Absheron Peninsula
- This article is about the peninsula. For the rayon of Azerbaijan see Absheron Rayon.
Abşeron Yarımadası | |
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| Motto: Qara qızıl diyarı (The land of the black gold) | |
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The Absheron peninsula, (Template:Lang-az) is a region in Azerbaijan. It is host to Baku, the biggest and the most populous city of the country, and also the Baku metropolitan area, with its satellite cities Sumgayit and Khyrdalan.
There are three districts, of which two are urban (Baku and Sumgayit), and one (Absheron Rayon), is suburban district in Absheron region.
It extends 37 miles (60 km) eastward into the Caspian Sea, and reaches a maximum width of 19 miles (30 km). Though technically the easternmost extension of the Caucasus Mountains, the landscape is only mildly hilly, a gently undulating plain that ends in a long spit of sand dunes known as Shah Dili, and now declared the Absheron National Park. In this part the peninsula is dissected by ravines and characterized by frequent salt lakes.
Origin of the name
The etymology is as follows: The word Absheron consists of a few parts. Ab means water, shour means salty and an is the suffix that makes plural in Persian. So, Abshouran, which came out these words, means "place of salty water".
Geography
Absheron peninsula is nearly the metropolitan area of Baku because Baku metropolitan area consists of Baku city, Sumgayit and Khyrdalan whereas Absheron peninsula consists of Baku city, Sumgayit and Absheron rayon whose center is Khyrdalan.
Economy
Beginning in the 1870s, Absheron peninsula was the site of some of the world's earliest petroleum production. Much of the landscape remains scarred with rusting oil derricks. Despite serious problems with environmental damage and pollution, the Absheron is known for its flowers, horticulture, mulberries and figs. The northern coast has wide though less-than-pristine beaches which are popular local tourist attractions.
Wealthy people have settled in the Absheron peninsula, including Nobel and Zeynalabdin Taghiyev.