Baku

Baku or Baky, capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, on the Abşeron Peninsula in the southeastern part of the country. A port on the western coast of the Caspian Sea, the city is close to major offshore petroleum fields, and oil refining is its chief industry. Pipelines originating in the vicinity of Baku transport oil to the Black Sea ports of Supsa, Georgia, and Novorossiysk, Russia, as well as to the Mediterranean Sea port of Ceyhan, Turkey. Baku also has shipyards and factories producing metal cable and cotton, leather, and food products.

The oldest section of Baku, located in the heart of the city, is known as Icheri Sheher, meaning “inner city.” In 2000 it was designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as “an outstanding and rare example of an historic urban ensemble and architecture with influence from Zoroastrian, Sassanian, Arabic, Persian, Shirvani, Ottoman, and Russian cultures.” Defensive walls surrounding Icheri Sheher date from the 12th century. Within the inner city, winding, narrow streets pass many historical sites, including the 12th-century Maiden Tower, a large stone fortress near the waterfront; the 15th-century Shirvan Shah Palace, now a museum; and the 11th-century Synyk-Kala Minaret and Mosque. Outside the walls of Icheri Sheher, modern buildings rise up the slopes of hills overlooking a bay on the Caspian Sea. Points of interest include Baku State University (1919), an opera house, and several theaters and museums. A subway system was opened in the city in 1967.

In ancient times Baku grew in importance as a seaport and trading center on the Silk Road. It became part of the Persian Empire in the 6th century bc (Persia). Arabs conquered the region in the late 7th century ad and introduced Islam. In the early 12th century Baku became the seat of shahs who ruled the state of Shirvan. However, their power was repeatedly challenged by Seljuk and Mongol invasions. The Shirvan shahs completed the construction of a grand palace in Baku in the 1400s.

In the early 1500s Baku came under the rule of the Safavid dynasty, which had taken power in Iran (formerly known as Persia). Baku was under Safavid rule until 1723, when it was captured by the Russians. It was returned to the Safavids in 1735 but the subsequent fall of their dynasty led to the establishment of a Turkic Muslim khanate in Baku. In 1806 Baku was again incorporated into the Russian Empire. Large-scale oil production began in Baku in the 1870s, and by the turn of the century the city supplied most of Russia’s oil. Baku experienced rapid industrialization and population growth as the center of Russia’s oil industry. The influx of Russians and Armenians resulted in a highly segregated city, and violent clashes erupted in 1905 between the city’s Azerbaijani and Armenian communities.

From 1918 to 1920 Baku was the capital of an independent Azerbaijan, which opposed the Bolshevik regime of Soviet Russia. Following the Soviet conquest of Azerbaijan, Baku served as the capital of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (SFSR) from 1922 to 1936, when the SFSR was abolished, and then as the capital of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). In 1991 Azerbaijan became an independent republic, with Baku as its capital. In 1994 Baku was the scene of terrorist attacks and large demonstrations against the government. In recent years the city has experienced rapid growth, largely due to the thriving oil industry centered here. Population (2003 estimate) 1,839,800.