Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan. It lies along the Caspian sea, closest to the easternmost point of Azerbaijan.
With 3.2 million inhabitants, Baku has almost one third of the population of the country. It extends for 18km from east to west and 10km from south to north.
The city is nicely designed, with many green areas, relatively little pollution and not too much traffic on the streets.
The historic centre of Baku (İçərişəhər) is surrounded by walls and has been on the UNESCO world heritage list since the year 2000. It actually is not that impressive, since due to a number of reasons many old buldings have been demolished and replaced by modern buildings, with the consequence that most buildings inside the walls are relatively modern.
Baku is a fast developing city with a continuosly changing skyline. It has a beautiful 19th and 20th century core and is particularly interesting because of its modern architecture. Many impressive modern buildings are continuously added to the city.
Along the waterfront there is a park area with a wide promenade. The Flame Towers are on a hill overlooking the city and were completed in 2012.