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Azerbaijan Topography and Drainage
The elevation changes over a relatively short distance from
lowlands to highlands; nearly half the country is considered
mountainous. Notable physical features are the gently undulating
hills of the subtropical southeastern coast, which are covered
with tea plantations, orange groves, and lemon groves; numerous
mud volcanoes and mineral springs in the ravines of Kobustan
Mountain near Baku; and coastal terrain that lies as much as
twenty-eight meters below sea level.
Except for its eastern Caspian shoreline and some areas
bordering Georgia and Iran, Azerbaijan is ringed by mountains. To
the northeast, bordering Russia's Dagestan Autonomous Republic,
is the Greater Caucasus range; to the west, bordering Armenia, is
the Lesser Caucasus range. To the extreme southeast, the Talysh
Mountains form part of the border with Iran. The highest
elevations occur in the Greater Caucasus, where Mount Bazar-dyuzi
rises 4,740 meters above sea level. Eight large rivers flow down
from the Caucasus ranges into the central Kura-Aras lowlands,
alluvial flatlands and low delta areas along the seacoast
designated by the Azerbaijani name for the Mtkvari River and its
main tributary, the Aras. The Mtkvari, the longest river in the
Caucasus region, forms the delta and drains into the Caspian a
short distance downstream from the confluence with the Aras. The
Mingechaur Reservoir, with an area of 605 square kilometers that
makes it the largest body of water in Azerbaijan, was formed by
damming the Kura in western Azerbaijan. The waters of the
reservoir provide hydroelectric power and irrigation of the KuraAras plain. Most of the country's rivers are not navigable. About
15 percent of the land in Azerbaijan is arable.
Data as of March 1994
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