Doing Business in Azerbaijan 2009 - Azerbaijan Export ...

12 DOING BUSINESS IN AZERBAIJAN
Coat of arms
Flag
Establishment:
28 May 1918
Independence:
18 October 1991
(II republic)
Capital: Baku
Language: Azerbaijani
Currency: Azerbaijani
Manat (0,8 AZN=1 USD)
Azerbaijan: State, geography and history in brief
Territory: 86.6 ths square km, (11.5% forests, 1.6% water surface,
50% agricultural lands, of which 27% pastures, 36.9% other lands).
The territory also includes Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea.
The country is situated between 44° and 52° of east longitude, 38°
and 42° of north latitude, Baku is located in 40° parallel.
Climate: Azerbaijan’s climate varies from an arid subtropical and
humid subtropical to a mountainous tundra climate. Average annual
precipitation is between 200 and 300 mm (8 to 12 inches) in the
lowlands and 300 to 900 mm (12 to 35.5 inches) in the highlands,
although precipitation is distributed unevenly throughout the year.
On the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus average annual
precipitation ranges between 1,000 and 1,300 mm (39 to 51 inches).
Average temperature ranges in the lowlands between 25 and 27
degrees C (77 and 80 F) in July and 0 to 3 degrees C (32 to 37
degrees F) in January and between minus 3 to minus 6 degrees C
(27 to 21 degrees F) in January in the highlands.
Neighbors: Borders with Iran in the south–765 km and Turkey in
the south-west–15 km, Russia in the north–390 km, Georgia in the
north-west–480 km, Armenia in the west–1,007 km. The widest
part of the Azerbaijan section of the Caspian Sea is 456 km.
The country is well placed on the south eastern border of Europe
on the shores of the Caspian Sea enriched with hydrocarbon
resources. It has direct access to the extensive and speedily
emerging markets of the Central Asian states, Caucasus as well as
Middle East. Azerbaijan declared the policy of openness for
international business. It has an excellent record of cooperation
with private international businesses, in particular, with oil & gas
corporations.