Abşeron

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Abşeron

Population:	90,200
Area (km².):	1,360
Capital:	Xırdalan

Abşeron (Abşeron Yarimadasi) is a peninsula and a rayon in eastern Caucasus of Azerbaijan Republic.

Also spelled Apsheron, the peninsula extends 37 miles (60 km) eastward into the Caspian Sea and reaches a maximum width of 19 miles (30 km).

An eastern extension of the Caucasus Mountains, the Abseron Peninsula consists of a gently undulating plain, in part dissected by ravines and characterized by frequent salt lakes and lands flooded by tides. Vineyards and tea plantations are features.

[edit] Origin of the name

The name Abşeron is Persian and comes from the Persian word Abshuran (آبشوران) meaning "The place of the Salty Waters".

[edit] Economy

Abşeron is the site of some of the earliest petroleum production, beginning in the 1870s, and is considered by environmentalists to be the most polluted area in the world.^{[citation needed]}