Transnational Issues Austria
Disputes - international: minor disputes with Czech Republic and Slovenia continue over nuclear power plants and post-World War II treatment of German-speaking minorities
Illicit drugs:
transshipment point for Southwest Asian heroin and South American
cocaine destined for Western Europe
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2003
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@Azerbaijan
Introduction Azerbaijan
Background:
Azerbaijan - a nation with a Turkic and majority-Muslim population
- regained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union
in 1991. Despite a 1994 cease-fire, Azerbaijan has yet to resolve
its conflict with Armenia over the Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh
enclave (largely Armenian populated). Azerbaijan has lost 16% of its
territory and must support some 800,000 refugees and internally
displaced persons as a result of the conflict. Corruption is
ubiquitous and the promise of widespread wealth from Azerbaijan's
undeveloped petroleum resources remains largely unfulfilled.
Geography Azerbaijan
Location:
Southwestern Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and
Russia, with a small European portion north of the Caucasus range