About Azerbaijan

A few facts about Azerbaijan – based on our own experiences 🇦🇿 🔹 Do locals speak English well? Absolutely not. We were actually surprised by how few people speak English – even among many young people. Especially outside Baku, English is very limited. The main language is Azerbaijani, followed by Russian. Azerbaijan was part of the Soviet Union until 1991, and that is still very noticeable in many places today. But everything still works out fine 😊 We use Google Translate a lot, and people are generally very eager to help. 🔹 Is it a safe country? Yes, we experience Azerbaijan as a very safe country to travel in. We move around freely, exactly as we like – both day and night – and we have consistently felt safe. 🔹 Is the country rich or poor? There are very large differences between rich and poor in Azerbaijan. Wealth is mainly concentrated in and around Baku. Even here in Ganja, we experience strong contrasts. For example, there is the huge and impressive Heydər Əliyev Parkı, which is probably the most beautiful park we have ever seen in the Caucasus. But just a few hundred meters away, there are worn-down and poorer apartment blocks. 🔹 Corruption? You often hear about corruption in Azerbaijan, and we also have to say that as tourists you can notice certain things in everyday life. We constantly see cars being stopped by the police. Fines are issued that often seem quite arbitrary, and it mostly feels like it is about extracting money from people. However, we have not been stopped by the police ourselves yet. Azerbaijan is in many ways a very contrasting country to travel in ✔️