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Azerbaijan
<em>Azerbaijan</em> is one of the oldest countries in the world, with rich and ancient history.
A state system formed in the 9<sup>th</sup> century B.C. The Manna state reached high economic and cultural levels.
The Medes conquered Manna in the first part of the 6<sup>th</sup> century B.C. The name of the country comes from the name of Atropatena ruler- Atropat. Atropat fought against Alexander of the Macedonia. After Alexander`s death he founded the independent state. Later it became Azerbaijan.
In the 5<sup>th</sup> century B.C the Azerbaijan state became strong again. In the medieval centuries the Gara qoyunly. Ag qoyunly and Sefevids states were in power.
In the 18<sup>th</sup> century a number of independent states –khanates appeared.
May 28, 1918 is the day of establishing the Independent Azerbaijan Republic. It lived for only 23 months. Troops of the 11<sup>th</sup> Red Army came to Baku. In December 1922 Azerbaijan became a part of the former USSR.
In 1991 Azerbaijan gained its independence again. It opened a new stage in the history of Azerbaijan.
Baku is the capital and the largest city of Azerbaijan. It is on the southern shore of the Apsheron peninsula. The origin of the name Baku comes from “bad kube” -“city of winds”. Baku has a long hostory. The first written reference to Baku dates from 885. The city became important after an earthquake destroyed Shemakha at the end of the 12th century and the Shirvan shah, Axsitan I, made Baku the new capital.
The centre of Baku is an old town. It is also a fortress. In the old town you can see narrow alleys and acient buildings: the palace of Shirvanshahs, two caravansarays (ancient inns), The 12<sup>th</sup> century Maiden`s Tower , The baths and the Djuma Mosque. The town also has dozens of small mosques. These places are among the most visited sights in Baku.
The southern part of the old city has interesting art architecture. Fine arts, history and literature museums here.
Before 1920 Baku was a small town. The streets of Baku were not wide and long as today. Great changes have taken place in Baku since 1920. Now Baku has become one of the beautiful cities not only in Azerbaijan, but also in the whole world. It is famous for its wide and long streets, beautiful squares, avenues, historical monuments, long bridges and a very beautiful green Boulevard. The Boulevard with benches to sit on the shade of the green trees has become one of the favorite resting places of the people of Baku.
There are a lot of parks in Baku. Martyr`s Avenue is the largest and the most beautiful park here. It is on the mountain and when you look at the city from it in the daytime or in the evening the city and the Caspian Sea look very beautiful.
Modern Baku has eleven districts and 48 townships. Among these are townships on islands in the bay and one island town,“Oil Rocks”, built on stilts in the Caspian Sea. By the way Tha Caspian Sea, which has an area of 378,400 square kilometres, is the largest lake on our planet. The deepest point in the Caspian Sea in the southern part of it not far from Lenkoran. It is 1.025 metres deep but in the northern part the greatest depth reaches only 25 metres.The rivers that run onto the Caspian Sea carry in approximately 350 cubic kilometers of water each year.
Jul 19, 2009 10:30 AM
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