From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The culture of Azerbaijan has developed as a result of many influences, including its Turkic, Persian, Islamic, and Caucasus heritage as well as Russian influences due to its former status as a Soviet republic. Today, Western influences, including globalized consumer culture, are strong.
[edit] Religion
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Around 93 percent of Azerbaijan's population is nominally Muslim, while about 5 percent of the population adheres to Russian Orthodox Church . Among the Muslim majority, religious observance is relatively low and Muslim identity tends to be based more on culture and ethnicity rather than religion; however, imams reported increased attendance at mosques during 2003.[who?] The Muslim population is approximately 70 percent Shi'a and 30 percent Sunni; differences traditionally have not been defined sharply.
There are fairly sizeable expatriate Christian and Muslim communities in the capital city of Baku; authorities generally permit these groups to worship freely.
[edit] Language
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The official language of Azerbaijan is Azerbaijani, a member of the Oghuz subdivision of the Turkic language family, and is spoken by around 95% of the republic's population, as well as about a quarter of the population of Iran. Its closest relatives are Turkish and Turkmen. As a result of the language policy of the Soviet Union, Russian is also commonly spoken as a second language among the urbane.
[edit] Cuisine
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[edit] See also
