Baku · page 2

From Wikipedia, «Baku», revision of the 2026-09-01 dump, CC BY-SA 4.0. The trees and pragmatics of these pages, Mova's parse of that text, are CC BY-SA 4.0 too.

Professor A. V. Williams Jackson of Columbia University wrote in his work From Constantinople to the Home of Omar Khayyam (1911):90

Baku is a city founded upon oil, for to its inexhaustible founts of naphtha it owes its very existence, its maintenance, its prosperity...91 At present Baku produces one-fifth of the oil that is used in the world, and the immense output in crude petroleum from this single city far surpasses that in any other district where oil is found.92 Verily, the words of the Scriptures find illustration here: 'the rock poured me out rivers of oil.93

Oil is in the air one breathes, in one's nostrils, in one's eyes, in the water of the morning bath (though not in the drinking water, for that is brought in bottles from distant mineral springs), in one's starched linen – everywhere.94 This is the impression one carries away from Baku, and it is certainly true in the environs.[46]95

By the beginning of the 20th century, half of the oil sold in international markets was extracted in Baku.[47]96 The oil boom contributed to the massive growth of Baku.97 Between 1856 and 1910 Baku's population grew at a faster rate than that of London, Paris, New York City, or Tokyo.98

World War I

Main article: Baku during World War I

In 1917, after the October Revolution and amidst the turmoil of World War I and the Russian Revolution, Baku came under the control of the Baku Commune, led by the veteran Bolshevik Stepan Shahumyan.99 Seeking to capitalize on the existing ethnic conflicts, by spring 1918, Bolsheviks inspired and condoned civil war in and around Baku.100 During the March Days of 1918, Bolsheviks and Dashnaks, seeking to establish control over Baku streets, faced armed Azerbaijani groups.101 The Azerbaijanis suffered defeat from the united forces of the Baku Soviet and were massacred by Dashnak teams in what was called the March Days.102 An estimated 3,000–12,000 Azerbaijanis were killed in their own capital.[48][49]103 After the massacre, on 28 May 1918, the Azerbaijani faction of the Transcaucasian Sejm proclaimed the independence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) in Ganja, thereby founding the first Muslim-majority democratic and secular republic.[50]104 The newly independent Azerbaijani republic, being unable to defend the independence of the country on their own, asked the Ottoman Empire for military support in accordance with clause 4 of the treaty between the two countries.105 Shortly after, Azerbaijani forces, with support of the Ottoman Army of Islam led by Nuru Pasha, started their advance on Baku, eventually capturing the city from the loose coalition of Bolsheviks, SRs, Dashnaks, Mensheviks and British forces under the command of General Lionel Dunsterville on 15 September 1918.106

After the Battle of Baku of August–September 1918, the Azerbaijani irregular troops, with the tacit support of the Turkish command, conducted four days of pillaging and killing 10,000–30,000[51] Armenians of Baku.107 This pogrom became known as the "September Days".108 Shortly after this, Baku was proclaimed the new capital of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.109

The Ottoman Empire, recognising defeat in World War I by October 1918, signed the Armistice of Mudros with the British (30 October 1918); this meant the evacuation of Turkish forces from Baku.110 Headed by General William Thomson, some 5,000 British troops, including parts of the former Dunsterforce, arrived in Baku on 17 November.111 Thomson declared himself military governor of Baku and implemented martial law in the city until "the civil power would be strong enough to release the forces from the responsibility to maintain the public order".112 British forces left before the end of 1919.[52]113

Soviet period

The independence of the Azerbaijani republic was a significant but short-lived chapter in Baku's history.114 On 28 April 1920, the 11th Red Army invaded Baku and reinstalled the Bolsheviks, making Baku the capital of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic within Soviet Russia.115

The city underwent many major changes.116 As a result, Baku played a great role in many branches of Soviet life.117 Baku was the major oil city of the Soviet Union.118 From about 1921 the city was headed by the Baku City Executive Committee, commonly known in Russian as Bakgorispolkom.119 Together with Baku Party Committee (known as the Baksovet), it developed the economic significance of the Caspian metropolis.120 From 1922 to 1930 Baku became the venue for one of the major trade fairs of the Soviet Union, serving as a commercial bridgehead to Iran and the Middle East.[53]121

World War II

Main article: Baku during World War II

The major powers continued to note Baku's growing importance as a major energy hub.122 During World War II (1939–1945) and particularly during the 1942 Nazi German invasion of the southwestern Soviet Union, Baku became of vital strategic importance to the Axis powers.123 In fact, capturing the oil fields of Baku was a primary goal of the Wehrmacht's Operation Edelweiss, carried out between May and November 1942.124 However, the German Army reached only a point some 530 km northwest of Baku in November 1942, falling far short of the city's capture before being driven back during the Soviet Operation Little Saturn in mid-December 1942.125

Fall of the Soviet Union and later

After the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, Baku embarked on a process of restructuring on a scale unseen in its history.[54]126 Thousands of panel buildings from the Soviet period were demolished to make way for a green belt on its shores; parks and gardens were built on the land reclaimed by filling up the beaches of the Baku Bay.127 Improvements were made in general cleaning, maintenance, and garbage collection to bring these services up to Western European standards.128 The city is growing dynamically and developing at pace on an east–west axis along the shores of the Caspian Sea.129 Sustainability has become a key factor in future urban development.[55]130

Geography

Baku is situated on the western coast of the Caspian Sea.131 In the vicinity of the city there are a number of mud volcanoes (Keyraki, Bogkh-bogkha, Lokbatan and others) and salt lakes (Boyukshor, Khodasan, etc.).132

Climate

Baku has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen climate classification: BSk) with hot and humid summers, cool and occasionally wet winters, and strong winds all year long.133 However, unlike many other cities with such climate features, Baku does not see extremely hot summers and substantial sunshine hours.134 This is largely because of its northerly latitude and the fact that it is located on a peninsula on the shore of the Caspian Sea.135

Baku, and the Absheron Peninsula on which it is situated, is the most arid part of Azerbaijan (precipitation here is around or less than 200 mm a year).136 This is largely due to the rain shadow effect from the Caucasus Mountains, with corresponding latitudes on the Black Sea on average receiving 2300 mm or more.137 The majority of the light annual precipitation occurs in seasons other than summer, but none of these seasons is particularly wet.138

During Soviet times, Baku, with its long hours of sunshine and dry healthy climate, was a vacation destination where citizens could enjoy beaches or relax in now-dilapidated spa complexes overlooking the Caspian Sea.139 The city's past as a Soviet industrial centre left it one of the most polluted cities in the world, as of 2008.[56]140

At the same time, Baku is noted as a very windy city throughout the year, hence the city's nickname the "City of Winds", and gale-force winds, the cold northern wind khazri and the warm southern wind gilavar are typical here in all seasons.141 Indeed, the city is renowned for its fierce winter snow storms and harsh winds.[17]142 The speed of the khazri sometimes reaches 144 km/h, which can cause damage to crops, trees and roof tiles.[57]143

The daily mean temperature in July and August averages 26.4 °C, and there is very little rainfall during that season.144 During summer, the khazri sweeps through, bringing desired coolness.145 Winter is cool and occasionally wet, with the daily mean temperature in January and February averaging 4.3 °C. During winter, the khazri sweeps through, driven by polar air masses; temperatures on the coast frequently drop below freezing and make it feel bitterly cold.146 Winter snow storms are occasional; snow usually melts within a few days after each snowfall.147

Administrative divisions

Baku is divided into 12 rayonlar (sub-rayons) (administrative districts).[58][59]148

Demographics

Until 1988, Baku had very large Russian, Armenian, and Jewish populations which contributed to cultural diversity and added in various ways (music, literature, architecture and progressive outlook) to Baku's history.161 With the onset of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War and the pogrom against Armenians starting in January 1990, the city's large Armenian population was expelled.[60][61]162 After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev returned several synagogues and a Jewish college, nationalised by the Soviets, to the Jewish community; he encouraged the restoration of these buildings.163 Seven of the original 11 synagogues, including the Gilah synagogue, built in 1896, and the large Kruei Synagogue, were renovated.[62]164

Year; Tatars[63]; Russians; Armenians; Jews; Others; TOTAL165
Number; %; Number; %; Number; %; Number; %; Number; %166
1851[64]; 5,000+; 67.3; 405; 5.5; 7,431167
1886[65]; 37,530; 43.3; 21,390; 24.7; 24,490; 28.3; 391; 0.5; 2,810; 3.2; 86,611168
1897[66]; 40,341; 36.0; 37,399; 33.4; 19,099; 17.1; 3,369; 3.0; 11,696; 10.5; 111,904169
1903[67]; 44,257; 28.4; 59,955; 38.5; 26,151; 16.8; 28,513; 18.3; 155,876170
1913[67]; 45,962; 21.4; 76,288; 35.5; 41,680; 19.4; 9,690; 4.5; 41,052; 19.1; 214,672171
1916[68]; 69,366[69]; 26.4; 79,702; 30.4; 62,357; 23.8; 6,412; 2.4; 44,585; 17.0; 262,422172
Year; Turks[70]; Russians; Armenians; Jews; Others; TOTAL173
Number; %; Number; %; Number; %; Number; %; Number; %174
1917[71][72]; 67,190; 28.2; 77,123; 32.4; 52,184; 21.9; 12,427; 5.2; 29,244[73]; 12.3; 238,168175
1926[74]; 118,737; 26.2; 167,373; 36.9; 76,656; 16.9; 19,589; 4.3; 70,978; 15.7; 453,333176
Year; Azerbaijanis; Russians; Armenians; Jews; Others; TOTAL177
Number; %; Number; %; Number; %; Number; %; Number; %178
1939[75]; 215,482; 27.4; 343,064; 43.6; 118,650; 15.1; 31,050; 3.9; 79,377; 10.1; 787,623179
1959[76]; 211,372; 32.9; 223,242; 34.7; 137,111; 21.3; 24,057; 3.7; 56,725; 8.7; 652,507180
1970[77]; 586,052; 46.3; 351,090; 27.7; 207,464; 16.4; 29,716; 2.3; 88,193; 6.9; 1,262,515181
1979[78]; 530,556; 52.4; 229,873; 22.7; 167,226; 16.5; 22,916; 2.3; 62,865; 6.2; 1,013,436182
January 1990: Baku pogrom.183 Massacre and expulsion of Armenian population184
1999[79]; 1,574,252; 88.0; 119,371; 6.7; 378; 0.0; 5,164; 0.3; 89,689; 5.0; 1,788,854185
2009[80]; 1,848,107; 90.3; 108,525; 5.3; 104; 0.0; 6,056; 0.3; 83,023; 4.1; 2,045,815186
2019[81]; 2,208,486; 94.8; 65,418; 2.8; 74; 0.0; 2,277; 0.1; 54,170; 2.3; 2,330,425187

Ethnic groups

Today, the vast majority of Baku's population is made up of ethnic Azerbaijanis, and the rest are Talysh, Russians, Lezgi and others.188 The intensive growth of the population started in the middle of the 19th century when Baku was a small town with a population of about 7,000 people.189 The population increased again from about 13,000 in the 1860s to 112,000 in 1897 and 215,000 in 1913, making Baku the largest city in the Caucasus region.[82]190

Baku has been a cosmopolitan city at certain times during its history, meaning ethnic Azerbaijanis did not constitute the majority of population.[83]191 It was only in the 1970s that ethnic Azerbaijanis achieved demographic dominance in Baku.[84]192 In 2003 Baku additionally had 153,400 internally displaced persons and 93,400 refugees.[85][86]193

Religion

The religion with the largest community of followers is Islam.194 The majority of the Muslims are Shia Muslims, and the Republic of Azerbaijan has the second-highest Shia population percentage in the world, after Iran.[87]195 The city's notable mosques include Juma Mosque, Bibi-Heybat Mosque, Muhammad Mosque and Taza Pir Mosque.196

There are some other faiths practised among the different ethnic groups within the country.197 By article 48 of its Constitution, Azerbaijan is a secular state and ensures religious freedom.198 Religious minorities include Russian Orthodox Christians, Catholic Levantines, Georgian Orthodox Christians, Albanian-Udi Apostolic Christians, Lutherans, Ashkenazi Jews, Molokans, and Sufi Muslims.199 Baku is the seat of the Catholic Apostolic Prefecture of Azerbaijan.200

Zoroastrianism, although extinct in the city as well as in the rest of the country by the present time, had a long history in Azerbaijan and the Zoroastrian New Year (Nowruz) continues to be the main holiday in the city as well as in the rest of Azerbaijan.201

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