Azerbaijan Geography

Azerbaijan is located in a region dominated at least in the past by two powerful neighbours, i.e. the Russians to the north and the Persians to the south.  To the east of the country is the Caspian Sea and to the west are Armenia, Georgia and Turkey.  Its territory also included the enclave of Nargono-Karabakh which is inside Armenia.

The country has an area of about 86,600 sq km, at least 40 percent of which is covered by mountain ranges, including the Major Caucasus, the Minor Caucasus, North Iranian Mountain and the Talysh Mountain.  Between the Major Caucasus and the Minor Caucasus is the Kura lowlands which end in the east at the Caspian coast.  The country has a lot of mud volcanoes, which are formed by mud reservoirs deep below the earth’s surface and emit methane gas as well as fine soil mixed with water and hydrocarbon fluids.

As the Major Caucasus runs from the northwest to the southeast, it forms a barrier to the cold air mass from the Artic and Siberia, providing more temperate climate on the other side of the mountain.  Similarly, the other mountains in the country also help to temper the influence of the air masses from the tropics.  The country has many small rivers, all of which flow into the Caspian Sea.