Azerbaijan borders the Caspian Sea on the east, Russia on the north, Georgia and Armenia on the west, and Iran on the south. Its total area is about 86,600 square kilometers (33,425 square miles), and the capital city is Baku. The total population of Azerbaijan was estimated at 7.8 million in 2003. Administratively, Azerbaijan is divided into fifty-nine regions and eleven cities. The majority of the people are Muslim.

Azerbaijan's per capita income in 2003 was estimated to be $3,400; 49 percent of the total population was below the national poverty line, the literacy rate was 96 percent, infant mortality was 82.7 per 1,000 live births, and the unemployment rate was 16 percent. Azerbaijan is rich in oil reserves.

A former member republic of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union), Azerbaijan became an independent presidential republic on August 30, 1991, due to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Constitution of the Azerbaijan Republic was adopted on November 12, 1995, and...