Total area

86,600 sq km

Population

8.9m (January 1st 2010)

Main towns

Population in '000 (January 1st 2008)

Baku (capital): 1,917

Ganja: 310

Sumgait: 300

Climate

Ranging from cold in the Caucasus mountain range in northern Azerbaijan to temperate in the Kura plain (average July temperature of 27°C, January temperature 1°C) and subtropical in the Lenkoran lowlands in the south-east; average temperatures in Baku, on the Caspian Sea, range from 7°C in January to 27°C in August

Language

Azeri (a Turkic language) is the state language; the use of Russian is being phased out, but it is still widely spoken

Weights and measures

Metric system

Currency

Manat, introduced as legal tender in 1993 to replace the rouble; in January 2006 a new manat was introduced, replacing the old manat at a rate of 5,000 old manat = 1 new manat

Time

Four hours ahead of GMT

Fiscal year

Calendar year

Public holidays

Fixed: January 1st-2nd (New Year), March 8th (Women's Day), May 9th (Veterans' Day), May 28th (Republic Day), June 15th (National Salvation Day), June 26th (Armed Forces Day), October 18th (National Independence Day), November 12th (Constitution Independence Day), November 17th (National Revival Day), December 31st (Worldwide Solidarity of Azerbaijanis Day)

Movable: Ramazan Bayram/Id al-Fitr, Novruz (Iranian New Year), Kurban Bayram/Id al-Adha