Basic Information: The Azerbaijan Republic is an independent nation occupying 86.6 thousand km2 on the western coast of Caspian Sea among the mountain ranges of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus and the Talish mountains. The river Araz flows along the southern border, separating Azerbaijan from Iran and Turkey. Georgia and Armenia border it on the west. On the north, the border runs through the Greater Caucasus. The Autonomous Republic of Nakhichivan within the borders of Armenia is also part of Azerbaijan's territory. Baku is the capital of the Republic.
Demography: Azerbaijan has about 7.5 million people, out of which 49.1 percent are men, and 50.9 percent are women. According to the most recent census, carried out in 1989, 82.7 percent of the population are the people of Azeri decent, 5.6 percent Russians, 5.6 percent Armenians, 2.5 percent Lezghin and 3.6 percent other nationalities, such as Avar, Ukranian, Jew, Tatar, Georgian, and Kurd. The percentage of the working population is 54.2 percent ( men between the age 16-59, women between the age 16-54. The average age for the population of Azerbaijan is 27 which is indicative of the positive demographic profile of the Republic. The annual income of the population is about 1,129 thousand manat per person (about $US 300 in the second quarter of 1997).
Topography: The Azerbaijan Republic occupies the south-east and a small part of the south of the Caucasus Mountains. Its territory includes the south-east part of the Greater Caucasus and a part of the Lesser Caucasus, Talish Mountains, and the Kyur-Araz Lowlands situated between them. The Republic also includes some islands located along the western coast of Caspian Sea. The average height of the Republic is 384m above sea level, varying from a maximum 4466 m (Bazar-Duzi mountain), and a minimum of 27 m below sea level on the Caspian Sea coast. Eighteen percent of the territory is below the world sea level. Valleys and lowlands occupy over 39 percent , low and average height hills (up to 2500 m) 39.5 percent , high mountains (above 2500 m) 3.5 percent of the territory. The region is seismically active, with frequent earthquakes, and is subject to floods.
Climate: The climate of Azerbaijan is determined by its geographical position, topography, and the Caspian Sea. There are several marked climatic zones, depending on altitude and distance from the Caspian Sea: dry subtropical, wet subtropical, temperate, and alpine climates. Dry subtropical climate is typical for the Kyur-Araz lowlands and Absheron Peninsula. A wet subtropical climate is found only in the south Talish mountains, and is typical in the foothills and the Lankaran lowlands. The temperate climate dominates the mountain slopes of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus covered by forests and is divided into dry, warm dry, warm wet and cool zones. The high mountain ridges and the mountain peaks of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus are alpine and subalpine environments. The average annual temperature varies from 14°C in the lowlands and 0°C and below in highlands. The average temperature for July in the lowlands is 25-27"C and in the highlands 5"C. The absolute maximum temperature reaches 43°C, the absolute minimum temperature falls to minus 30°C. These extremes are found in the Nakhichivan depression and in the highlands, accordingly. The winds prevailing winds are northern (on the Absheron peninsula), north-west/south-west (Kyur-Araz lowlands), and western ( Lankaran depression). Rainfall varies from the south coast of Absheron where it is less than 200 mm per year, to 300-900 mm in the foothills and mountainous zones, 1000-1300 mm on the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus, and 1200-1400 mm/year in Lankaran .
Vegetation: The territory of Azerbaijan is rich with flora-4300 species of flowering and non-flowering plants. All the species of plants growing in Azerbaijan can be classified into 125 families (the total number of plant families in the Caucuses is 156 and 920 genera (there are a total of 1286 genera in the Caucasus). The total area covered byis 989.5 thousand ha.-about 11.4 percent of the country. Forests are not equally distributed over the territory of Azerbaijan. In the Greater Caucasus the forests occupy 48.8 percent of the land, in the Lesser Caucasus 34.2 percent, in Talish mountains 14.5 percent, in the Kyur-Araz lowlands 2.5 percent, and in Nakhchivan 0.5 percent of the land area.
Fauna: In Azerbaijan, the animal world is rich and diverse with many relic, endemic and rare animals. Fauna has been formed under the influence of various centers of speci-ation. There are approximately 18 thousand animal species-at least 14 thousand insect species, more than 1100 arachnids, and over 600 species of vertebrates. Of these, 14 species of mammals, 36 birds, 13 amphibians and reptiles, 5 fishes and 40 insects are listed as endangered in the Red Book, which was last updated in the early 1990. The Caspian Sea coast is a key north-south migratory corridor for mammals, as well as an important destination area, for wintering-over, breeding and nesting. It has a unique hydrofauna- fishes in particular, but including at least one endangered marine mammal species.