Introduction

Azerbaijan was once a major stopover on the Great Silk Route, and there are many captivating sights to see in this ancient country - Bronze Age petroglyphs, medieval minarets and mosques, the famous carpets. With an oil bonanza incipient, the capital Baku is fast becoming a boomtown.

Warning

In recent years, Azerbaijan has been the site of several unexplained acts of terrorism, notably in the form of bombings. It's best to steer clear of the western region of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Azerbaijan-Armenia border region.

The bombings have tended to target government buildings, hotels, tourist sites, residential complexes, crowded public gathering places and public transport. In Baku, walking alone and using public transport and the Metro at night is best avoided. In the western region, the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh is unresolved.

Although hostilities ceased in 1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia have yet to settle their differences regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which in the meantime operates as a self-proclaimed, unrecognised republic with close but unofficial ties to Armenia. Armed clashes continue sporadically along the ceasefire line and the border with Armenia, and anti-personnel landmines are dotted throughout the areas close to the front lines.

When to Go

The best time to visit Azerbaijan is between April and October. It's warm and dry in much of the country, though in July and August it can be scorching (up to 38°C/100°F). It's much cooler and wetter in the winter, though it rains in the foothills from spring through early fall. Bear in mind that Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, is not the most ideal time for non-Muslims to vist. It will start in December or November until 2002.

Events

This predominantly Muslim country celebrates most Islamic holidays, especially Ramadan, the month of daily fasting (from late December through January), and Qurban-Bayram (in April).

Public Holidays

1 January - New Year's Day

20 January - Memorial Day (commemorates the victims of the Soviet invasion of Baku in 1990)

8 March - International Women's Day

21-22 March - Novruz Bayrami (Lunar New Year)

9 May - WWII Victory Day

28 May - Republic Day

15 June - Day of National Salvation

16 June - Army and Navy Day

9 October - Armed Forces Day

18 October - Independence Day

12 November - Constitution Day

17 November - National Revival Day

31 December - World Azeri Solidarity Day

Comfortable travel in Azerbaijan is just that - comfortable - don't look for luxury. The country's Soviet past means that much of the accommodation is still run by the state, and most facilities are bare bones. Even staying at the best hotel in Baku will hardly stretch your budget past US$100-$150, especially if you cut back on carpets and caviar.

US dollars are widely accepted, though travellers cheques are accepted only by the International Bank of Azerbaijan. Changing money is fairly easy in Baku and some of the other larger cities, and a few large hotels and restaurants in the capital will give cash advances on credit cards - which are useless everywhere else in the country. Outside the largest cities, cash is often the only thing you can use.

A tip of 10% is expected in taxis and restaurants. Bargaining is also expected in markets.

About a fifth of Azerbaijan's population lives in the capital, the biggest metropolis in Transcaucasia. This handsome city is built around a perfect harbour, Baku Bay, a notch in the underside of the Apsheron Peninsula. Baku and the 70km (45mi) long peninsula enjoy sunny and surprisingly arid weather, enlivened now and then by the gale-force coastal winds called khazri.

Baku goes back - to the Bronze Age and beyond. The heart of the historic city is Ichari Shahar (the Inner City, or Old Town). This is one of the oldest continuously inhabited spots in the country - and in the Middle East. Archaeological digs have revealed Bronze Age burial chambers. When the Greeks and Romans wrote about Baku, they were writing about the Inner City. This is the most popular area of the city, a maze of alleys, dead ends and caravanserais sometimes called the 'Acropolis of Baku.' One of the most impressive sights is the Maiden's Tower, which dates to the 12th century. This key-shaped building has walls 5m (15ft) thick, and you can climb eight stories to the top for a view of the city and the bay. There are a few exhibits inside.

Another outstanding site in the Inner City is the Palace of the Shirvan Shahs, dating from the 15th century, when the shahs moved their capital to Baku from Shamakhy. The domes and arches, mosaics and stonework are in beautiful shape, and there are a number of buildings to explore, including a mausoleum, a Turkish bath and the divan-khana or law courts. The complex is also the occasional venue for folk-dance performances.

The most impressive museum is the Museum of Carpets & Applied Art in the old Lenin Museum. It has a brilliant display of woven and knotted Azerbaijani carpets, plus jewellery, embroidery, metalwork and carved wood. The Azerbaijani History Museum, a few blocks north-east of the Inner City, features an archaeology section with Stone Age petroglyphs and other relics from the site at Gobustan.

The subway is cheap but gets ridiculously crowded during rush hours. A 1995 fire that killed 300 people hasn't increased anyone's confidence in its safety, either. Taxis are a better bet; be sure to get one with a meter.

On the Apsheron Peninsula there are several fine medieval castles - one each at Ramana and Nardaran and two at Mardakyany - apparently built for defence by the Shirvan shahs in the 14th century. At Ramana you can also see the remains of ancient oil fields. Mardakyany also has a botanic garden and a 15th century mosque with an exhibit on the castles. There's a carpet factory in Nardaran.

The Atashgah Temple, also known as the Temple of the Fireworshippers, has been a centre of worship for thousands of years. The area is so saturated with natural gas and oil that flames spontaneously erupt from the ground - hence the country's other name, Odlar Yourdu, or 'Land of Fires,' and the name of the temple, which means 'home of fire.' Much of the existing structure has been built since the 17th century, when pilgrims began paying local officials for permission to construct places to pray and sleep.

Among the most interesting things to see at the temple are the ancient Sanskrit and Hindi inscriptions and the onion dome - signs that Atashgah and its fire worship were heavily influenced by India. Flames burn at each corner of the roof, fed by natural gas deposits under the ground. The temple, which is part of a larger complex of religious buildings, is located in the village of Surakhany, 20km (12mi) north-east of Baku.

Gobustan is an open-air museum littered with neolithic rock drawings. Just 65km (40mi) south of Baku, Gobustan has some 4000 inscriptions that go back 12,000 years (with some 2000 year old Latin graffiti to boot). Stone Age folks sporting loin cloths pose, hunt and boogie down. Their dances are thought to have been accompanied by the melodious strains of the Gaval-Dashy (Tambourine Stone) - a rock that has a deep, resonating tone when struck.

Kuba is 165km (105mi) north of Baku. Once the capital of a small khanate in the 18th century, its chief feature these days is that it's very photogenic, especially in spring when its many orchards are in bloom. Go for a scented stroll and a gaze at the town's 16th-century fortress and 19th-century mosques and bathhouse.

This little town in the foothills of the Caucasus 130km (80mi) west of Baku was a major trading centre and the capital of the Shirvan shahs from the 6th century until they were moved to Baku. Many of the old royals are buried in the Eddi Gyumbez (Seven Cupolas) Mausoleum.

Shemakha is also famous for carpets and wine. Despite centuries of earthquakes, several fine old buildings remain. Among them is the Djuma Mosque, dating from the 10th century.

Activities

You can get in some fine hiking in the parks around Baku and on the Apsheron Peninsula. Taking the waters - soaking in medicinal mud, oil and hotsprings - is a popular pastime in Azerbaijan. Some of the best spas are in Kuba, Ganja-Naftalan and Nakhchivan. Over 350 species make for fine birdwatching, especially in the southeast lowlands south of Lenkoran.

History

Azerbaijan has been inhabited for at least 3000 years, and probably a lot longer than that. Bronze Age settlements have been found in and around Baku. Scythians settled in the area in the 9th century BC, followed by the Medes, followers of Zoroastrianism. The Archaemenid Persians took over half the country 200 years later, only to be absorbed by the Greeks in 330 BC.

Beginning in the 1st century AD, the area came under the control of the Romans, though after the 3rd century the Persians came back into the picture. Arabs had control by the 11th century, but Seljuk Turks displaced them, laying the foundation of modern Azerbaijan. Beginning around 1050, the country enjoyed a cultural renaissance that witnessed many of its greatest architectural and artistic achievements.

A three-way struggle between Russia, Turkey and Persia ended in 1813, when Russia and Persia divided Azerbaijan along the Aras River. During the period of Russian rule, Azerbaijan's economy grew in relation to Russia's. The region was a participant in the birth of the modern petroleum industry. The first oil well was drilled in 1848, and the first oil refinery constructed in 1859. Azerbaijan provided Russia, and later the Soviet Union, with crude oil, chemicals, textiles, food and wine.

The denationalisation of the oil industry in 1872 changed Baku from a dusty backwater to a wealthy and sophisticated city attracting European investors, including the Rothschilds, and accounting for more than half of the world's oil production by the end of the century. Labour exploitation made a political hotbed of the city - it's here that Stalin cut his political teeth.

While its days as a Soviet supplier dwindled its petroleum supply, Azerbaijan remained a healthy producer of crude oil and textiles throughout the 20th century.

It had a brief taste of independence between 1918 and 1920, but was lumped by the Soviet Union into a 'federated republic' with Armenia and Georgia in 1922. In 1924, the USSR created the autonomous province of Nagorno-Karabakh, which at that time was virtually all Armenian (and thus Christian), inside the Azerbaijan Republic, placing it under Azeri rule. The Soviets dissolved the federated republic in 1936 but held the three republics within its orbit. After the brief Soviet occupation of northern Iran during WWII, the Iranian government crushed the nascent independence movement that had been started there by ethnic Azerbaijanis.

Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh had long resented Azerbaijani rule; the conflict erupted in 1988 and escalated after Azerbaijan's independence in October 1991. Armenian attacks on Azeri citizens in the region prompted repeated attacks from Azerbaijani forces, leading to a string of defeats for the Azerbaijanis and the resignation of two presidents. By 1993, the conflict had created thousands of casualties and about one million refugees.

A cease-fire in 1994 stemmed the worst of the blood-letting, but by 1999 the conflict was far from resolved. Nagorno-Karabakh declared itself a republic and showed little interest in giving back any territory to Azerbaijan, including the narrow strip of land connecting Karabakh with Armenia proper.

Azerbaijan's other major preoccupation has long been, and remains, oil. The Caspian region is reputed to hold about 100 billion barrels of oil and about as much natural gas, and Azerbaijan has laid claim to much of it. Azerbaijan's State Oil Company spent the 1990s making deals left and right with foreign developers for exploration and production. As a result, Baku gained the buzz of a boom town, with the first oil coming ashore in 1997.

Democracy remains an endangered species in Azerbaijan, with President Aliyev's ruling New Azerbaijan Party romping home in the November 1995 parliamentary elections, October 1998 presidential elections, December 1999 municipal elections and November 2000 parliamentary elections. Western powers interested in exploiting the country's usefulness as an alternative source of energy are keen to see increased stability in the region and an improved human rights record for Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, Azerbaijan's future prosperity depends to some extent on geography: namely, is the Caspian Sea a sea or a lake? The question is crucial for all countries bordering the body of water, as its answer will determine how oil revenues will be divided.

Culture

Azerbaijanis have their feet in Islamic and European cultures, the latter mostly Russian and Turkish, struggling with deep divisions between the old and the new. About 90% of the population is ethnic Azeri, with a smattering of Dagestanis, Russians, Armenians, Jews and other groups.

Most Azerbaijanis speak Azeri, a close cousin of Turkish, though many also speak Russian. Despite years of Soviet attempts to wipe it out, Islam remains the most popular religion with Azerbaijanis, followed distantly by various Orthodox Christian sects. Azerbaijan is one of the most liberal Muslim-majority states.

The country's musical traditions are preserved by ashugs, or poet-singers, who often strum the kobuz (a stringed instrument) while singing of the deeds of ancient heroes. Another popular form of music in Azerbaijan is mugam, which is improvised by voice and wind and stringed instruments and is often compared to jazz.

The country has a healthy literary heritage, much of which derives from an oral tradition of poems and ancient epics. Mirza Fatali Akhundzada was a literary light in the 19th century, helping to develop a modern literature, especially in drama. During Stalin's reign, many of the country's writers and artists were victims of the purge.

Azerbaijani architecture went through many different stages over the centuries but the lasting legacies belong to the medieval period, especially the Maiden Tower and the palace of the Shirvan shahs in Baku. The capital's ornately decorated subway stations are its most recent architectural marvels.

Azerbaijan is famous for its embroidered textiles. Artists use colourful threads (sometimes made of gold or silver) and beads to create geometric patterns on a thin wool fabric called tirme. The country's many bright-plumed birds and other animals have also featured in designs. Other popular Azerbaijani textiles include carpets, veils, shawls and towels.

Equal parts Georgian, Iranian and Central Asian, the national cuisine is heavy on meat - especially lamb, beef, mutton and poultry - and richly spiced. Common items are pilaf (rice fried with meat, fish, vegetables or even fruit) and fish, especially sturgeon. Not that you can't get your veggies - beets, cabbage, eggplants, spinach and others are common. Many dishes use saffron, though you'll often taste coriander, fennel, mint and parsley. Soup is a staple of Azerbaijani cuisine, often made with meat and sheep fat. Everything is washed down with black tea in little teardrop glasses; in the traditional chaykhanas (tea houses), you can linger over a pot all day if you like.

Environment

Azerbaijan is a small country located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea in the south-eastern part of the Greater Caucasus Mountains. The Lesser Caucasus stretch along the western border. Russia is on its north-eastern border, Georgia on the north-west; Armenia borders it to the west, Iran to the south and there's a 10km border with Turkey in the south-west. The Aras River runs along the southern border, flowing into the Kura River, which runs from the north-western mountains to the south-eastern coast, where it empties into the Caspian Sea.

A 5500 sq km (2125 sq mi) section of Azerbaijan called the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic lies to west, separated from the main part of the country by about 50km (30mi) of Armenia. Another section, the Autonomous Oblast of Nagorno-Karabakh, lies in the south-western corner of Azerbaijan proper but has proclaimed itself an independent republic following a war with Armenia (the population of Karabakh is now mostly Armenian) and remains under Armenian control, as does much of the territory immediately surrounding it. A narrow corridor centred on the town of Lachin provides a bridge between Karabakh and Armenia.

The highest point in Azerbaijan is snow-covered Mt Bazardyuzyu, at 4465m (14,645ft), in the Caucasus range. The Sheki Zakataly region, just south of the mountains, is full of rivers and hosts a dense population, including one of the oldest settlements in the region. It produces grain, fruit, tobacco and nuts. The coastal lowlands produce vegetables, fruit and grains. The country is saturated with oil and natural gas, much of which lies under the ground on the Apsheron Peninsula and off the coast on the Caspian shelf.

There are over 4000 plant species in Azerbaijan, including 200 indigenous varieties. Oak, hornbeam, beech, ash and maple forests cover the lower slopes of the mountain ranges, and orange groves carpet the southern coastal lowlands.

A large portion of the animal life is reptilian, though in the mountains, goats, deer, bear and wild boar are found. Azerbaijan has over 12,000 animal species, including 350 species of bird - 200 of which can be found in the Kizilagadj Reserve (in the Lenkoran lowlands). There are gazelles on the coastal plains and tigers and porcupines in the Talysh forests south of Lenkoran. The waters of the Caspian are lousy with sturgeon (four-fifths of the world's sturgeon are found here), along with herring, salmon and the rare pike perch.

Running the gamut of nine climatic zones, Azerbaijan's climate alternates between extremes in the northern and western mountains and pleasantly moderate along the Caspian Sea. Expect temperatures in the 20s and 30s C (70s and 80s F) through spring and summer (mid-April to October), and average temperatures of 5 to 10 C (40 to 50 F) from December to March.

Getting There & Away

Travellers from Europe have the best air access to Azerbaijan. There are flights between Baku and Frankfurt, Kiev, London, Amsterdam, Moscow, St Petersburg and Zurich several times a week. Most other flights serve cities in Russia and the Middle East, usually once a week. There's no departure tax.

The train between Baku and Tibilisi, Georgia, is inexpensive, but it takes about 20 hours and the occasional bandit raid and frequent burglaries make it less than completely safe. Expect to pay the price of your ticket again at the border as a bribe. The bus takes about half the time to get from Tibilisi to Baku; the fare is about the same, and you may or may not have to bribe the border guards. There are several buses a day running between Baku and Derbent, Russia, though the train is far more reliable.

The two border crossings between Azerbaijan and Iran that foreigners can use are between Jolfa, Iran, which will put you in the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, and Julfa, Azerbaijan; and between Astara, Iran, and Astara, Azerbaijan, which is near the Caspian coast and much closer to Baku. A bus runs between Tehran and Baku (via Astara) daily; taking the bus is probably better than driving over because of the uncertainties of travelling independently in rural Azerbaijan. However, the delays at the border are inordinate, and you may want to cross over on foot and pick up public transport. Currently, there's no way to cross the border by train between Iran and Azerbaijan.

By sea, you can catch one of the freighters running between Baku and Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan, though the schedule depends totally on what's to be taken and when it can be loaded. On average, there are three sailings a week, but the exact date and time of departure are rarely known until shortly beforehand. Each boat takes 300 passengers on the 12 hour voyage. The price for foreigners is around US$100 per passenger.

There are passenger-cum-cargo boats sailing between Baku and Bandar-é Anzali and Noshahr, Iran, about every other week. The fare is around US$100, plus some unspecified, possibly unauthorised, 'fee' of around US$70.

Getting Around

The bus is the best way of getting around Azerbaijan. It's actually faster than the train, and it tends to be much safer. Buses connect Baku and most of the main towns. Driving a hired car is not recommended as the country's roads are falling apart. If you decide to try it, there are agencies in Baku. You'll need an international driver's licence; driving is on the right.

The best way to get around Baku is by taxi, though they're not metred and lack seatbelts. There's a subway system in Baku, but the US embassy there has voiced concern about the possibility of electrical fires, so use it with caution. Other public transport is overcrowded and prone to breakdowns.

Getting to the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic by any other means than flying involves a long detour through Iran, though if you find yourself in Jolfa, Iran, in which case you can cross over with relative ease. But forget about going through Armenia.