Azerbaijan

From Mises Wiki, the global repository of classical-liberal thought
Jump to: navigation, search
Country summary

Capital

Baku (Baki, Baky)

Borders

Armenia (with Azerbaijan-proper) 566 km, Armenia (with Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave) 221 km, Georgia 322 km, Iran (with Azerbaijan-proper) 432 km, Iran (with Azerbaijan-Naxcivan exclave) 179 km, Russia 284 km, Turkey 9 km

Government type

republic

Population

8,238,672 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

0.762% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

66.66 years[1]

Unemployment

6% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

96[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

143[3]

Doing Business ranking

38[4]


Azerbaijan - a nation with a majority-Turkic and majority-Muslim population - was briefly independent from 1918 to 1920; it regained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Despite a 1994 cease-fire, Azerbaijan has yet to resolve its conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, a primarily Armenian-populated region, assigned to Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Moscow. Armenia and Azerbaijan began fighting over the area in 1988; the struggle escalated after both countries attained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. By May 1994, when a cease-fire took hold, ethnic Armenian forces held not only Nagorno-Karabakh but also seven surrounding provinces in the territory of Azerbaijan. Corruption in the country is ubiquitous, and the government, which eliminated presidential term limits in a 2009 referendum, has been accused of authoritarianism. Although the poverty rate has been reduced in recent years due to revenue from oil production, the promise of widespread wealth resulting from the continued development of Azerbaijan's energy sector remains largely unfulfilled.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Manat (ISO code: AZN)
  • Central bank discount rate: 2% (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 19.76% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $6.381 billion (31 December 2008)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $4.125 billion (31 December 2008)[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[6] 4 581 5 273 5 708 6 236 7 276 8 681 13 239 20 982 33 049 46 135
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[7]
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[8] 17.573 27.288
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[9] 19.010 15.453
Debt to revenue (years)

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Azerbaijan", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Azerbaijan", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  3. Transparency International. "Azerbaijan", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  4. Doing Business. "Azerbaijan", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  5. Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 351. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
  6. World Bank. "Azerbaijan: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  7. World Bank. "Azerbaijan: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  8. World Bank. "Azerbaijan: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.
  9. World Bank. "Azerbaijan: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-30.

Links