CASPIAN COUNTRY RICH IN PETROLEUM
By Ryu Jin
Korea Times Correspondent

Korea Times, South Korea
May 10 1006

BAKU, Azerbaijan _ The Republic of Azerbaijan is a petroleum-rich
country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. It gained independence from
the former Soviet Union in 1991 amid political turmoil and against
a backdrop of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Dubbed the “Land of Fire,” the country has been famed for its oil
and natural gas resources since ancient times, when Zoroastrians _
for whom fire was an important symbol _ erected temples around burning
gas vents in the ground.

At the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, Azerbaijan is
bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia
to the northwest, Armenia to the west and Iran to the south.

In the 19th century, the country experienced an unprecedented oil boom,
which attracted vast international investment. At the beginning of
the 20th century, it was supplying almost half the world’s petroleum.

Since the 1990s, Western companies have invested millions of dollars
in developing the country’s oil and gas reserves, though critics say
the economy as a whole has not benefited as much as it might have done.

The period has also been marred by bloody conflict. As the Soviet
Union collapsed, the predominantly Armenian population of the
Nagorno-Karabakh region stated their intention to secede from
Azerbaijan.

War broke out and the Armenians of Karabakh took control of the region
and surrounding territory. A ceasefire was signed in 1994.

Azerbaijan lost 16 percent of its territory and must support some
528,000 internally displaced persons as a result of the conflict.

Some one-seventh of its territory remains occupied, while 300,000
other refugees are scattered around the country.

Azerbaijan has been a member of the Council of Europe since 2001,
although 93 percent of its 8.4-million population is Muslim,
three-fourths of them Shiites.

The country is formally an emerging democracy, but under strong
authoritarian rule. Often accused of rampant corruption and
election-rigging, the country’s ruling circles walk a tightrope
between Russian and Western regional geo-strategic interests.

South Korea established diplomatic relations with Azerbaijan in March
1992, but did not have a diplomatic mission there until last March.

A senior official accompanying Roh on his trip to Baku said
the president’s three-day official visit to Azerbaijan has great
significance since it will lay the cornerstone of Seoul’s diplomatic
efforts in the region.

Roh’s Azerbaijan visit is the first by a South Korean head of state
to the Caspian country.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress