Population of Azerbaijan 2021
As of 2021, the latest population of Azerbaijan is 10,205,810, based on AllCityPopulation calculation of the current data from UN (United Nations).
Population Distribution
| Total population | 10,205,810 |
| Population growth rate | 0.77% |
| Birth rate | 15.80 births per 1,000 people |
| Life expectancy | |
| Overall life expectancy | 71.61 years |
| Men life expectancy | 68.65 years |
| Women life expectancy | 74.97 years |
| Age structure | |
| 0-14 years | 23.05% |
| 15-64 years | 70.14% |
| 65 years and above | 6.81% |
| Median age | 30.50 years |
| Gender ratio (Male to Female) | 0.98 |
| Population density | 117.85 residents per km² |
| Urbanization | 50.00% |
| Ethnicities | |
| 91% Azerbaijanis, 2% Lesgians, 2% Russians, 2% Armenians and other minorities | |
| Religions | |
| Muslim 93.4%, Russian Orthodox 2.5%, Armenian Catholic 2.3%, Others 1.8% (1995 est.) Note: religious affiliation is still nominal in Azerbaijan; percentages for actual practicing adherents are much lower | |
| Human Development Index (HDI) | 0.754 |
| HDI ranking | 87th out of 194 |
People in Azerbaijan
Around ten million people live in Azerbaijan. Two million of them live in the capital Baku. The next largest cities are Ganjah (Gəncə), Sumgait (Sumqayıt) and Mingetschaur (Mingəçevir). 56 percent of the population live in cities, 44 percent in rural areas. Women in Azerbaijan have an average of 1.9 children.
The vast majority of residents see themselves as Azerbaijanis (91 percent). But other peoples also live in the country. Lesgier, a people from the Caucasus, are among them with 2 percent. Around 1.3 percent each are Russians or Talyshans. The latter live in the border area with Iran and speak Iranian. Even smaller minorities are Avars, Deeds and Tatars, among others.
Armenians live in Nagorno-Karabakh, which has split off from Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijanis who had previously lived there fled to Azerbaijan.
Languages in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani is the official language in the country. Until 1991, Russian was also the official language. Even today, many Azerbaijanis can speak Russian. In schools, too, it is often taught from the first grade.
Azerbaijani is a Turkic language. It is very similar to Turkish. Azerbaijani was written in Arabic characters until around 1918. Then, until 1992, it was written in Cyrillic (that is the script in which you also write Russian). Since then, however, Latin letters have been used (in which we also write), based on Turkish. In addition to the letters we know, there are a few more: ç for the sound ch, ә for the sound ä, ğ for a more breathy g and ş for sch. There is also an i without a period: ı. The i is pronounced differently, similar to the e in nose.
In addition to Azerbaijani, there are also some minority languages spoken in the country, such as Avar, Georgian or Tartish – by the people who speak these languages.
Religions in Azerbaijan
The predominant religion in Azerbaijan is Islam. 97 percent of the residents belong to it. The majority adheres to the Shiite faith. While religion was suppressed during the period of Soviet rule until 1991 and many Azerbaijanis did not practice their faith, many have since turned back to Islam. The remaining 3 percent of the population are mainly Christians, with a Russian Orthodox orientation.