
Azerbaijan is rich – now it wants to be famous (2013) - geospeck
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/magazine/azerbaijan-is-rich-now-it-wants-to-be-famous.html
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krebby
I was in Azerbaijan in 2012 for Eurovision. One thing that was abundantly
clear was the enormous gap between the excitement of the locals for foreigners
and how few foreigners actually showed up. The Azeris saw it as an opportunity
to make their mark on the world stage and spared no expense (or human rights
violation, or animal rights violation) to make the event spectacular.

Baku is full of me-too projects like the 2nd tallest flagpole in the world
(behind Tajikistan and now Saudi Arabia), the flame towers (one of which was
broken to the point of uninhabitable) and the mentioned Khazar Islands which
build off the concept of Dubai's Palm Islands but nobody seems to want.

The sad thing is there is actual amazing culture and interesting architecture
in Azerbaijan. But the modern stuff is just atrocious.

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jpatokal
The promotional video mentioned is beyond parody:
[https://youtu.be/u9InW0nbi0U](https://youtu.be/u9InW0nbi0U)

Among many other gems, it's narrated by a guy with a strong Borat accent and
actually used the words "lobster-shaped".

~~~
e40
Hopefully they didn't do the same thing Dubai did and not install a sewer
system (Dubai has since corrected that, but not before it impacted beach hotel
business).

~~~
solnyshok
Sewage from Baku goes right into the sea since ancient times.

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jessaustin
This needs an update:

[https://www.buzzfeed.com/maxseddon/azerbaijans-dependence-
on...](https://www.buzzfeed.com/maxseddon/azerbaijans-dependence-on-oil-
prices-is-bad-for-the-governme)

[http://www.infoaz.org/new/index.php/en/manset-
eng/8076-hazhi...](http://www.infoaz.org/new/index.php/en/manset-
eng/8076-hazhi-ibrahim-nehramli-is-in-a-depression-the-khazar-islands-
prozhedzt-is-zhoinzh-to-fail)

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valeh
I am from Azerbaijan, and I can say that having natural resources doesn't make
a country rich. In fact, resource-rich countries usually end up poor.

~~~
jacquesm
This actually has a name:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse)

~~~
valeh
It happens when a country doesn't have enough developed institutions, and
finds out that they have natural resources. Having money in the country gives
comfort and freedom to public officials, and they try to stop the development
of those institutions or completely destroy them. As a result, it leads to
lack of democracy which itself leads to lack of economical growth. In case of
Azerbaijan, the country started to export its petrol just right after getting
its independence from the Soviet Union. At that time it was a new country, and
didn't have any proper institution. In general, it is an unfortunate situation
which is extremely hard to fix.

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clamprecht
They've been hosting the Formula 1 race for a few years now. An expensive, but
probably effective way to show the world that you exist. I'd never heard of
the country before F1.

~~~
luma
This year's Azerbaijan Grand Prix turned out to be the most exciting race in
several years. It certainly left an impression on fans of the sport.

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deepsun
Azerbaijan is #1 on the list of shadow economies, whopping 67% of GDP.

~~~
NARKOZ
Economically it is the most normal country in the world:

[https://qz.com/970508/azerbaijan-is-the-most-economically-
av...](https://qz.com/970508/azerbaijan-is-the-most-economically-average-
country-in-the-world/)

~~~
konschubert
I skimmed the article and saw nothing where it compared Azerbaijan's economic
sector composition with the average world's economic sector composition.

The article picks out a few numbers weher Azerbaijan hits the average very
well. But it seems to ignore others.

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grizzles
Did something happen to this project?

The khazarislands.com website is blank and avestaconcern.az website only
partially loads, with the slideshow images 404ing in the console.

~~~
solnyshok
never built anything beyond welcome sign and a website. went bankrupt about 2
years ago

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e2e4
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khazar_Islands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khazar_Islands)

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prodmerc
Azerbaijan is not rich, wtf.

~~~
thedarkproject
Exactly, I can't understand how you got downvoted. Sweden is rich, Switzerland
is rich, Luxemburg is rich. But Azerbaijan? Since when do natural resources
imply wealth? By that logic, Venezuela would be rich too. Distribution of
wealth in Azerbaijan is catastrophic. A nation's wealth should be measured by
how well off its poorest citizens are, not its richest.

Also, the GDP per capita of Azerbaijan indicates anything BUT rich.

