Azerbaijan - a nation with a Turkic and majority-Muslim population - was briefly independent from 1918 to 1920; it regained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Despite a 1994 cease-fire, Azerbaijan has yet to resolve its conflict with Armenia over the Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh enclave (largely Armenian populated).

Azerbaijan has lost 16 percent of its territory and must support some 600,000 internally displaced persons as a result of the conflict.

Corruption is ubiquitous, and the promise of widespread wealth from Azerbaijan's undeveloped petroleum resources remains largely unfulfilled.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population: 8,120,247 (July 2007 est.)

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 25.4% (male 1,086,271/female 975,100) 15-64 years: 67.7% (male 2,695,428/female 2,799,047) 65 years and over: 7% (male 211,438/female 352,963) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 27.6 years male: 26 years female: 29.4 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 0.688% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 17.47 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 8.35 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: -2.25 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.15 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.114 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.963 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.599 male(s)/female total population: 0.968 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 58.31 deaths/1,000 live births male: 64.03 deaths/1,000 live births female: 51.75 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 65.96 years male: 61.86 years female: 70.66 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 2.05 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 1,400 (2003 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: less than 100 (2001 est.)

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Nationality: noun: Azerbaijani(s), Azeri(s) adjective: Azerbaijani, Azeri

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Ethnic groups: Azeri 90.6%, Dagestani 2.2%, Russian 1.8%, Armenian 1.5%, other 3.9% (1999 census) note: almost all Armenians live in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region

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Religions: Muslim 93.4%, Russian Orthodox 2.5%, Armenian Orthodox 2.3%, other 1.8% (1995 est.) note: religious affiliation is still nominal in Azerbaijan; percentages for actual practicing adherents are much lower

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Languages: Azerbaijani (Azeri) 90.3%, Lezgi 2.2%, Russian 1.8%, Armenian 1.5%, other 3.3%, unspecified 1% (1999 census)

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 98.8% male: 99.5% female: 98.2% (1999 census)

Azerbaijan's number one export is oil. Azerbaijan's oil production declined through 1997, but has registered an increase every year since. Negotiation of production-sharing arrangements (PSAs) with foreign firms, which have committed $60 billion to long-term oilfield development, should generate the funds needed to spur future industrial development. Oil production under the first of these PSAs, with the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, began in November 1997. A consortium of Western oil companies began pumping 1 million barrels a day from a large offshore field in early 2006, through a $4 billion pipeline it built from Baku to Turkey's Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. By 2010 revenues from this project will double the country's current GDP. Azerbaijan shares all the formidable problems of the former Soviet republics in making the transition from a command to a market economy, but its considerable energy resources brighten its long-term prospects. Baku has only recently begun making progress on economic reform, and old economic ties and structures are slowly being replaced. Several other obstacles impede Azerbaijan's economic progress: the need for stepped up foreign investment in the non-energy sector, the continuing conflict with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and the pervasive corruption. Trade with Russia and the other former Soviet republics is declining in importance, while trade is building with Turkey and the nations of Europe. Long-term prospects will depend on world oil prices, the location of new pipelines in the region, and Azerbaijan's ability to manage its oil wealth.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $59.71 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $14.25 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 34.5% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $7,500 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 14.1% industry: 45.7% services: 40.2% (2002 est.)

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Labor force: 5.191 million (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 41% industry: 7% services: 52% (2001)

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Unemployment rate: 1.2% official rate (2006 est.) Population below poverty line:

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49% (2002 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 27.8% (1995)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 36.5 (2001)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 8% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 44.9% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $6.008 billion expenditures: $5.804 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 10.4% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: cotton, grain, rice, grapes, fruit, vegetables, tea, tobacco; cattle, pigs, sheep, goats

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Industries: petroleum and natural gas, petroleum products, oilfield equipment; steel, iron ore; cement; chemicals and petrochemicals; textiles

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Industrial production growth rate: 50% (2006 est.)

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Electricity - production: 20.35 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 20.57 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 510 million kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 2.15 billion kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 477,000 bbl/day (2005 est.)

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Oil - consumption: 120,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 7 billion bbl (1 January 2005)

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Natural gas - production: 5.01 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 9.94 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 4.93 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 849.5 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

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Current account balance: $2.737 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports: $12.51 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: oil and gas 90%, machinery, cotton, foodstuffs

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Exports - partners: Italy 30%, France 11.7%, Czech Republic 10%, Germany 7.9%, US 7.6%, UK 4.4% (2006)

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Imports: $5.176 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, oil products, foodstuffs, metals, chemicals

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Imports - partners: Russia 19.4%, UK 12.5%, Turkey 9.9%, Germany 8.6%, Singapore 6.1%, China 4.9% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $1.8 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $2.483 billion (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: ODA, $140 million (2000 est.)

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Currency (code): Azerbaijani manat (AZM)

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Exchange rates: Azerbaijani manats per US dollar - 0.8934 (2006), 4,727.1 (2005), 4,913.48 (2004), 4,910.73 (2003), 4,860.82 (2002) note: on 1 January 2006 Azerbaijan revalued its currency, with 5,000 old manats equal to 1 new manat

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Fiscal year: calendar year