Introduction
Azerbaijan (a Wikipedia link) is a country that borders western Asia and eastern Europe with a population of about 10 million. It is bordered to the north by Georgia and Russia, to the east by the Caspian Sea, to the south by Iran, and to the west by Armenia.
The country is dominated by Muslims who represent over 97% of the population.
Amazingly, Azerbaijan does not have an official state religion and it is officially defined as a secular state. The country goes through the farce of public elections, however they are always marred by allegations of electoral fraud and other unfair election practices. In practice, the government functions as an authoritarian regime.
The executive power is held by the president, who is elected for a seven-year term by direct elections, and the prime minister. The president is authorized to form the cabinet, a collective executive body accountable to both the president and the National Assembly.
History
Ancient era and early kingdoms
- Early settlements: Humans inhabited the region for hundreds of thousands of years, e.g. with evidence discovered in the Azykh Cave.
- Ancient states: Early kingdoms such as Manna, Atropatene, and Caucasian Albania did well in the area during the 1st millennium BCE and the early centuries CE.
- Empires: The region was ruled by the Medes, the Achaemenid Persian Empire, and the Sasanian Empire. These introduced strong Persian cultural and religious influences.
Islamic conversion and Turkish migration
- Arab conquest: Arab armies brought Islam to the region in the 7th century CE.
- Turkish influence: In the 11th century, Oghuz Turkic migrations under the Seljuq dynasty changed the linguistic makeup of the area – leading to the dominance of Turkish languages.
- Safavid rule: In the 16th century, the Safavid dynasty unified the area and established Shia Islam as the dominant faith. That deepened cultural ties with Iran.
Imperial division and the discovery of oil
- Russian annexation: Following Russo-Persian wars in the 19th century, the treaties of Gulistan (1813) and Turkmanchay (1828) divided the region – with northern Azerbaijan falling under the Russian Empire and southern parts remaining with Persia.
- Oil: Baku became a global oil provider in the late 19th century. It drilled the first modern oil well in 1846 (predating the US oil rush), and produced half of the world’s oil supply by the end of the 19th century.
20th century: independence and Soviet rule
- The first republic: Amid the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1918, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was declared and was recognized as the first secular and democratic Muslim-majority republic in history.
- Soviets: The Red Army invaded in 1920, thus absorbing Azerbaijan into the Soviet Union as a Soviet Socialist Republic. That brought large-scale industrialization alongside decades of political repression and atheistic policies.
Modern independence and conflict
- Restored sovereignty: Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan regained its independence in August 1991.
- Nagorno-Karabakh conflict: A long-running territorial and ethnic conflict continued with Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Armed conflict continued for decades and culminated in a 2020 war that brought regional control back to Azerbaijan. The area was fully reclamated by Azerbaijan in 2023.
- Present day: Azerbaijan operates as a major energy exporter of Caspian oil and natural gas. Rapid economic modernization has been managed under the governance of the Aliyev administration.
Current day
Religion in Azerbaijan (a Wikipedia link) is as follows (as of 2025):
- Islam: 97.3%
- Shia: 66.2%
- Sunni: just over 30%
- Christianity: 2.42%
- No religion: 1.3%
- Other: less than 0.13%
The above numbers are strange because a 2024 Gallup report conducted across multiple countries, including Azerbaijan, stated that in Azerbaijan, 56% of respondents said they were religious, 37% said they were not religious, and 0% said they were atheist. Apparently many citizens identify as Muslim by culture and heritage as opposed to strict religious observance.
The Azerbaijani constitution (a Wikipedia link) does not declare an official religion, and all major political forces in the country are secular.
Issues
Azerbaijan is a developing country and ranks 81st on the Human Development Index. The ruling New Azerbaijan Party, in power since 1993, has been accused of authoritarianism under presidents Heydar Aliyev and his son Ilham Aliyev. The ruling Aliyev family has been criticized on Azerbaijan’s human rights record, including media restrictions and repression of its Shia Muslim population.
The country ranks 105th by its GDP per capita.
Despite being defined as a secular state, the government tightly controls religions to prevent any independent groups gaining political power.
Changing one’s religion is legal, sharing or spreading a faith (proselytizing) by foreigners or unregistered groups is strictly forbidden.
Clerics are forbidden from running for political office, and religious institutions cannot engage in political speech.
The state censors religious literature and shuts down unregistered or independent mosques.
The government maintains tight control over mainstream media and blocks independent news websites. Reporters, bloggers, and critics face arbitrary arrest, physical assault, and politically motivated criminal charges (such as tax evasion or hooliganism).
Reports indicate that systemic torture, coercion, and physical abuse of detainees persist inside police custody and prisons, often with official impunity.
The judicial system lacks independence from the executive branch, leading to politically influenced trials and denial of fair legal procedures.
Peaceful protests are routinely banned or violently dispersed, and independent political organization is heavily curtailed.
Individuals identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender face societal discrimination, arbitrary police roundups, extortion, and violence.
Gender-based violence and domestic abuse remain widespread, and the state has not ratified the Istanbul Convention on preventing violence against women.
The 2026 Human Rights Watch report into issues in Azerbaijan was damning.
Amnesty International also reported the poor state of human rights in Azerbaijan.
Secular and atheist groups
Azerbaijan has no official or formally registered atheist, secularist, or humanist groups because the government restricts the registration and operation of independent non-religious and human rights groups.