“How important is the landscape in your country?”

By Arshad Mammadov

Azerbaijan has a very rich landscape; in fact I can talk forever about my mother land. But I will try to be short and give you impression about my country. mainly about the plains and mountainous areas which differ in respect of the distribution of different landscape zones. Azerbaijan is characterised by a diverse landscape. There are two major forms of landscape plains and mountains.

Mountains cover 60% of the total area of the Azerbaijan. The principle geomorphological structures of Azerbaijan -Major Caucasus, Minor Caucasus and Talysh Mountains surround the Kur-Araz lowland in the north, west and south-east.

The average altitude of the territory of the Republic is up to 400 meters. But the lowland of the Caspian Sea shore is below sea level (currently -26.5 meters) while the highest peak Bazarduzu is 4466 meters in height. Thus, one can see that the difference in altitude equals nearly 4500 meters in the country. The Northern part of the Major Caucasus is situated in Azerbaijan. Two chains of
mountains are distinguished in this part: Head or Watershed chain with Bazarduzu (4466 meters) and Great (Side) chain of mountains with Shahdag alp (4243). Mountain chains go down to 1000-700 meters to the South-East. The mountain chains of Major Caucasus are surrounded by foothill areas: a steppe plateau to the north-west, Qobustan to the south-east, Alazan-Ayrichay plain to the south-west and Qusar sloping plain to the north-east.

Caucasus surrounds the country in the south-west and west and is composed of a number ofchains and plateaus with relatively low height. Murovdag, Shahdag and Zangezur are the
principal chains of Minor Caucasus. Garabagh plateau, extending from the south of Murovdag up to the river Araz, lies on the cones of extinct volcanos and quaternary lava. Talysh Mountains cover the south-east of the country. They are composed mainly of Tertiary sediments. Talysh Mountains are the chain of transition from Minor Caucasus to Elbrus Mountains in Iran. They consist of three mountain chains, reaching 2477 meters in height and a number of their ranges.

Azerbaijan also has a diverse climate, 9 out of 11 existing climate zones are present in Azerbaijan. As a predominantly mountainous country, Azerbaijan is surrounded by the Greater Caucasus, Lesser Caucus, Talysh and North Iranian Mountains. The Kur-Araz Lowland, between the Greater and Minor Caucasus, stretches to the Caspian Sea in the eastern part of the country. The Greater Caucasus, situated in the north of the country and stretching from the northwest to the southeast, protects the country from direct influences of northern cold air masses. That leads to the formation of a subtropical climate on most of the foothills and plains of the country. Other mountain chains surrounding the country also impact air circulation. The complexity of the landscape causes non-uniform formation of climatic zones and creates vertical climate zones.

In my point of view, we are very lucky to have such diverse landscape. Especially, when you are planning vacation, it gives you variety of options to discover different parts of your country and
learn more about the features of different landscapes.

I personally, like to travel through my country; while I am traveling I can see how beautiful my country is. Even I realised that the colour of nature is different from region to region. It is great pleasure for enjoying every single place. In Azerbaijan we say: “Better to see once, than hear one hundred times”, so I invite you all to Azerbaijan to see all these beauties by yourself.

More about Arshad:

He is a physiologist, but currently working in tourist sector. It is one of his hobbies to travel around the country and share great memories with friends. He is especially interesting in eco-tourism, hope very soon it will become one of the famous touristic field in Azerbaijan.

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