Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan is located 28 metres below sea level, making it the lowest lying national capital in the world. Baku is also the largest city in the world that is below sea level. The name Baku is supposedly a shorter version of the Persian ‘bad kube’ (‘blown upon by mountain winds’). The city’s importance lies in its oil industry and its administrative functions. Baku’s urban population was calculated to be about two million people in 2009. About 25 per cent of all inhabitants in Azerbaijan live in Baku’s city area. Baku is the one and only metropolis in the country.
Baku’s economy is mostly based on petroleum. Presence of oil in the city was known since olden days. The city is also a major cultural and educational centre. It is home to the Baku State University (founded 1919), Khazar University (1991), and Azerbaijan Technical University (1950); there are also many other institutions of higher education, including one specializing in the oil industry.
The city is famous for its harsh winds, which gave it the nick name, the “City of Winds”. Baku is the birthplace of Lev Davidovich Landau, who won the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physics.
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