The 2008 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

      Imports - partners:

      Russia 17.6%, Turkey 10.9%, Germany 8.2%, Ukraine 8.2%, UK 7.2%,

       Japan 5.2%, China 4.9%, US 4.7% (2007)

      Economic aid - recipient:

      ODA, $223.4 million (2005 est.)

      Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:

      $4.273 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

      Debt - external:

      $2.439 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

      Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:

      $7.829 billion (2007 est.)

      Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:

      $4.912 billion (2007 est.)

      Market value of publicly traded shares:

      $NA

      Currency (code):

      Azerbaijani manat (AZN)

      Currency code:

      AZM

      Exchange rates:

      Azerbaijani manats (AZN) per US dollar - 0.8581 (2007), 0.8934 (2006), 4,727.1 (2005), 4,913.48 (2004), 4,910.73 (2003) note: on 1 January 2006 Azerbaijan revalued its currency, with 5,000 old manats equal to 1 new manat

      Communications

       Azerbaijan

      Telephones - main lines in use:

      1.254 million (2007)

      Telephones - mobile cellular:

      4.3 million (2007)

      Telephone system:

      general assessment: inadequate; requires considerable expansion and modernization; teledensity of 15 main lines per 100 persons is low; mobile-cellular penetration is increasing and is currently about 50 telephones per 100 persons domestic: fixed-line telephony and a broad range of other telecom services are controlled by a state-owned telecommunications monopoly and growth has been stagnant; more competition exists in the mobile-cellular market with three providers in 2006; satellite service connects Baku to a modern switch in its exclave of Naxcivan international: country code - 994; the old Soviet system of cable and microwave is still serviceable; satellite earth stations - 2 (2007)

      Radio broadcast stations:

      AM 10, FM 17, shortwave 1 (1998)

      Radios:

      175,000 (1997)

      Television broadcast stations:

      2 (1997)

      Televisions:

      170,000 (1997)

      Internet country code:

      .az

      Internet hosts:

      6,995 (2008)

      Internet Service Providers (ISPs):

      2 (2000)

      Internet users:

      1.036 million (2007)

      Transportation

       Azerbaijan

      Airports:

      35 (2007)

      Airports - with paved runways:

      total: 27 over 3,047 m: 2 2,438 to 3,047 m: 6 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2007)

      Airports - with unpaved runways:

      total: 8 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 7 (2007)

      Heliports:

      1 (2007)

      Pipelines:

      gas 3,857 km; oil 2,436 km (2007)

      Railways:

      total: 2,122 km broad gauge: 2,122 km 1.520-m gauge (1,278 km electrified) (2006)

      Roadways:

      total: 59,141 km paved: 29,210 km unpaved: 29,931 km (2004)

      Merchant marine:

      total: 89 by type: cargo 26, passenger 2, passenger/cargo 9, petroleum tanker 46, roll on/roll off 3, specialized tanker 3 registered in other countries: 3 (Malta 2, Panama 1) (2008)

      Ports and terminals:

      Baku (Baki)

      Military

       Azerbaijan

      Military branches:

      Army, Navy, Air and Air Defense Forces (2008)

      Military service age and obligation:

      men between 18 and 35 are liable for military service; 18 years of age for voluntary military service; length of military service is 18 months and 12 months for university graduates (2006)

      Manpower available for military service:

      males age 16–49: 2,278,888 females age 16–49: 2,291,770 (2008 est.)

      Manpower fit for military service:

      males age 16–49: 1,696,167 females age 16–49: 1,923,556 (2008 est.)

      Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

      male: 94,402 female: 89,686 (2008 est.)

      Military expenditures:

      2.6% of GDP (2005 est.)

      Transnational Issues

       Azerbaijan

      Disputes - international:

      Armenia supports ethnic Armenian secessionists in Nagorno-Karabakh and since the early 1990s has militarily occupied 16% of Azerbaijan; over 800,000 mostly ethnic Azerbaijanis were driven from the occupied lands and Armenia; about 230,000 ethnic Armenians were driven from their homes in Azerbaijan into Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh; Azerbaijan seeks transit route through Armenia to connect to Naxcivan exclave; Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) continues to mediate dispute; Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia have ratified Caspian seabed delimitation treaties based on equidistance, while Iran continues to insist on an even one-fifth allocation and challenges Azerbaijan's hydrocarbon exploration in disputed waters; bilateral talks continue with Turkmenistan on dividing the seabed and contested oilfields in the middle of the Caspian; Azerbaijan and Georgia continue to discuss the alignment of their boundary at certain crossing areas

      Refugees and internally displaced persons:

      refugees (country of origin): 2,400 (Russia) IDPs: 580,000–690,000 (conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh) (2007)

      Trafficking in persons:

      current situation: Azerbaijan is primarily a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor; women and some children from Azerbaijan are trafficked to Turkey and the UAE for the purpose of sexual exploitation; men and boys are trafficked to Russia for the purpose of forced labor; Azerbaijan serves as a transit country for victims from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Moldova trafficked to Turkey and the UAE for sexual exploitation tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Azerbaijan is on the Tier 2 Watch List for its failure to provide evidence of increasing efforts to combat trafficking in persons, particularly efforts to investigate, prosecute, and punish traffickers; to address complicity among law enforcement personnel; and to adequately identify and protect victims in Azerbaijan; the government has yet to develop a much-needed mechanism to identify potential trafficking victims and refer them to safety and care; poor treatment of trafficking victims in courtrooms continues to be a problem (2008)

      Illicit