About Baku
Azerbaijan, the Land of Fire, is geographically situated on the intersection of Europe, Asia and the Middle East region. Baku, also know as the City of Winds, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, the metropolitan area has about 4 million inhabitants. It is also the largest city on the Caspian Sea with traces of human settlements leading back to the stone age.
It is directly accessible by plane from almost all major European cities. E-visa system allows obtaining travel visas in minimal time online. Furthermore, for most of the surrounding countries, a visa waiver is present.
Baku hosted major pan-European events such as the 57th Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 and the Inaugural European Games in 2015. In 2019, Azerbaijan hosted the 31st International Olympiad in Informatics, where participants from 87 countries competed by solving algorithmic tasks.
This short video can provide the glimpse of Baku’s beauty with narration from English travel writer Mark Elliott.
Main attractions include ancient sites from UNESCO World Heritage List such as the old city with the Shirvanshah’s Palace and Maiden Tower, as well as modern architectural marvels such as the Heydar Aliyev Center that was designed by world-renowned architect, late Zaha Hadid.