Azerbaijan Issues - 2024

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Disputes - international

Armenia-Azerbaijan: tensions existed for years over Nagorno-Karabakh region and the Armenian military occupation of surrounding lands in Azerbaijan; Azerbaijan seized part of the enclave during six weeks of fighting in 2020 and the remainder in a short conflict in September 2023; Baku and Yerevan have since had discussions on a peace treaty, the demarcation of borders, and full normalization of relations, although bi-lateral tensions remain

Azerbaijan-Georgia: a joint boundary commission agrees on most of the alignment, leaving only small areas at certain crossing points in dispute; consequently, the two states have yet to agree on a delimitation or demarcation of their common boundary; one area of contention is where the international boundary should run through the 6th-13th Century David-Gareja monastery complex

Azerbaijan-Iran: in recent years, tensions between Azerbajian and Iran have sometimes been high in part because of ties between Azerbaijan and Israel, and Baku's claims that Tehran has backed Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh

Azerbaijan-Turkey: none identified

Caspian Sea (Maritime Boundary): Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia ratified the Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance, while Iran continues to insist on a one-fifth slice of the sea; bilateral talks continue with Turkmenistan on dividing the seabed and contested oilfields in the middle of the Caspian

Refugees and internally displaced persons

IDPs: 659,000 (conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh; IDPs are mainly ethnic Azerbaijanis but also include ethnic Kurds, Russians, and Turks predominantly from occupied territories around Nagorno-Karabakh; includes IDPs' descendants, returned IDPs, and people living in insecure areas and excludes people displaced by natural disasters; around half the IDPs live in the capital Baku) (2022)

stateless persons: 3,585 (2022)

Illicit drugs

limited illicit cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for CIS consumption; small government eradication program; transit point for Southwest Asian opiates bound for Russia and to a lesser extent the rest of Europe

NOTE: The information regarding Azerbaijan on this page is re-published from the 2024 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Azerbaijan 2024 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Azerbaijan 2024 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.