Geography (Azerbaijan)
======================


     Total area:
         86,600 km2
     Land area:
         86,100 km2; includes the Nakhichevan' Autonomous Republic and the
         Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast; region's autonomy was abolished by
         Azerbaijan Supreme Soviet on 26 November 1991
     Comparative area:
         slightly larger than Maine
     Land boundaries:
         2,013 km total; Armenia (west) 566 km, Armenia (southwest) 221 km, Georgia
         322 km, Iran (south) 432 km, Iran (southwest) 179 km, Russia 284 km, Turkey
         9 km
     Coastline:
         none - landlocked
     Maritime claims:
         NA
       Exclusive fishing zone:
         NA nm; Azerbaijani claims in Caspian Sea unknown; 10 nm fishing zone
         provided for in 1940 treaty regarding trade and navigation between Soviet
         Union and Iran
     Disputes:
         violent and longstanding dispute with Armenia over status of
         Nagorno-Karabakh, lesser dispute concerns Nakhichevan'; some Azeris desire
         absorption of and/or unification with the ethnically Azeri portion of Iran;
         minor irredentist disputes along Georgia border
     Climate:
         dry, semiarid steppe; subject to drought
     Terrain:
         large, flat Kura Lowland (much of it below sea level) with Great Caucasus
         Mountains to the north, Karabakh Upland in west; Baku lies on Aspheson
         Peninsula that juts into Caspian Sea
     Natural resources:
         petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nonferrous metals, alumina
     Land use:
         NA% arable land; NA% permanent crops; NA% meadows and pastures; NA% forest
         and woodland; NA% other; includes 70% of cultivated land irrigated (1.2
         million hectares)
     Environment:
         local scientists consider Apsheron Peninsula, including Baku and Sumgait,
         and the Caspian Sea to be "most ecologically devastated area in the world"
         because of severe air and water pollution
     Note:
         landlocked; major polluters are oil, gas, and chemical industries