Azerbaijan–Russia border is the state

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

between

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

. It is 338 km (210 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in the west to the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

the east. Prior to 1991 it formed the border between the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

(including

Dagestan ASSR The Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic av, Дагъистаналъул Автономияб Советияб Социалистияб Жумгьурият az, Дағыстан Мухтар Совет Сосиалист Республи ...

) and the

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

within the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The southernmost point of the Russian Federation is located on the border.

Description

The border starts in the west at the Georgian tripoint and proceeds in south-eastwards direction over various mountain ridges of the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

, before turning to the north-east roughly halfway and then proceeding along the

Samur river The Samur ( rut, Самыр; ; russian: Самур; az, Samurçay) is a river in Russia's Dagestan Republic, also partially flowing through Azerbaijan and forming part of the Azerbaijan–Russia border. Overview The Samur river originates in g ...

valley to the Samur Delta on the Caspian Sea coast.

Mount Bazardüzü Mount Bazardüzü (, ; lez, Кичӏен сув ; russian: Базардюзю, ) is a mountain peak in the Greater Caucasus range on the border between Dagestan, Russia and Azerbaijan. At above sea level, it is the highest peak in both Dagesta ...

, the highest peak in both

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

and Azerbaijan, lies on the frontier. Parts of the border are fenced and equipped with technical facilities including

barbed wire A close-up view of a barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire, is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the strands. Its primary use is t ...

sensor A sensor is a device that produces an output signal for the purpose of sensing a physical phenomenon. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a device, module, machine, or subsystem that detects events or changes in its environment and sends ...

s and

camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

History

During the 19th century the Caucasus region was contested between the declining

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

and

, which was expanding southwards. By the

Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) The 1804–1813 Russo-Persian War was one of the many wars between the Persian Empire and Imperial Russia, and began like many of their wars as a territorial dispute. The new Persian king, Fath Ali Shah Qajar, wanted to consolidate the north ...

and the subsequent

Treaty of Gulistan The Treaty of Gulistan (russian: Гюлистанский договор; fa, عهدنامه گلستان) was a peace treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and Iran on 24 October 1813 in the village of Gulistan (now in the Goranboy Distri ...

, Russia acquired the bulk of what is now Azerbaijan and parts of Armenia. Russia organised the areas that now form Azerbaijan into the governorates of

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

and

Elizavetpol Ganja (; az, Gəncə ) is Azerbaijan's third largest city, with a population of around 335,600.Azərbaycan Respublikası. — 2. Azərbaycan Respublikasının iqtisadi və inzibati rayonları. — 2.4. Azərbaycan Respublikasının iqtisadi və ...

(and the Zakatal Okrug within the

Tiflis Governorate The Tiflis Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire with its administrative center in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi). In 1897, it constituted 44,607 sq. kilometres in area and had a population ...

) – the northern border of these subdivisions effectively set the Azerbaijan–Russia border at its current location. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Russian Communists staged a successful

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

in 1917, whilst the peoples of the southern Caucasus had declared the

Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR; (), (). 22 April – 28 May 1918) was a short-lived state in the Caucasus that included most of the territory of the present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as pa ...

in 1918. Internal disagreements led to

leaving the federation in May 1918, followed shortly thereafter by

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

and

. The northern border of Azerbaijan utilised the former provincial borders of the Baku, Elizabethpol and Tiflis governorates. In 1920 Russia's

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

invaded Azerbaijan and Armenia, ending the independence of both, followed shortly thereafter by Georgia. All three states were incorporated into the

Transcaucasian SFSR , conventional_long_name = Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , common_name = Transcaucasian SFSR , p1 = Armenian Soviet Socialist RepublicArmenian SSR , flag_p1 = Flag of SSRA ...

within the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, before being separated again in 1936. The boundary became an international frontier in 1991 following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

and the independence of its constituent republics. Border demarcation discussions then began, being completed in September 2010. Following ratification it entered into force the following year. The border agreement was criticised by some

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

deputies of the Russian

State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...

, however the then head of Dagestan

Magomedsalam Magomedov Magomedsalam Magomedaliyevich Magomedov (russian: Магомедсалам Магомедалиевич Магомедов; ; born June 1, 1964) is a Russian politician who served as the 3rd Head of the Republic of Dagestan, a federal subject o ...

said that "Dagestan has not lost anything, but gained a lot more".

Border crossings

There are four border crossings: *

Samur Samur may refer to: People * Samur Gunj (1380s-c.1455), a daughter of Elbeg Nigülesügchi Khan and his senior wife Kobeguntai Places * Qaleh Samur, a village in Gavork-e Sardasht Rural District, in the Central District of Sardasht County, West A ...

(AZE) - Yarag-Kazmalyar (RUS) * Şirvanovka (AZE) - Novo-Filya (RUS) * Yalama (AZE)- Tagirkent-Kazmalyar (RUS) * Zuxul (AZE) – Garakh (RUS) (not open to third country nationals) There is also a train service connecting

Derbent Derbent (russian: Дербе́нт; lez, Кьвевар, Цал; az, Дәрбәнд, italic=no, Dərbənd; av, Дербенд; fa, دربند), formerly romanized as Derbend, is a city in Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea. It is ...

(Russia) and

(Azerbaijan).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azerbaijan-Russia border Borders of Azerbaijan Borders of Russia Azerbaijan–Russia relations Internal borders of the Soviet Union International borders 1991 establishments in Azerbaijan 1991 establishments in Russia