Baku Old Town Rooftops
photo by Today is a good day on Flickr
Azerbaijan (pronounced /ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ az-ər-bye-; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), formally the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası), is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western 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 exclave of Nakhichevan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest. The majority-Armenian populated Nagorno-Karabakh region in the southwest of Azerbaijan proper declared itself independent from Azerbaijan in 1991, but it is not recognized by any nation and considered a legal part of Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan, a nation with a majority Turkic and Shi‘ite Muslim population, is a secular and a unitary republic with an ancient and historic cultural heritage. Azerbaijan was the first successful attempt to establish a democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world. Azerbaijan is one of the founder members of GUAM and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and joined the Commonwealth of Independent States in September 1993. A Special Envoy of the European Commission is present in the country, which is also a member of the United Nations, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) program.
Baku (Azerbaijani: Bakı), sometimes known as Baqy, Baky, Baki or Bakou, is the capital, the largest city, and the largest port of Azerbaijan and all the Caucasus. Located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, the city consists of two principal parts: the downtown and the old Inner City (21.5 ha). Baku is one of the oldest and biggest cities in East for antiquity, territory and population. Its urban population in the beginning of 2009 was estimated at 2.0397 million people. In 2003 Baku additionally had 153,400 internally displaced persons and 93,400 refugees.
In 2007 Culture Ministers of the member-states of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference declared Baku the capital of Islamic Culture in 2009. The Walled City of Baku along with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. According to the Lonely Planet's ranking Baku is also amongst the world's top ten destinations for urban nightlife.
Baku is divided into eleven administrative districts (Azizbayov, Binagadi, Garadagh, Narimanov, Nasimi, Nizami, Sabail, Sabunchu, Khatai, Surakhany and Yasamal) and 48 townships. Among these are the townships on islands in the Baku Bay and the town of Oil Rocks built on stilts in the Caspian Sea, 60 km (37 mi) away from Baku.
This is a specific list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Europe. Cyprus, Israel, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and the Caucasian and Siberian parts of Russia are included both in this list and in the list of sites in Asia. Overseas sites of France, the Netherlands, UK and Denmark are included here, but are also repeated in the geographically relevant lists. Kazakhstan, despite having a small portion lying in Europe is to be found under Asia, where both its world heritage sites are listed. Israeli sites are listed here, since the alternative "Arab States" grouping is politically unacceptable.
Sites marked with an asterisk (*) are also included on the List of World Heritage Sites in danger.
also listed under Asia
also listed under Asia
also listed under Asia
also listed under Asia
Europe (/ˈjʊɹəp/, -əp) is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains (or the Kuma-Manych Depression), and the Black Sea to the southeast. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean and other bodies of water to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Black Sea and connected waterways to the southeast. Yet the borders for Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are somewhat arbitrary, as the term continent can refer to a cultural and political distinction or a physiographic one.
Europe is the world's second-smallest continent by surface area, covering about 10,180,000 square kilometres (3,930,000 sq mi) or 2% of the Earth's surface and about 6.8% of its land area. Of Europe's approximately 50 states, Russia is the largest by both area and population, while Vatican City is the smallest. Europe is the third-most populous continent after Asia and Africa, with a population of 731 million or about 11% of the world's population. However, according to the United Nations (medium estimate), Europe's share may fall to about 7% by 2050. In 1900, Europe's share of the world's population was 25%.
Old City or Inner City (Azerbaijani: İçəri Şəhər) is the ancient historical core of Baku. In December 2000, the Old City of Baku, including the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower, became the first location in Azerbaijan to be classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
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