How old is the country azerbaijan

First Azerbaijan's Golden Age 9th th century A. Shirvanshah dynasty's reign 7th - 14th centuries A. Literature, Arts, Architecture and Science flourished in Azerbaijan. The great Azeri thinker and poet Nizami Ganjevi 12th century created his literary masterpieces such as Khamsa. Second Azerbaijan's Golden Age 15th th century A. He established Azeri Turkish as a state language of the Safavids Empire and was respected by European Powers of that time.

It also scored a major military success in late , when it recaptured territory in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. Dissenting voices are practically absent from mainstream media and critical journalists risk arrest and imprisonment. TV is the most popular medium. All Azerbaijan-based channels toe the government line. Social media are used as platforms for free expression and activism. Facebook is the leading social network.

Some key dates in Azerbaijan's history:. Territory of present-day Azerbaijan becomes part of Russian empire while southern Azerbaijan is part of Persia. After Gulustan and Turkmenchay treaties. The territory of Azerbaijan was divided by the two empires under Gulustan and Turkmenchay treaties: the north of Azerbaijan was annexed to Russia, while the southern Azerbaijan became part of Iran, which was ruled by the Qajar dynasty.

This marked the beginning of mass resettlement of the Armenian population from neighbouring countries to the Azerbaijani lands, in particular the territories of Karabakh, Iravan and Nakhchivan khanates. In alone, 40,, Armenians were resettled from Iran and 90, from Turkey to Azerbaijan.

This paved the way for Gregorianization and Armenianization of the Christian Albanians who were the ancient population of Azerbaijan. Having existed for only 23 months from to , the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic went down in history as the first secular and democratic state in the Muslim East. Despite working under extremely tough and volatile socio-political circumstances, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic made milestone achievements in a variety of areas, including state building, economy, culture, education and army building.

The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic ensures political rights and citizenship right of all citizens living within its borders irrespective of their nationality, belief, class, layer and sex. Great strides were made in state and army building, economy and culture, education and healthcare. For the first time in the east and ahead of the majority of European countries, Azerbaijan granted women the right to vote.

The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic occupied an area of , km2 excluding disputed territories , and had a population of more than 2. The government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was based in Tbilisi from May 28 to June, and in Ganja from June 16 to September 17, , before moving to Baku where it worked until its fall on April 28, Throughout its existence, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic saw its government change five times, with the first two headed by Fatali Khan Khoyski and the next three by Nasib bay Yusifbayli Aliyev was given a mandate to support alternative industries in Azerbaijan and gained success, both politically and economically, by pushing the production of cotton.

However, this came at an ecological cost as irrigation and planting negatively affected the soil. The s and Glastnost brought more economic problems to Azerbaijan as the Soviet economy and political system crumbled.

Heidar Aliyev initially resisted the reforms and was forced out of politics by the Gorbachev administration. As economic problems mounted, so did ethnic tensions as Armenia pushed to be given Nagorno-Karabach, an Armenian-majority region in Azerbaijan.

The Nagorno-Karabach War lasted six years. By , Azerbaijan had lost control of Karabach and an additional 10 percent of their territory. The ceasefire declared that year, the Bishkek Protocol, gave Azerbaijan sovereignty over the area, but also wide autonomy to the disputed territories.

However, the Protocol was never fully implemented and Nagorno-Karabach still declares itself to be an autonomous republic, although it is unrecognized by the international community. Thus, the conflict was frozen in , and although the OSCE Minsk Group was created for to find an amicable solution to the lingering conflict, no long-term solution has been found.

Nagorno-Karabach continues to have major implications for Azerbaijan. Internally, the war left close to 10 percent of the population displaced, many living in dismal huts and railroad cars, unable to return to their homes, creating humanitarian and economic issues. He was replaced by Abulfaz Elchibey, a former Soviet dissident and a pro-western, economic liberal.

However, claiming mismanagement and corruption in the continued efforts to secure Nagorno-Karabach, the Azerbaijani military eventually turned on Elchibey and displaced him in coup, bringing back former Soviet leader Heidar Aliyev, then Aliyev quickly consolidated power by first meeting popular demands.

He froze the conflict by signing the Bishkek Accords, ending the fighting. Pipelines linking Azerbaijan with Russia, Georgia, and Turkey were built or refurbished in the late 90s and early s.

Billions of dollars in new energy revenue followed into Baku, complimented with successful economic reforms and a major privatization program.

Maintaining close relations with Turkey, which is close to Azerbaijan in culture and language, as proved essential to maintaining an economic blockade against Armenia. Azerbaijan has also carefully balanced relations between Russia and the West to maximize support for the continued recognition of Nagorno-Karabach as Azerbaijani territory as well as to secure markets to sell oil and natural gas and to buy weapons.

Iranian-Azerbaijani relations are complicated, however. Most pressing is the fact that Iran claims Caspian maritime territory currently recognized as Azerbaijani. This stretch of sea contains a major, undeveloped hydrocarbon deposit. Although violence has not yet occurred, the Iranian navy has kept Azerbaijani engineers from exploring the deposit. Other major issues are also affecting relations. Azerbaijani nationalists on both sides of that border dream of reuniting the population under a single flag.

Azerbaijan has also supported sanctions against Iran, in what critics call a diplomatic maneuver to gain US favor. Thus, despite a long shared history, the two countries often find themselves at odds.

These relations may change, however, as US-Iranian relations warm, this may allow Azerbaijani-Iranian relations to also improve.