Judicial branch: Supreme Court
Political parties and leaders: New Azerbaijan Party or YAP [Heydar
ALIYEV, chairman]; Azerbaijan Popular Front or AXC [Abulfaz ELCHIBEY,
chairman]; Party for National Independence of Azerbaijan or AMIP
[Etibar MAMMADOV, chairman]; Musavat Party or YMP [Isa GAMBAR,
chairman]; People's Democratic Party of Azerbaijan [Rafig TURABXANLY];
People's Freedom Party [Yunus OGUZ, chairman]; Democratic Party of
Independence of Azerbaijan [Vagit KERIMOV]; Communist Party of
Azerbaijan (CPA-2) [Firudin HASANOV]; Social Democratic Party of
Azerbaijan or SDP [Zardusht ALIZADE, chairman]; Liberal Party of
Azerbaijan [Lala HAJIYEVA]; Vahdat Party [Leyla YUNUSOV, Gadzhi
ALIZADE]; Azerbaijan Muslim Democratic Party (former Islamic Party)
[Haji Mekhti SHAMILLI]; Azerbaijan Democratic Party or ADP [Ilyas
ISMAYLOV]; Civic Solidarity [Sabir RUSTAMXANLI]; Ana Vatan Party
[Fazail AGAMALI]
Political pressure groups and leaders: self-proclaimed Armenian
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic; Talysh independence movement; Sadval,
Lezgin movement
International organization participation: BSEC, CCC, CE (guest), CIS,
EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ECO, ESCAP, FAO, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC,
IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM (observer),
OIC, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
WTrO (observer)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Hafiz Mir Jalal PASHAYEV chancery: (temporary) Suite 700, 927 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 or P. O. Box 28790, Washington, DC 20038-8790 telephone: [1] (202) 842-0001 FAX: [1] (202) 842-0004
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Stanley ESCUDERO embassy: Azadliq Prospekti 83, Baku mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [9] (9412) 98-03-35 FAX: [9] (9412) 96-04-69
Flag description: three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), red, and green; a crescent and eight-pointed star in white are centered in red band
@Azerbaijan:Economy
Economy-overview: Azerbaijan is less developed industrially than either Armenia or Georgia, the other Transcaucasian states. It resembles the Central Asian states in its majority nominally Muslim population, high structural unemployment, and low standard of living. The economy's most prominent products are oil, cotton, and gas. Production from the Caspian oil and gas field has been in decline for several years, but the negotiation of more than a dozen production-sharing arrangements (PSAs) with foreign firms, which have thus far committed $30 billion to oil field development, should generate the funds needed to spur future industrial development. Oil production under the first of these PSAs, with the Azerbaijan International Operating Company, began in November 1997. Azerbaijan shares all the formidable problems of the ex-Soviet republics in making the transition from a command to a market economy, but its considerable energy resources brighten its long-term prospects. Baku has only recently begun making progress on economic reform, and old economic ties and structures are slowly being replaced. A major short-term obstacle to economic progress, including stepped up foreign investment, is the continuing conflict with Armenia over the ethnic Armenian-dominated region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Trade with Russia and the other former Soviet republics is declining in importance while trade is building up with the nations of Europe, Turkey, Iran, and the UAE. A serious long-term challenge is the maintenance of the competitiveness of non-oil exports in world markets.
GDP: purchasing power parity-$11.9 billion (1997 est.)