The Maiden Tower is a 12th-century monument in the Old City, Baku, Azerbaijan. Along with the Shirvanshahs' Palace, dated to the 15th century, it forms a group of historic monuments listed in 2001 under the UNESCO World Heritage List of Historical Monuments as cultural property, Category III. It is one of Azerbaijan's most distinctive national emblems, and is thus featured on Azerbaijani currency notes and official letterheads.
Gobustan District is one of the 66 districts of Azerbaijan. It is located in the east of the country and belongs to the Mountainous Shirvan Economic Region. The district borders the districts of Shamakhi, Khizi, Absheron, and Hajigabul. Its capital and largest city is Gobustan. As of 2020, the district had a population of 47,400.
The culture of Azerbaijan combines a diverse and heterogeneous set of elements which developed under the influence of Turkic, Iranic and Caucasian cultures. Azerbaijani culture includes its distinct cuisine, literature, folk art, and music. Its culture continues to be influenced by its geographical location in the Caucasus.
Sarmishsay is located in the Karatau Mountain Range in the Nurata District of Navoiy Region of Uzbekistan. The gorge contains archeological remains dating back as far as the Stone Age, including two petroglyph sites with a total of 10,000 ancient rock carvings. According to UNESCO, it is the largest and most important rock art monument in Uzbekistan.
Yanar Dagh is a natural gas fire which blazes continuously on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula on the Caspian Sea near Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. Flames jet into the air 3 metres (9.8 ft) from a thin, porous sandstone layer. Administratively, Yanar Dagh belongs to Absheron District of Azerbaijan.
Khinalug, Khynalyg, or Khinalyg, is a municipality and an ancient Caucasian village with origins dating back to the Caucasian Albanian period. It is located high up in the mountains of Quba District, Azerbaijan. The municipality of Khinalug is part of the Quba District and consists of the villages of Khinalug and Galaykhudat. The village was included in the Cultural Landscape of Khinalig People and “Köç Yolu” Transhumance Route UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023.
Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve is located west of the settlement of Gobustan, about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of the centre of Baku. It was established in 1966, when the area was declared a national historical landmark of Azerbaijan in an attempt to preserve the prehistoric rock carvings, mud volcanoes and musical stones in the region.
The rock drawings in Valcamonica are located in the Province of Brescia, Italy, and constitute the largest collections of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world. The collection was recognized by UNESCO in 1979 and was Italy's first recognized World Heritage Site. UNESCO has formally recognized more than 140,000 figures and symbols, but new discoveries have increased the number of catalogued incisions to between 200,000 and 300,000. The petroglyphs are spread on all surfaces of the valley, but concentrated in the areas of Darfo Boario Terme, Capo di Ponte, Nadro, Cimbergo and Paspardo.
The geology of Azerbaijan forms a constituent geological part of the Alpine fold belt. Sedimentary deposits embracing the southwestern parts of the Major and Minor Caucasus, including the intermountain Kur River trough, as well as the Mid- and South Caspian basins consist of diversity fold systems. The Earth's crust thickness in Azerbaijan varies in the range from 38 to 55 km. Its maximum thickness is observed in the Minor Caucasus area, while its minimum thickness is typical for the Talysh foothills. The geological setting of the area consists of sedimentary, volcanic-sedimentary, volcanic and terrestrial deposits embracing almost the entire stratigraphic range beginning from Pre-Cambrian through Holocene time.
Ishag Mammadrza oglu Jafarzadeh was one of the pioneers of Azerbaijan archaeology and ethnography. He excavated over seventy artifacts on Azerbaijan's territory and studied the Gobustan rock paintings. In 1948, during the Gobustan expedition, he discovered the Latin rock inscription near mountain Boyukdash, 70 km from Baku, which is the easternmost Roman evidence to be known.
Tourism in Azerbaijan has been an important sector of the Azerbaijani economy since the 1990s. According to Azerbaijan's Center for Economic and Social Development, the country is in 39th place among 148 countries in tourism competitiveness indicators. The World Travel and Tourism Council reported that Azerbaijan is among the top ten countries with the greatest increase in visitor exports from 2010 to 2016. The country had the world's fastest-developing travel and tourism economy in 2017. To promote tourism, Azerbaijan sponsored Atlético Madrid jerseys reading "Azerbaijan – Land of Fire". In 2018, a new tourism brand and a slogan "take another look" were introduced.
Archeological sites in Azerbaijan first gained public interest in the mid-19th century and were reported by European travellers.
Azerbaijani art is the art created by Azerbaijanis. They have created rich and distinctive art, a major part of which is applied art items. This form of art rooted in antiquity, is represented by a wide range of handicrafts, such as chasing (metalworking), jewellery-making, engraving, carving wood, stone and bone, carpet-making, lacing, pattern weaving and printing, and knitting and embroidery. Each of these decorative arts is evidence of the culture and the abilities of the Azerbaijan nation, and are very popular there. Many interesting facts pertaining to the development of arts and crafts in Azerbaijan were reported by merchants, travellers and diplomats who visited these places at different times.
The Petroglyph Museum is a museum in Gobustan, Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijan is a country with very favorable natural conditions and rich natural resources. Snowy peaks, high mountains, foothill fertile soils, wide plains, Lowest Land Points Below Ocean Level are the main landscape forms of republic. This complex landscape structure has caused the variety in natural conditions - climate, soil-vegetation, and water resources. This, in turn, led to the uneven distribution of population and farms on the territory, and the specialization of production on different types.
The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is one of the touristic regions of Azerbaijan with its flora and fauna, climate, and ancient cultural monuments. Nakhchivan is known for its historical monuments such as Momuna Khatun, Yusif ibn Kuseyir, Gulustan tombs, and Garabaghlar. There are other touristic places like Babek castle, Kilit cave, Alinja castle, and Gamigaya in Nakhchivan.
Gobustan Rock Art represents flora and fauna, hunting, lifestyles, and culture of pre-historic and medieval periods of time. The carvings on the rocks illustrates primitive men, ritual dances, men with lances in their hands, animals, bull fights, camel caravans, and pictures of the sun and stars. The date of these carvings goes back to 5,000 – 20,000 years before present.
Stone Age in Azerbaijan is divided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods. It was studied in Karabakh, Gazakh, Lerik, Gobustan, and Nakhchivan. Stone materials belonging to the Stone Age were found by Mammadali Huseynov in the Shorsu gorge located near the village of Gyrag Kasaman in Qazakh region. According to his research, people have first settled in the territory of Azerbaijan 2 million years ago. The Stone Age era involved two different human species: Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens.
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