This article is about the country in Eurasia; for other uses, see Azerbaijan (disambiguation).
Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan, or in Arabic alphabet: آذربایجان رسپوبلیکاسی), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası), is a country in the Caucasus region. Located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (an exclave of Azerbaijan) borders Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and Turkey to the northwest. The Nagorno-Karabakh region in the country's southwest declared itself independent from Azerbaijan in 1991, but it is not recognized by any nation.
Azerbaijan is a secular state, and has been a member of the Council of Europe since 2001. The Azerbaijani people (or simply Azeris) are the majority population, most of whom are adherents of Shi'a Islam. The country is formally an emerging democracy, however with strong authoritarian rule.
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