of providing for approximately 1 million refugees, compounded the economic crisis. Skyrocketing inflation caused consumer prices to rise by 1,664 percent in 1994, while also making the country’s new currency, the manat, practically worthless. As a consequence, living standards deteriorated for the majority of the population.

The economy began to recover after the government of Azerbaijan introduced an economic stabilization program in 1995 with the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Also that year, the government launched a program to transfer state-owned enterprises to the public sector. Azerbaijan’s gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the value of goods and services produced, began to show growth in 1996. In 2005 GDP was $12.6 billion.

Azerbaijan is one of the world’s oldest oil exporters, and development of the country’s extensive petroleum reserves remains central to its economic future. Foreign investment is focused almost exclusively in the petroleum industry. Other sectors have received relatively little development since independence.

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