Baku

This article explains the capital of Azerbaijan. For other meanings, see Baku (disambiguation).

Baku ([baˈkuː], Azerbaijani Bakı [bɑˈcɯ] / Arabic باکی; Russian Баку́ Baku [baˈku]) is the capital of Azerbaijan. With two million inhabitants in the city province, Baku is the most populous and largest city in the country and the entire Caucasus. The city on the west coast of the Caspian Sea is a transport hub as well as an economic and cultural centre with several universities, colleges, research institutes, theatres and museums. Due to its location within an oil-producing area, Baku is the hub of several oil pipelines and has a major oil port. Baku has a rich urban history due to its convenient location on several historic trade routes. Numerous palaces, mosques and fortifications have been preserved in the old city, which has had UNESCO World Heritage status since 2000.

Geography

Geographical position

Baku is located just below sea level, south on the Abşeron Peninsula on the western shore of the Caspian Sea. The city is surrounded by several freshwater lakes, including Lake Böyükşor, which at ten square kilometres is the second largest lake in the country. In the west and sporadically in the east, a hilly landscape rises up to 200 m above sea level.

City breakdown

Baku is divided into twelve districts (rayonlar; sg. rayon) and 59 municipalities (qəsəbələr; sg. qəsəbə). These include municipalities on islands and islands on supports, known as oil rocks, sometimes 100 kilometres from Baku in the Caspian Sea.

District	Former name	Inhabitant Thousand	Thousand km²	Population density per km²	inherent	Website
Səbail	26 Бакы комиссары - 26 Bakı komissarı	92,4	0,03	3080	İçəri Şəhər, Parliament, TV Tower, Flame Towers, Baku Crystal Hall	http://sabail-ih.gov.az/
Yasamal	Октјабр - Oktyabr	236,0	0,02	11800	State University, Tezepir Mosque	http://yasamal-ih.gov.az/
Nəsimi	Нәсими - Nəsimi	211,5	0,01	21150	State Oil Academy	http://nasimi-ih.gov.az/
Nərimanov	Нәриманов - Nərimanov	165,2	0,03	5507		http://narimanov-ih.gov.az/
Nizami	Шаумјан - Şaumyan (Низами - Nizami, since 1981).	182,0	0,02	9100	Khazar University, Şəfa Stadium	http://nizami-ih.gov.az/
Xətai	Шаумјан - Şaumyan	252,1	0,03	8403	Museum of Modern Art	http://khatai-ih.gov.az/
Qaradağ	Гарадағ - Qaradağ	110,4	1,08	102	Qobustan National Park (part)	http://qaradagh.gov.az/
Binəqədi	Киров - Kirov	244,0	0,17	1435	Tofiq Bəhramov Stadium	http://binegedi-ih.gov.az/
Sabunçu	Ленин - Lenin	225,3	0,24	939	Nardaran Castle, Ramana Castle	http://sabunchu-ih.gov.az/
Suraxanı	Орҹоникидзе - Orconikidze	201,3	0,10	2013	Fire Temple	http://surakhani-ih.gov.az/
Xəzər	Әзизбәјов - Əzizbəyov	172,2	0,40	431	Airport, Round Mərdəkan Castle, Square Mərdəkan Castle	http://xazar-ih.gov.az/
Pirallahi		20,5	25		Chilov, Neft Daşları	http://www.pirallahi-ih.gov.az/

Climate

Baku has a temperate steppe climate (according to the effective climate classification of Köppen and Geiger: BSk).

In general, the climate is sunny and dry with occasional hurricane force winds and low, erratic rainfall.

In winter, night frost is common, but ice days with a daily maximum temperature below 0 °C and also snow are relatively rare. The snow cover lasts for only a few days per year.

In summer - especially in July and August - temperatures above 35 °C are common. The dry air and the winds from the Caspian Sea moderate the temperatures. Rain is hardly to be expected in summer.

The average annual temperature is 15.1 °C and the average annual rainfall is 210 mm.

Baku

Climate diagram

J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
21 7 2	20 6 2	21 10 4	18 16 9	18 22 15	8 27 20	2 31 22	6 30 23	15 26 19	25 20 14	30 14 9	26 10 5
Temperature in °C, precipitation in mm
Source: WMO, www.wetter.com

Monthly average temperatures and precipitation for Baku

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature (°C)	6,6	6,3	9,8	16,4	22,1	27,3	30,6	29,7	25,6	19,6	13,5	9,7	Ø	18,2
Min. temperature (°C)	2,1	2,0	4,2	9,4	14,9	19,7	22,2	22,9	19,4	13,6	8,8	4,8	Ø	12,1

Precipitation (mm)	21	20	21	18	18	8	2	6	15	25	30	26		210

Sunshine hours (h/d)	2,9	3,1	4,0	6,5	8,3	9,8	10,1	9,1	7,4	4,6	3,1	3,3	Ø

Rainy days (d)	6	6	5	4	3	2	1	2	2	6	6	6		49

Temperature

6,6

2,1

6,3

2,0

9,8

4,2

16,4

9,4

22,1

14,9

27,3

19,7

30,6

22,2

29,7

22,9

25,6

19,4

19,6

13,6

13,5

8,8

9,7

4,8

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Precipitation	21	20	21	18	18	8	2	6	15	25	30	26
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Source: WMO, www.wetter.com

Population

The population of the city of Baku was 2,064,900 (2009 census). The population density was 969 inhabitants per square kilometre (as of 2009). The population is expected to reach 2.8 million in 2035.

Year	Azerbaijan	%	Russians	%	Armenian	%	Jews	%	Other	%	Total
1886	37.530	43,3	21.390	24,7	24.490	28,30	391	0,5	2.810	3,2	86.611
1897	40.341	36,0	37.399	33,4	19.099	17,10	3.369	3,0	11.696	10,5	111.904
1926	118.737	26,2	167.373	36,9	76.656	16,90	19.589	4,3	70.978	15,7	453.333
1939	215.482	27,4	343.064	43,6	118.650	15,10	31.050	3,9	79.377	10,1	787.623
1959	211.372	32,9	223.242	34,7	137.111	21,30	24.057	3,7	56.725	8,7	652.507
1970	586.052	46,3	351.090	27,7	207.464	16,40	29.716	2,3	88.193	6,9	1.262.515
1979	530.556	52,4	229.873	22,7	167.226	16,50	22.916	2,3	62.865	6,2	1.013.436
1999	1.574.252	88,0	119.371	6,7	378	0,02	5.164	0,3	89.689	5,0	1.788.854
2009	1.848.107	90,3	108.525	5,3	104	0,00	6.056	0,6	83.023	4,1	2.045.815