Baku, Azerbaijan

Baku, Azerbaijan

Baku is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. The Inner City of Baku, along with the Shirvanshah’s Palace and Maiden Tower, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. It hosted the 57th Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, the 2015 European Games, the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix since 2016, and the final of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League.

About Baku, Azerbaijan in brief

Summary Baku, AzerbaijanBaku is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. The Inner City of Baku, along with the Shirvanshah’s Palace and Maiden Tower, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. Around 100,000 years ago, the territory of modern Baku and Absheron was savanna with rich flora and fauna. Traces of human settlement go back to the Stone Age. In the 1st century AD, the Romans organised two campaigns against Baku. The city is renowned for its harsh winds, which is reflected in its nickname, the \”City of Winds\”. It hosted the 57th Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, the 2015 European Games, the F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix since 2016, hosted the final of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, and will be one of the host cities for UEFA Euro 2020. The Baku International Sea Trade Port is capable of handling two million tonnes of general and dry bulk cargoes per year. The modern Azerbaijani spelling, which has been using the Latin alphabet since 1991, is Bakı; the shift from the Perso-Arabic letter و to Cyrillic may be compared to that in other AzerbaiJani words or in suffixes, as the Latin was often used to transcribe the vowel harmony in Azerbaijan. The name Baghkuy means ‘God’s town’ or ‘Town’ in Old Persian. Baku is also among the world’s top ten destinations for urban nightlife, according to the Lonely Planet’s ranking, and has a reputation for being a great destination for nightlife.

It is the sole metropolis in Azerbaijan, and 25% of all inhabitants of the country live in Baku’s metropolitan area. The capital city is divided into twelve administrative raions and 48 townships. It was the realm of the Shir vanshahs during the 8th century AD and was frequently built under the assault of the Khvitan Akhsars and the Shirhazars. It has a population of over two million people, with the urban population estimated at just over 2 million people at the beginning of 2009. In recent years, Baku has become an important venue for international events, such as the Eurovision Contest, 4th Islamic Solidarity Games, and the 2018-19 Europa League final. It also hosted the 2014 World Cup football final, which was won by Germany’s Borussia Monchengladbach. The current capital of Azerbaijan is Yerevan, and Baku was the capital of the Soviet Union until the end of the Second World War. The region is home to the Baku Archipelago, a group of islands known as the “Baku archipelago” and the Oil Rocks, which are built on stilts in the Caspian Sea, 60 kilometres away from the city. The area is known as ‘Baku’ because of its harsh winters and harsh winds.