Azerbaijan

Understand

History Ever at the crossroads between east and west, Azerbaijan has seen the comings and goings of several great empires.

Ancient Some of the country's best attractions are the Gobustan petroglyphs. These are the markings of people who lived in the area 40,000 - 5,000 years ago. Scythians and Iranian Medes occupied the area in around 900–700 BCE. The Achaemenids made things interesting by introducing Zoroastrianism in around 550 BCE. Later, the area was on the fringes of Alexander the Great's empire and the Roman Empire.

Medieval Christianity came in the fourth century but disappeared when the area became part of the second Islamic (Umayyad) Caliphate in the 7th century. Various local kingdoms emerged after the Umayyad Caliphate fell in 750 CE, before the Mongols conquered Azerbaijan in the 11th century.

Early Modern After the various Mongol empires withdrew, the area fell to the Persians. Persian control was not tight and highly independent khanates controlled the region until the Russian Empire expanded southward in the early 19th century. The traditional Azeri lands ended up being split between Persia and the Russian Empire; today's Republic of Azerbaijan comprised the part of the Azeri lands that were ceded to the Russian Empire, while the parts that Persia retained control of remain part of Iran as Iranian Azerbaijan. Oil was first drilled here in the late 19th century.

Soviet The fall of the Russian Empire saw the brief emergence of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918. However, Lenin realized that the region's oil was vital to the Soviet army and, along with Georgia and Armenia, Azerbaijan was rolled into the USSR by the 1920s. Azerbaijan's oil was vital again to the Soviets in the Second World War, in which 250,000 of the country's 3.4 milli

See

There are two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country; The walled city of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower as well as the Rock Art Cultural Landscape of Gokustan. Neft Daşları – City above the sea, the first operating offshore oil platform in the world, located 55 km from the nearest shore in the Caspian Sea. Mud volcanoes whi

Getting there

As of Jan 2026, Azerbaijan's land borders with its neighbours remain closed to civilian traffic. The only legal way into the country is through an international airport. Land crossings are exit only, and only for non-citizens.

Visa requirements In 2016 Azerbaijan introduced a new single-entry eVisa for citizens of the following countries:

All European Union member states, as well as Andorra, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Vatican City Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States, and Vietnam Any evidence of visiting Nagorno-Karabakh without Azerbaijani permission will result in a permanent ban and potential arrest upon arrival. The eVisa costs US$20, plus $9 for administration fee, plus $1 credit card payment fee, is valid for 30 days within the next three months after application, and can be purchased at evisa.gov.az – photocopy of your passport, and address of your stay needs to be provided. Caution: there is a fake official website: evisa.com.az – also providing visas but requiring you to purchase an overpriced tour or expensive hotel. A visa is not required for stays of 90 days or less for citizens of Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. A 30-day visa on arrival may b

Getting around

By bus or marshrutka Buses and marshrutkas (aka minibus aka converted delivery van) connect most cities. There is often a hub such as a bus station near the bazaar in these cities. Marshrutkas are quite crowded on the intra-city routes in Azerbaijan. It is common for 15 people to crowd into a 10-person marshrutka, and do not feel shy in doing this. It is normal, if you are standing, for someone to take your bag and hold onto it until either you or they disembark. Men usually ride in the rear of buses and marshrutkas, while women sit in the front, and it is customary for men to give their seat to a lady entering the bus. Lastly, Azerbaijan is not a queue-forming society, and this especially applies to bus and marshrutkas. A common rule of thumb for bus rates in Azerbaijan seems to be about 1 manat per hour ride or for every 40-50 km—everything else is touristic overcharge, stand your ground and get the help of other passengers.

By train With a few exceptions, trains in Azerbaijan are night trains that connect Baku with distant regions of the country. There is also a daily fast train to Ganja, daily slow train to Shirvan and a frequent suburban train to Sumqavit. Timetables here: https://ady.az/az/tables/index/52/44 The international Nakhichivan - Mashad train can be used for a trip within the Nakhichivan exclave: https://ady.az/az/news/read/312/43

By taxi Taxies require some negotiating skills. But using a calculator (smartphone!) to agree on a price works. Most taxi drivers simply double the price for tourists. So, halving it while negotiating and doing the walk-away trick, should reveal the genuine price. (Doubling a price is seemingly much easier than tripling it.) Otherwise, just use Bolt (a taxi app for your mobile and widely used in cities around Azerbaijan