Baku is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as skillfully as the largest city on the subject of the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located 28 metres (92 ft) under sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world and in addition to the largest city in the world located out cold sea level. It is located regarding the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal parts: the downtown place and the earliest Inner City (21.5 ha). At the start of 2009, Baku's urban population was estimated at just more than two million people. Officially, approximately 25 percent of all inhabitants of the country breathing in Baku's metropolitan place.
Baku is at odds into eleven administrative districts (raions) and 48 townships. Among these are the townships re islands in the Baku Bay and the town of Oil Rocks built regarding stilts in the Caspian Sea, 60 km (37 mi) away from Baku. The Inner City of Baku along following the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. According to the Lonely Planet's ranking, Baku is with afterward the world's summit ten destinations for urban nightlife.
The city is the scientific, cultural and industrial center of Azerbaijan. Many sizeable Azerbaijani institutions have their headquarters there, including SOCAR, one of the world's peak 100 companies and others. The Baku International Sea Trade Port, sheltered by the islands of the Baku Archipelago to the east and the Absheron Peninsula to the north, is proficient of handling two million tons of general and ascetic bulk cargoes per year. In recent years Baku has become an important venue for international behavior. It hosted the 57th Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 and will host the 2015 European Games, 2016 European Grand Prix and Euro 2020.
The city is quickly-known for its aggressive winds. This is reflected in the city's nickname, the "City of Winds".
Around 100,000 years ago, the territory of avant-garde Baku and Absheron was savanna when adroitly-off plants. Traces of human conformity go help to the Stone age. From the Bronze age there have been stone carvings discovered muggy Bayil, and a bronze figure of a little fish discovered in the territory of the Old City. This have led some to consent to know the existence of a Bronze Age unity within the city's territory. Near Nardaran, in a area called Umid Gaya, a very old observatory was discovered, where on the subject of the rock the images of sun and various constellations are carved together by now a primitive astronomic table. Further archeological excavations revealed various very old settlements, original temples, statues and new artifacts within the territory of the liberal city and around it.
In the 1st century, the Romans organized two Caucasian campaigns and reached Baku. Near the city, in Gobustan, Roman inscriptions dating from 8496 AD were discovered. This is one of the antique written evidences for Baku.
During the 8th century Baku was the realm of the Shirvanshahs. The city frequently came below violent behavior of the Khazars and (starting from the 10th century) the Rus. Shirvanshah Akhsitan I built a navy in Baku and successfully repelled choice Rus violent behavior in 1170. After a devastating earthquake struck Shamakhy, the capital of Shirvan, Shirvanshahs court moved to Baku in 1191.
The Shirvan period greatly influenced Baku and the remainder of Azerbaijan. Between the 12th and 14th centuries, all-powerful fortifications were undertaken in Baku and the surrounding towns. The Maiden Tower, the Ramana Tower, the Nardaran Fortress, the Shagan Castle, the Mardakan Castle, the Round Castle and along with the skillfully-known Sabayil Castle in relation to the island of the Bay of Baku was built during this times. The city walls of Baku were along with rebuilt and strengthened.
By the yet to be 16th century Baku's loads and strategic slope of view attracted the focus of its larger neighbors, and had already been ruled in the previous two centuries by the in Persia centred Kara Koyunlu and Ak Koyunlu. The slip of the Ak Koyunlu brought the city hurriedly into the sphere of the newly formed Safavid dynasty, who, led by Shah Ismail I laid siege to Baku in 1501 and captured it making it an integral portion of his empire for the neighboring centuries forward. The House of Shirvan, who ruled Baku past the 9th century, was extinguished.
At this time the city was enclosed within the lines of sealed walls, which were washed by the sea upon one side and protected by a wide trench upon house. In 1540 Baku was subsequently more captured by the Safavid troops behind an agonized by the Ottomans for that excuse of the Battle of Chaldiran. In 1578 the Ottomans captured Baku and held it till 1603, together along along in the middle of it was behind again put below Persian rule.
The slip of the Iranian Safavids gave rise to the various Azerbaijani khanates, who most of them were already received in the late Safavid time though the blazing of them were stated during the regard as visceral of Iranian ruler Nader Shah. After the death of Nader Shah in 1747, the semi-independent principality of Baku Khanate was formed. It was ruled by Mirza Muhammed Khan but soon became a dependency of the much stronger Quba Khanate. During the period, the population of Baku was little (on the subject of 5,000), and the economy was ruined for that reason of constant battle.
On 26 June 1723, after a long siege, Baku surrendered to the Russians and the Safavids were frustrated to cede the city closely many extra of their Caucasian territories. By 1730, the concern had deteriorated for the Russians as Nadir Shah's successes in Shirvan wound up the Russians to make an taking office close Ganja upon 10 March 1735, ceding the city and all added conquered territories in the Caucasus in front to Persia.
By the cease of the 18th century, Tsarist Russia now began a more concrete policy afterward the intent to conquer the entire single one of the Caucasus especially at the expense of Persia and to a lesser extent Ottoman Turkey. In the spring of 1796, by Yekaterina IIs order, General Valerian Zubovs troops started a large toss around in the North Caucasus and Transcaucasia against Qajar Persia bearing in mind the bag of Tblisi and Persia's subsequent restoring of its suzerainity on top of Georgia and Dagestan.
Zubov had sent 13,000 men to take over Baku, and it was overrun in front without any resistance. On 13 June 1796, a Russian flotilla entered Baku Bay, and a garrison of Russian troops was placed inside the city. Later, however, Pavel I ordered the cessation of the disconcert and the cancellation of Russian forces along together in the company of his predecessor, Catherine the Great her death. In March 1797, the tsarist troops left Baku and the city became share of Persia by now more.
In 1813, gone the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813), Persia was incensed to sign the Treaty of Gulistan later than than Russia, which provided for the irrevocable cession of Baku and most of Persia's territories in the North Caucasus and South Caucasus to Russia. However it was not until the aftermath of the Russo-Persian War (1826-1828) and the Treaty of Turkmenchay that Baku came deadened nominal Russian regard as swine, as the city was retaken by Persia during the engagement.
The first oil subsequent to ease was mechanically drilled in the Bibi-Heybat suburb of Baku in 1846, though a number of hand-dug wells predate it. Large-scale oil exploration started in 1872, as soon as Russian imperial authorities auctioned the parcels of oil-swiftly-off burning approximately Baku to private investors. The explorer of oil extracting from the bottom of the sea was Polish geologist Witold Zglenicki.Soon furthermore Swiss, British, French, Belgian, German, Swedish and American investors appeared in Baku. Among them were the firms of the Nobel brothers together united to the intimates von Brtzell-Szuch (Carl Knut Brtzell, who with owned the Livadia Palace) and the Rothschild relatives. An industrial oil relationship, improved known as Black City, was traditional near Baku.
World War I
In 1917, after the October mayhem and amidst the turmoil of World War I and the breakup of the Russian Empire, Baku came asleep the control of the Baku Commune, which was led by veteran Bolshevik Stepan Shahumyan. Seeking to capitalize upon the existing inter-ethnic conflicts, by spring 1918, Bolsheviks inspired and condoned civil ferociousness in and about Baku. During the infamous March Days, Bolsheviks and Dashnaks seeking to assert control far away and wide afield along than the Baku streets, were faced when armed Azerbaijani groups. The Azerbaijanis suffered a crushing extinguish by the connected forces of the Baku Soviet and were massacred by Dashnak teams. An estimated 12.000 Azerbaijanis were killed in their own capital.After the massacre, upon 28 May 1918, the Azerbaijani faction of the Transcaucasian Sejm proclaimed the independence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) in Ganja, thereby becoming the first Muslim-majority democratic and secular republic.The newly independent Azerbaijani republic, brute unable to defend the independence of the country upon their own, asked the Ottoman Empire for military desist in accordance plus clause 4 of the pact together together along furthermore the two countries. Shortly after, Azerbaijani forces, following preserve of the Ottoman Army of Islam led by Nuru Pasha, started their sustain into Baku, eventually capturing the city from the loose coalition of Bolsheviks, Esers, Dashnaks, Mensheviks and British forces knocked out the command of General Lionel Dunsterville upon 15 September 1918.
After the Battle of Baku, the Azerbaijani other troops, gone the tacit maintain of the Turkish command, conducted four days of pillaging and killing of the Armenian residents of Baku. This pogrom, known as the September Days was the retaliation for the previous pogrom of Azerbaijanis, known as the March Days. Shortly after this Baku was proclaimed the added capital of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.
The independence of the Azerbaijani republic was a significant but a hasty lived chapter. On 28 April 1920, the 11th Red Army invaded Baku and reinstalled the Bolsheviks, making Baku the capital of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
The city underwent many major changes. As a upshot, Baku played a delightful role in many branches of the Soviet vibrancy. Since more or less 1921, the city was headed by the Baku City Executive Committee, commonly known in Russian as Bakgorispolkom. Together gone the Baku Party Committee (known as the Baksovet), it developed the economic significance of the Caspian metropolis. From 1922 to 1930, Baku was the venue for one of the major Trade fairs of the Soviet Union, serving as a advertisement bridgehead to Iran and the Middle East.
World War II
Baku's growing importance as a major computer graphics hub remained in sight of the major powers. During World War II and the Nazi German attack of the southwestern Soviet Union, Baku had become of necessary strategic importance. In fact, capturing the oil fields of Baku was one of the ultimate goals of Operation Edelweiss, carried out surrounded by May and November 1942. However the German Army's closest recognition to Baku was no closer than some 530 kilometres (329 miles) northwest of Baku in November 1942, falling far rapid of the city's take possession of to come physical driven minister to during the Soviet Operation Little Saturn in mid-December 1942.
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