rous
metals, alumina

Land use:
arable land: 18%
permanent crops: 5%
permanent pastures: 25%
forests and woodland: 11%
other : 41% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 10,000 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: droughts; some lowland areas threatened by rising
levels of the Caspian Sea

Environment - current issues: local scientists consider the Abseron
(Apsheron) Peninsula (including Baku and Sumqayit) and the Caspian Sea
to be the ecologically most devastated area in the world because of
severe air, water, and soil pollution; soil pollution results from the
use of DDT as a pesticide and also from toxic defoliants used in the
production of cotton

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Climate Change, Ozone Layer Protection
signed, but not ratified: Biodiversity

Geography - note: landlocked

@Azerbaijan:People

Population: 7,797,476 (July 1997 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 33% (male 1,302,759; female 1,247,868)
15-64 years: 61% (male 2,315,272; female 2,446,087)
65 years and over: 6% (male 186,699; female 298,791) (July 1997 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.78% (1997 est.)

Birth rate: 22.89 births/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Death rate: 9.32 deaths/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Net migration rate: -5.75 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1997 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.62 male(s)/female
total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (1997 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 80.7 deaths/1,000 live births (1997 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 63.52 years
male : 59.27 years
female: 67.99 years (1997 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.77 children born/woman (1997 est.)

Nationality:
noun : Azerbaijani(s)
adjective: Azerbaijani

Ethnic groups: Azeri 90%, Dagestani Peoples 3.2%, Russian 2.5%,
Armenian 2.3%, other 2% (1995 est.)
note: almost all Armenians live in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh
region

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; actual
practicing adherents are much lower

Languages: Azeri 89%, Russian 3%, Armenian 2%, other 6% (1995 est.)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97%
male: 99%
female: 96% (1989 est.)

@Azerbaijan:Government

Country name:
conventional long form: Azerbaijani Republic
conv