Country Information

Founded: Early 20th Century
Independence (from Russia): Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991
Land Area: 86,600 Square Kilometers (Slightly smaller than the state of Maine)
Climate: Dry, semi-arid steppe
Agricultural Land Usability: 20.6%
Natural Hazards: Droughts
Environmental issues: Local scientists consider the area near the Caspian sea to be the most ecologically devastated area in the world because of severe air, soil and water pollution. This all comes from a combination of oil spillage, the use of DDT as a pesticide and toxic defoliants used to produce cotton.

The People

Population: 7,961,619
Infant Mortality Rate: 79 deaths / 1000 births
Life Expectancy: 64 years
Major Diseases: no specific risk
Religions: 93% Muslim, 5% Orthodox Christian
Literacy Rate: 98.8%
Unemployment rate: 1% (Official)
Population below the UN-established Poverty Line: 49%

Special Conditions

528,000 people have been internally displaced due war with Armenia. This accounts for the severe poverty level of the country. It also causes the official unemployment rate to be inconclusive as it does not account for the massive population who are technically employed, but cannot work or gain from the employment due to occupation and displacement.

There are also roughly 8,300 Chechens displaced within Azerbaijan.

Identifying the Need

The current occupation has crippled the economic and social structure of Azerbaijan. The role of humanitarian aid organizations in this case is to care for refugees by providing food and shelter whenever and however possible. Currently the high literacy rate maintains that the people of Azerbaijan can continue to teach their children as long as they have access to materials of learning.

Chechen refugees, however, have nothing and live in a miserable condition due to being completely displaced from their homeland.

How The Zakat Foundation Has Responded

Currently The Zakat Foundation provides Udhiya/Qurbani distributions on the Eid al-Adha. Our desire to work in this region was primarily to assist Chechen refugees, however if our donors would like to implement more in-depth programs then we would love to discuss plans and come up with a strategy using our resources and abilities.