--- title: Baku — English Wikipedia · full text with trees · page 2 description: Wikipedia's «Baku», whole, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics, CC BY-SA 4.0. It begins: Baku (/USbɑːˈkuː,_ˈbɑːkuː/, /UKbæˈkuː,_ˈbæku:/; Bakı bɑˈcɯ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Baku/page/2/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [wikipedia](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/) / [en](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/) / Baku # Baku · page 2 From Wikipedia, [«Baku»](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku), revision of the 2026-09-01 dump, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). The trees and pragmatics of these pages, Mova's parse of that text, are CC BY-SA 4.0 too. [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Baku/) **2** [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Baku/page/3/) [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Baku/page/4/) Professor [A. V. Williams Jackson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._V._Williams_Jackson) of Columbia University wrote in his work From Constantinople to the Home of Omar Khayyam (1911):[90](../../90/ "tree and pragmatics") Baku is a city founded upon oil, for to its inexhaustible founts of naphtha it owes its very existence, its maintenance, its prosperity...[91](../../91/ "tree and pragmatics") At present Baku produces one-fifth of the oil that is used in the world, and the immense output in crude petroleum from this single city far surpasses that in any other district where oil is found.[92](../../92/ "tree and pragmatics") Verily, the words of the Scriptures find illustration here: 'the rock poured me out rivers of oil.[93](../../93/ "tree and pragmatics") Oil is in the air one breathes, in one's nostrils, in one's eyes, in the water of the morning bath (though not in the drinking water, for that is brought in bottles from distant mineral springs), in one's starched linen – everywhere.[94](../../94/ "tree and pragmatics") This is the impression one carries away from Baku, and it is certainly true in the environs.[\[46\]](../../page/4/#ref-46 "note 46")[95](../../95/ "tree and pragmatics") By the beginning of the 20th century, half of the oil sold in international markets was extracted in Baku.[\[47\]](../../page/4/#ref-47 "note 47")[96](../../96/ "tree and pragmatics") The [oil boom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_boom) contributed to the massive growth of Baku.[97](../../97/ "tree and pragmatics") Between 1856 and 1910 Baku's population grew at a faster rate than that of London, Paris, New York City, or Tokyo.[98](../../98/ "tree and pragmatics") ### World War I Main article: [Baku during World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku_during_World_War_I) In 1917, after the [October Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution) and amidst the turmoil of [World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I) and the [Russian Revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Revolution), Baku came under the control of the [Baku Commune](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/26_Baku_Commissars), led by the veteran [Bolshevik](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolsheviks) [Stepan Shahumyan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Shahumyan).[99](../../99/ "tree and pragmatics") Seeking to capitalize on the existing ethnic conflicts, by spring 1918, Bolsheviks inspired and condoned civil war in and around Baku.[100](../../100/ "tree and pragmatics") During the [March Days](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_Days) of 1918, Bolsheviks and [Dashnaks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Revolutionary_Federation), seeking to establish control over Baku streets, faced armed Azerbaijani groups.[101](../../101/ "tree and pragmatics") The Azerbaijanis suffered defeat from the united forces of the Baku Soviet and were massacred by Dashnak teams in what was called the [March Days](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_Days).[102](../../102/ "tree and pragmatics") An estimated 3,000–12,000 Azerbaijanis were killed in their own capital.[\[48\]](../../page/4/#ref-48 "note 48")[\[49\]](../../page/4/#ref-49 "note 49")[103](../../103/ "tree and pragmatics") After the massacre, on 28 May 1918, the Azerbaijani faction of the [Transcaucasian Sejm](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcaucasian_Democratic_Federative_Republic) proclaimed the independence of the [Azerbaijan Democratic Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_Democratic_Republic) (ADR) in [Ganja](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganja,_Azerbaijan), thereby founding the first Muslim-majority [democratic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_republic) and secular republic.[\[50\]](../../page/4/#ref-50 "note 50")[104](../../104/ "tree and pragmatics") The newly independent Azerbaijani republic, being unable to defend the independence of the country on their own, asked the Ottoman Empire for military support in accordance with clause 4 of the treaty between the two countries.[105](../../105/ "tree and pragmatics") Shortly after, Azerbaijani forces, with support of the [Ottoman Army of Islam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Army_of_Islam) led by [Nuru Pasha](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuri_Killigil), started their advance on Baku, eventually capturing the city from the loose coalition of [Bolsheviks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolshevik), [SRs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialist-Revolutionary_Party), [Dashnaks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_Revolutionary_Federation), [Mensheviks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menshevik) and British forces under the command of General [Lionel Dunsterville](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Dunsterville) on 15 September 1918.[106](../../106/ "tree and pragmatics") After the [Battle of Baku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baku) of August–September 1918, the Azerbaijani irregular troops, with the tacit support of the Turkish command, conducted four days of pillaging and killing 10,000–30,000[\[51\]](../../page/4/#ref-51 "note 51") [Armenians of Baku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenians_in_Baku).[107](../../107/ "tree and pragmatics") This [pogrom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogrom) became known as the "[September Days](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_Days)".[108](../../108/ "tree and pragmatics") Shortly after this, Baku was proclaimed the new capital of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.[109](../../109/ "tree and pragmatics") The Ottoman Empire, recognising defeat in World War I by October 1918, signed the [Armistice of Mudros](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armistice_of_Mudros) with the British (30 October 1918); this meant the evacuation of Turkish forces from Baku.[110](../../110/ "tree and pragmatics") Headed by General [William Thomson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Montgomery_Thomson), some 5,000 British troops, including parts of the former [Dunsterforce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunsterforce), arrived in Baku on 17 November.[111](../../111/ "tree and pragmatics") Thomson declared himself military governor of Baku and implemented [martial law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_law) in the city until "the civil power would be strong enough to release the forces from the responsibility to maintain the public order".[112](../../112/ "tree and pragmatics") British forces left before the end of 1919.[\[52\]](../../page/4/#ref-52 "note 52")[113](../../113/ "tree and pragmatics") ### Soviet period The independence of the Azerbaijani republic was a significant but short-lived chapter in Baku's history.[114](../../114/ "tree and pragmatics") On 28 April 1920, the [11th Red Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11th_Army_%28RSFSR%29) [invaded](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Army_invasion_of_Azerbaijan) Baku and reinstalled the Bolsheviks, making Baku the capital of the [Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_Soviet_Socialist_Republic) within [Soviet Russia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_Union).[115](../../115/ "tree and pragmatics") The city underwent many major changes.[116](../../116/ "tree and pragmatics") As a result, Baku played a great role in many branches of Soviet life.[117](../../117/ "tree and pragmatics") Baku was the major oil city of the Soviet Union.[118](../../118/ "tree and pragmatics") From about 1921 the city was headed by the Baku City Executive Committee, commonly known in Russian as Bakgorispolkom.[119](../../119/ "tree and pragmatics") Together with Baku Party Committee (known as the Baksovet), it developed the economic significance of the Caspian metropolis.[120](../../120/ "tree and pragmatics") From 1922 to 1930 Baku became the venue for one of the major [trade fairs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_fair) of the Soviet Union, serving as a commercial bridgehead to Iran and the Middle East.[\[53\]](../../page/4/#ref-53 "note 53")[121](../../121/ "tree and pragmatics") ### World War II Main article: [Baku during World War II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku_during_World_War_II) The major powers continued to note Baku's growing importance as a major energy hub.[122](../../122/ "tree and pragmatics") During [World War II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II) (1939–1945) and particularly during the [1942 Nazi German invasion of the southwestern Soviet Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_Blue), Baku became of vital strategic importance to the [Axis powers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_powers).[123](../../123/ "tree and pragmatics") In fact, capturing the [oil fields of Baku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_industry_in_Azerbaijan#World_War_II) was a primary goal of the [Wehrmacht](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wehrmacht)'s [Operation Edelweiss](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Edelweiss), carried out between May and November 1942.[124](../../124/ "tree and pragmatics") However, the [German Army](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Army_%281935–1945%29) reached only a point some 530 km northwest of Baku in November 1942, falling far short of the city's capture before being driven back during the Soviet [Operation Little Saturn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Little_Saturn) in mid-December 1942.[125](../../125/ "tree and pragmatics") ### Fall of the Soviet Union and later After the 1991 [dissolution of the Soviet Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union), Baku embarked on a process of restructuring on a scale unseen in its history.[\[54\]](../../page/4/#ref-54 "note 54")[126](../../126/ "tree and pragmatics") Thousands of [panel buildings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khrushchevka) from the Soviet period were demolished to make way for a green belt on its shores; parks and gardens were built on the land reclaimed by filling up the beaches of the [Baku Bay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku_Bay).[127](../../127/ "tree and pragmatics") Improvements were made in general cleaning, maintenance, and garbage collection to bring these services up to Western European standards.[128](../../128/ "tree and pragmatics") The city is growing dynamically and developing at pace on an east–west axis along the shores of the [Caspian Sea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_Sea).[129](../../129/ "tree and pragmatics") Sustainability has become a key factor in future urban development.[\[55\]](../../page/4/#ref-55 "note 55")[130](../../130/ "tree and pragmatics") ## Geography Baku is situated on the western coast of the [Caspian Sea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_Sea).[131](../../131/ "tree and pragmatics") In the vicinity of the city there are a number of [mud volcanoes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_volcano) (Keyraki, Bogkh-bogkha, [Lokbatan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lokbatan) and others) and [salt lakes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salt_lake) ([Boyukshor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Boyukshor), Khodasan, etc.).[132](../../132/ "tree and pragmatics") ### Climate Baku has a [cold semi-arid climate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_semi-arid_climate) ([Köppen climate classification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Köppen_climate_classification): BSk) with hot and humid summers, cool and occasionally wet winters, and strong winds all year long.[133](../../133/ "tree and pragmatics") However, unlike many other cities with such climate features, Baku does not see extremely hot summers and substantial sunshine hours.[134](../../134/ "tree and pragmatics") This is largely because of its northerly [latitude](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latitude) and the fact that it is located on a peninsula on the shore of the Caspian Sea.[135](../../135/ "tree and pragmatics") Baku, and the [Absheron Peninsula](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absheron_Peninsula) on which it is situated, is the most arid part of Azerbaijan ([precipitation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precipitation_%28meteorology%29) here is around or less than 200 mm a year).[136](../../136/ "tree and pragmatics") This is largely due to the [rain shadow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_shadow) effect from the [Caucasus Mountains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_Mountains), with corresponding latitudes on the [Black Sea](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sea) on average receiving 2300 mm or more.[137](../../137/ "tree and pragmatics") The majority of the light annual precipitation occurs in seasons other than summer, but none of these seasons is particularly wet.[138](../../138/ "tree and pragmatics") During Soviet times, Baku, with its long hours of sunshine and dry healthy climate, was a vacation destination where citizens could enjoy beaches or relax in now-dilapidated [spa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destination_spa) complexes overlooking the Caspian Sea.[139](../../139/ "tree and pragmatics") The city's past as a Soviet industrial centre left it one of the most polluted cities in the world, as of 2008.[\[56\]](../../page/4/#ref-56 "note 56")[140](../../140/ "tree and pragmatics") At the same time, Baku is noted as a very windy city throughout the year, hence the city's nickname the "[City of Winds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Winds)", and gale-force winds, the cold northern wind [khazri](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khazri) and the warm southern wind [gilavar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilavar) are typical here in all seasons.[141](../../141/ "tree and pragmatics") Indeed, the city is renowned for its fierce winter snow storms and harsh winds.[\[17\]](../../page/4/#ref-17 "note 17")[142](../../142/ "tree and pragmatics") The speed of the khazri sometimes reaches 144 km/h, which can cause damage to crops, trees and roof tiles.[\[57\]](../../page/4/#ref-57 "note 57")[143](../../143/ "tree and pragmatics") The daily mean temperature in July and August averages 26.4 °C, and there is very little rainfall during that season.[144](../../144/ "tree and pragmatics") During summer, the khazri sweeps through, bringing desired coolness.[145](../../145/ "tree and pragmatics") Winter is cool and occasionally wet, with the daily mean temperature in January and February averaging 4.3 °C. During winter, the khazri sweeps through, driven by polar [air masses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_mass); temperatures on the coast frequently drop below freezing and make it feel bitterly cold.[146](../../146/ "tree and pragmatics") Winter [snow storms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_storm) are occasional; snow usually melts within a few days after each snowfall.[147](../../147/ "tree and pragmatics") ## Administrative divisions Baku is divided into 12 rayonlar (sub-rayons) (administrative districts).[\[58\]](../../page/4/#ref-58 "note 58")[\[59\]](../../page/4/#ref-59 "note 59")[148](../../148/ "tree and pragmatics") - [Binagadi (Binəqədi) raion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binəqədi_raion)[149](../../149/ "tree and pragmatics") - [Garadagh (Qaradağ) raion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qaradağ_raion)[150](../../150/ "tree and pragmatics") - [Khatai (Xətai) raion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xətai_raion)[151](../../151/ "tree and pragmatics") - [Khazar (Xəzər) raion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khazar_raion)[152](../../152/ "tree and pragmatics") - [Narimanov (Nərimanov) raion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nərimanov_raion)[153](../../153/ "tree and pragmatics") - [Nasimi (Nəsimi) raion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nəsimi_raion)[154](../../154/ "tree and pragmatics") - [Nizami raion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nizami_raion)[155](../../155/ "tree and pragmatics") - [Pirallahi (Pirallahı) raion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirallahı_raion)[156](../../156/ "tree and pragmatics") - [Sabail (Səbail) raion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabail_raion)[157](../../157/ "tree and pragmatics") - [Sabunchu (Sabunçu) raion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabunçu_raion)[158](../../158/ "tree and pragmatics") - [Surakhani (Suraxanı) raion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suraxanı_raion)[159](../../159/ "tree and pragmatics") - [Yasamal raion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasamal_raion)[160](../../160/ "tree and pragmatics") ## Demographics Until 1988, Baku had very large Russian, [Armenian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_people), and Jewish populations which contributed to [cultural diversity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_diversity) and added in various ways (music, literature, architecture and progressive outlook) to Baku's history.[161](../../161/ "tree and pragmatics") With the onset of the [First Nagorno-Karabakh War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Nagorno-Karabakh_War) and the [pogrom against Armenians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogrom_of_Armenians_in_Baku) starting in January 1990, the city's large Armenian population was expelled.[\[60\]](../../page/4/#ref-60 "note 60")[\[61\]](../../page/4/#ref-61 "note 61")[162](../../162/ "tree and pragmatics") After the [collapse of the Soviet Union](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collapse_of_the_Soviet_Union), Azerbaijani President [Heydar Aliyev](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heydar_Aliyev) returned several synagogues and a Jewish college, nationalised by the Soviets, to the Jewish community; he encouraged the restoration of these buildings.[163](../../163/ "tree and pragmatics") Seven of the original 11 synagogues, including the Gilah synagogue, built in 1896, and the large Kruei Synagogue, were renovated.[\[62\]](../../page/4/#ref-62 "note 62")[164](../../164/ "tree and pragmatics") - Year; Tatars[\[63\]](../../page/4/#ref-63 "note 63"); Russians; Armenians; Jews; Others; TOTAL[165](../../165/ "tree and pragmatics") - Number; %; Number; %; Number; %; Number; %; Number; %[166](../../166/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1851[\[64\]](../../page/4/#ref-64 "note 64"); 5,000+; 67.3; 405; 5.5; 7,431[167](../../167/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1886[\[65\]](../../page/4/#ref-65 "note 65"); 37,530; 43.3; 21,390; 24.7; 24,490; 28.3; 391; 0.5; 2,810; 3.2; 86,611[168](../../168/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1897[\[66\]](../../page/4/#ref-66 "note 66"); 40,341; 36.0; 37,399; 33.4; 19,099; 17.1; 3,369; 3.0; 11,696; 10.5; 111,904[169](../../169/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1903[\[67\]](../../page/4/#ref-67 "note 67"); 44,257; 28.4; 59,955; 38.5; 26,151; 16.8; 28,513; 18.3; 155,876[170](../../170/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1913[\[67\]](../../page/4/#ref-67 "note 67"); 45,962; 21.4; 76,288; 35.5; 41,680; 19.4; 9,690; 4.5; 41,052; 19.1; 214,672[171](../../171/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1916[\[68\]](../../page/4/#ref-68 "note 68"); 69,366[\[69\]](../../page/4/#ref-69 "note 69"); 26.4; 79,702; 30.4; 62,357; 23.8; 6,412; 2.4; 44,585; 17.0; 262,422[172](../../172/ "tree and pragmatics") - Year; Turks[\[70\]](../../page/4/#ref-70 "note 70"); Russians; Armenians; Jews; Others; TOTAL[173](../../173/ "tree and pragmatics") - Number; %; Number; %; Number; %; Number; %; Number; %[174](../../174/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1917[\[71\]](../../page/4/#ref-71 "note 71")[\[72\]](../../page/4/#ref-72 "note 72"); 67,190; 28.2; 77,123; 32.4; 52,184; 21.9; 12,427; 5.2; 29,244[\[73\]](../../page/4/#ref-73 "note 73"); 12.3; 238,168[175](../../175/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1926[\[74\]](../../page/4/#ref-74 "note 74"); 118,737; 26.2; 167,373; 36.9; 76,656; 16.9; 19,589; 4.3; 70,978; 15.7; 453,333[176](../../176/ "tree and pragmatics") - Year; Azerbaijanis; Russians; Armenians; Jews; Others; TOTAL[177](../../177/ "tree and pragmatics") - Number; %; Number; %; Number; %; Number; %; Number; %[178](../../178/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1939[\[75\]](../../page/4/#ref-75 "note 75"); 215,482; 27.4; 343,064; 43.6; 118,650; 15.1; 31,050; 3.9; 79,377; 10.1; 787,623[179](../../179/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1959[\[76\]](../../page/4/#ref-76 "note 76"); 211,372; 32.9; 223,242; 34.7; 137,111; 21.3; 24,057; 3.7; 56,725; 8.7; 652,507[180](../../180/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1970[\[77\]](../../page/4/#ref-77 "note 77"); 586,052; 46.3; 351,090; 27.7; 207,464; 16.4; 29,716; 2.3; 88,193; 6.9; 1,262,515[181](../../181/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1979[\[78\]](../../page/4/#ref-78 "note 78"); 530,556; 52.4; 229,873; 22.7; 167,226; 16.5; 22,916; 2.3; 62,865; 6.2; 1,013,436[182](../../182/ "tree and pragmatics") - January 1990: [Baku pogrom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku_pogrom).[183](../../183/ "tree and pragmatics") Massacre and expulsion of Armenian population[184](../../184/ "tree and pragmatics") - 1999[\[79\]](../../page/4/#ref-79 "note 79"); 1,574,252; 88.0; 119,371; 6.7; 378; 0.0; 5,164; 0.3; 89,689; 5.0; 1,788,854[185](../../185/ "tree and pragmatics") - 2009[\[80\]](../../page/4/#ref-80 "note 80"); 1,848,107; 90.3; 108,525; 5.3; 104; 0.0; 6,056; 0.3; 83,023; 4.1; 2,045,815[186](../../186/ "tree and pragmatics") - 2019[\[81\]](../../page/4/#ref-81 "note 81"); 2,208,486; 94.8; 65,418; 2.8; 74; 0.0; 2,277; 0.1; 54,170; 2.3; 2,330,425[187](../../187/ "tree and pragmatics") ### Ethnic groups Today, the vast majority of Baku's population is made up of ethnic [Azerbaijanis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijani_people), and the rest are [Talysh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talysh_people), [Russians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russians), [Lezgi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lezgins) and others.[188](../../188/ "tree and pragmatics") The intensive growth of the population started in the middle of the 19th century when Baku was a small town with a population of about 7,000 people.[189](../../189/ "tree and pragmatics") The population increased again from about 13,000 in the 1860s to 112,000 in 1897 and 215,000 in 1913, making Baku the largest city in the Caucasus region.[\[82\]](../../page/4/#ref-82 "note 82")[190](../../190/ "tree and pragmatics") Baku has been a cosmopolitan city at certain times during its history, meaning ethnic Azerbaijanis did not constitute the majority of population.[\[83\]](../../page/4/#ref-83 "note 83")[191](../../191/ "tree and pragmatics") It was only in the 1970s that ethnic Azerbaijanis achieved demographic dominance in Baku.[\[84\]](../../page/4/#ref-84 "note 84")[192](../../192/ "tree and pragmatics") In 2003 Baku additionally had 153,400 [internally displaced persons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internally_displaced_person) and 93,400 refugees.[\[85\]](../../page/4/#ref-85 "note 85")[\[86\]](../../page/4/#ref-86 "note 86")[193](../../193/ "tree and pragmatics") ### Religion The religion with the largest community of followers is Islam.[194](../../194/ "tree and pragmatics") The majority of the Muslims are [Shia Muslims](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Islam), and the Republic of Azerbaijan has the second-highest Shia population percentage in the world, after Iran.[\[87\]](../../page/4/#ref-87 "note 87")[195](../../195/ "tree and pragmatics") The city's notable mosques include [Juma Mosque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juma_Mosque_%28Baku%29), [Bibi-Heybat Mosque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibi-Heybat_Mosque), [Muhammad Mosque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Mosque_%28Baku%29) and [Taza Pir Mosque](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taza_Pir_Mosque).[196](../../196/ "tree and pragmatics") There are some other faiths practised among the different ethnic groups within the country.[197](../../197/ "tree and pragmatics") By article 48 of its [Constitution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Azerbaijan), Azerbaijan is a [secular state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_state) and ensures religious freedom.[198](../../198/ "tree and pragmatics") Religious minorities include [Russian Orthodox Christians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Orthodox_Christians), [Catholic Levantines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levantines_%28Latin_Christians%29), [Georgian Orthodox Christians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_Orthodox_Church), [Albanian-Udi Apostolic Christians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Caucasian_Albania), [Lutherans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheranism), [Ashkenazi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijani_Jews) Jews, [Molokans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molokans), and [Sufi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufi) Muslims.[199](../../199/ "tree and pragmatics") Baku is the seat of the [Catholic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church) [Apostolic Prefecture of Azerbaijan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostolic_Prefecture_of_Azerbaijan).[200](../../200/ "tree and pragmatics") [Zoroastrianism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism), although extinct in the city as well as in the rest of the country by the present time, had a long [history in Azerbaijan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroastrianism_in_Azerbaijan) and the [Zoroastrian New Year](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowruz) (Nowruz) continues to be the main holiday in the city as well as in the rest of Azerbaijan.[201](../../201/ "tree and pragmatics") [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Baku/) **2** [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Baku/page/3/) [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Baku/page/4/) - ← previous: [page 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Baku/) - next →: [page 3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/Baku/page/3/) - ↑ back to [English Wikipedia](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/wikipedia/en/)