Azerbaijan: landmarks, animals & facts for kids

Azerbaijan is a country in the South Caucasus, on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, where Eastern Europe and Western Asia meet. Its capital is Baku, and about 10 million people live there. It is nicknamed the 'Land of Fire' because natural gas seeping from the ground has kept flames burning on some hillsides for a very long time. Azerbaijan is also known for oil, mud volcanoes and colourful carpets.

On My Earth Toy you can see the Flame Towers, three flame-shaped skyscrapers in Baku whose screens glow like fire at night. Look out for Neft Daşları, the Oil Rocks, a town built on platforms far out in the Caspian Sea.

Geography and nature

The Greater Caucasus mountains rise in the north and the Lesser Caucasus in the west, while lowlands stretch along the Kura River and the Caspian coast. Baku lies below sea level, because the Caspian Sea itself is lower than the world's oceans. Azerbaijan has hundreds of mud volcanoes, a large share of all those on Earth, which bubble up cold mud. At Yanar Dag, a hillside near Baku, flames burn constantly from gas in the rocks.

People, languages and culture

The official language is Azerbaijani, a Turkic language written in the Latin alphabet. Most people are Muslim, and the country has a secular government. Mugham, a traditional style of music with improvised singing, is recognised by UNESCO, as is the art of carpet weaving. Plov, a rice dish with saffron, meat and dried fruit, is served at celebrations. Novruz, the spring new year festival, is the biggest holiday, with bonfires and painted eggs.

History in a nutshell

Rock carvings at Gobustan show people lived here many thousands of years ago. Over time the region was ruled by Persian, Arab, Turkic and Mongol powers, and later the Russian Empire. In the late 1800s Baku had an oil boom and became one of the world's main oil producers. In 1918 the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was declared, but it soon became part of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991.