Roads in

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 t ...

are the main transport network in Azerbaijan. With the railway network still undergoing modernization and not covering the entire country, especially mountainous areas and other areas with difficult

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...

, the road system is the most important form of transport in the country. Its role is important both with national, and as an important transit country, with international traffic.

Overview

Azerbaijan is an important country for international transit. The total length of the Azerbaijani road network is about 29,000 km, serving domestic cargo traffic and connecting to international highways. Because Azerbaijan's railway network is inadequate, roads provide the most important form of transport in the country. Highways are mostly in fair condition, but do not meet international standards for transit traffic. Smaller main and rural roads are in poor condition. All types of roads are undergoing rapid modernization with rehabilitation and extensions. For every 1,000 km² of the national territory, there is 334 km of roads. In 2018, the

Global Competitiveness Index The ''Global Competitiveness Report'' (GCR) is a yearly report published by the World Economic Forum. Since 2004, the ''Global Competitiveness Report'' ranks countries based on the Global Competitiveness Index, developed by Xavier Sala-i-Martin an ...

ranked Azerbaijan 36th out of 137 countries for the quality (condition and extensiveness) of its road infrastructure.

History

The first modern paved roads in Azerbaijan were built in the 19th century when it was part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

Road classification

Motorways

The most important class of highways is

motorways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

. They are designated with the letter ''M''. Azerbaijan has recently developed a network of multi-lane motorways, which are steadily being expanded. Especially around Baku, some of these roads are built to controlled-access highway standards. Most motorways have six lanes, whereas some in and near Baku may have up to eight. In the cities, the motorways are illuminated.

Highways

65 other

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...

s are a level below M-level roads and connect main highways to communities. These highways are designated with the letter ''R''. The highway network is four lanes wide, two in each direction. Like motorways, they are illuminated in the cities, but less frequently in towns. In Azerbaijan, highway signs are blue and the names of locations are printed in capital letters. The main highways in the country are:

Highway of local importance

Below R-level roads, highways of local importance connect M- and R-level roads to settlements. They are designated with ''Y'' for '' yerli'' (''local''). The road numbers are named in the format "Y-##-##", where ''#'' stands for a digit. The first two digits follow the same digits allocated to each

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

for

license plates A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificat ...

. The second pair of digits is assigned from 01 upwards in each district. Cities of republican significance do not have their individual codes, as there are no local roads, only republican, regional, and municipal.

References

{{Motorways in Asia Transport in Azerbaijan