Azerbaijan

At a Glance

Azerbaijan sits at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, with a capital that mixes futuristic architecture with a beautifully preserved medieval old city, and a countryside that ranges from lush green mountains to the otherworldly mud volcanoes of the Absheron Peninsula. The culture is warm and hospitable, with a distinctive cuisine and a tradition of tea-house culture that shapes daily social life. It is a genuinely surprising destination that rewards curiosity.

• Drilled the world's first oil well — in Baku in 1846, before Pennsylvania.
• First Muslim-majority country to have a parliamentary republic, opera house, and women's university.
• The 'eternal fires' of Baku inspired Zoroastrianism — gas seeping through the earth burns indefinitely.