Along most of its history, Persia, Russia and other powerful empires dominated Azerbaijan.
During the 6th century missionaries from Armenia brought Christianity and many people converted. During the following 300 or 400 years dozens of Christian churches were built.
In 642 Muslim Arab troops entered into the kingdom of Aghbania or Caucasian Albania, adding the land to the Islamic empire that spread to Asia through the Middle East and North Africa.
In the 11th century another Islamic power gained control. There were Turkish tribes that were part of the Seljuk dynasty.

The population who were originally of Persian descent began to mix with the Turks and the Persian language was replaced by the Turkish dialect. With time it became the modern Azeri language.
In 1236, Mongolian warriors of the powerful Genghis Khan Empire conquered the land where Azerbaijan is today and remained in power until 1498.
Around 1500 a new Persian kingdom formed under the Safavid dynasty. Its capital was in Tariz. Greek guide greece guide rhodes kos rhodos hotels travel cos greece holidays vacation rhodes guide greek rhodos cos hotel holiday vacations
During the Safavids reign, Azerbaijan was often a battle ground in the fight for power between Persia and Russia . The Safavid kingdom ended in 1722 and the north of Azerbaijan divided into many states. These divisions made it easier for Russia to gain control and power.
In 1917 a revolution ended the Russian empire. One year later the provisional democratic government was overthrown by the Bolshevik wing of the Communist party.
Russia became the Soviet Union. In Azerbaijan, a small group called the intelligentsia joined Baku workers and formed a democratic government.
In April of 1920, the Soviet Union red army invaded Azerbaijan, and quickly ended its small period as an independent state.

During Second World War, in 1941 the German army invaded the Soviet Union and reached the Great Caucasian Mountains a year later. The red Soviet army stopped it from entering Azerbaijan.
At the end of the 80s the Soviet Union began to fall. One after another the communist states of Central and Eastern Europe claimed their independence.
Azerbaijan declared its independence on August 30th of 1991.
In 1993 Armenia had control of almost 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory.
After Aliyev became president in October of 1993, he signed a ceasefire with Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Greek guide greece guide rhodes kos rhodos hotels travel cos greece holidays vacation rhodes guide greek rhodos cos hotel holiday vacations
Heydar Aliyev died in December of 2003, and his son Ilham became president.

Azerbaijan is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (an exclave of Azerbaijan) borders Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, and Turkey to the northwest. Greek guide greece guide rhodes kos rhodos hotels travel cos greece holidays vacation rhodes guide greek rhodos cos hotel holiday vacations
The Nagorno-Karabakh region in the southwest of Azerbaijan proper declared itself independent from Azerbaijan in 1991, but it is not recognized by any nation and considered a legal part of Azerbaijan.

Baku or Baky, capital and largest city of Azerbaijan. The population is 1,149,000 (1990 estimate). The city is close to major petroleum fields near the border with Iran, and oil refining is its chief industry. Petroleum was extracted in the Baku region as early as the 8th century. Greek guide greece guide rhodes kos rhodos hotels travel cos greece holidays vacation rhodes guide greek rhodos cos hotel holiday vacations