Azerbaijan. Europe, Asia, Middle East?

[k5125]

What geographic region is it considered to be in?

[jay (mulatto)]

k5125 said:

What geographic region is it considered to be in?

hmm that's a tough one. it really does seem like all three doesn't it. i think middle-eastern is probably best to describe azerbaijan.

[nymos]

It's split between Europe and Asia.

Middle-Eastern is the worst way to describe it, imo.

[k5125]

nymos said:

It's split between Europe and Asia.

Middle-Eastern is the worst way to describe it, imo.

Eurasia or Asia Minor maybe?

I don't see why middle east is that inappropriate though, cuz it borders Iran I think.

[k5125]

And are azeris dark skinned on average? What do they look like?

[jay (mulatto)]

nymos said:

It's split between Europe and Asia.

Middle-Eastern is the worst way to describe it, imo.

well the country is 93.4% muslim.

borders iran.


has the islamic crescent and star thing for it's flag.


geographically azerbaijan is located far from the european heart. so if it were part of the EU in the future, it'd be hardly influenced by the EU, being so far over. Russia kinda waters it down too...

www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/aj.html

does seem somewhat central-asian. i see that country as part of the Turkey-Afghanistan region. i'd say it's middle eastern.

i googled middle east, heres some maps that came up:








to be honest i don't even think Turkey should really be considered European. I don't have no racist agenda or anything, T.B.H. i couldn't care less what Turkey, the middle east, and north africa are considered. i just think Turkey, from the Eastern side of the bosphorus onwards looks better to be part of the middle east, and racially i'm not entirely familar with Turks, but i think many confuse Turks with Afghans or Iranians, perhaps thats the Kurds religiously europe is generally non-muslim, and economically europe is generally a lot more wealthy. there's usually no clear-cut simple rule with boundary countries. but imo. i think turkey just makes it (or rather most of turkey doesn't make it, but it has a foot in europe), those other countries in the southern portion of russia, such as georgia, armenia, azerbaijan. i say nah. i think racially all three countries may have large, even majority white looking people (i did a google search u see), but so does the near east, even middle east, and likewise even in central asian, and northern india/pakistan, you can find some of these extreme white types, although certainly much rarer. i think designating azerbaijan atleast middle eastern caters for it's fringe postion.

[nymos]

k5125 said:

Eurasia or Asia Minor maybe?

Asia Minor - no. Eurasian - yes. It's more Asian than European, that's for sure.

I don't see why middle east is that inappropriate though, cuz it borders Iran I think.

Yes, it does border Iran. And?

[nymos]

From Wikipedia:

The term Middle East defines a cultural area, so does not have precise borders. It is generally taken to include: Bahrain, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and the Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The countries of the Maghreb (Algeria, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia) are frequently linked to the Middle East due to their strong historical and cultural associations, as is Sudan. The African countries Mauritania and Somalia also have links to the region. Turkey and Cyprus, although geographically inside or close to the Middle East, consider themselves to be part of Europe (although the 'Middle East Technical University' is located in Ankara, Turkey). Iran is usually taken to be the eastern border, although the middle east is occasionally stretched to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Also here is another interesting link:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Eastern_Regions

So the moral is - consider it anything you want.

I for one don't consider any of the countries (inlcuding Azerbaijan) listed under "Sometimes considered Middle Eastern" Middle Eastern. More importantly, I'm pretty sure Azeris don't consider themselves Middle Eastern.

[nymos]

k5125 said:

And are azeris dark skinned on average? What do they look like?

Former President of Azerbaijan - Heydar Aliyev


Current President - Ilham Aliyev (son of Heydar Aliyev)


Sorry, couldn't find the obligatory football team pictures.
Incidentally, FIFA considers Azerbaijan European, not Asian.

[jay (mulatto)]

nymos: yeah u know azeris (like Georgians, and Armenians) do look amazingly white (for the most part). i was actually pretty surprised by this, i thought they looked more like the typical iranian or afghan. but they look whiter than most middle easterners. i dunno, do you think this is also the case in Iran, perhaps on the northern portion.

[nymos]

henerte1 said:

Once I watched a documentary program in TV about Azerbeijan. I think that both Aliyevs (especially dad with light eyes) are rather an exception. They are pretty diverse but most of them seem to resemble Turks.

BTW: FIFA also considers Kazachstan to be European.

They are kind of a mix of Turkic, Iranian, and Caucasian in looks.

I think that they are not so die hard muslims like some Middle Easterners either.

That's true.

BTW: FIFA also considers Kazachstan to be European.

:oYes. You're right.
It seems that FIFA considers any country with some European territory as European. And Kazakhstan does have some European territory, namely west of the Ural river.

[Kazakhgirl]

you are mixing here European and Caucasians terms. They are Caucasians, definetely. Most of Azeris are dark haired and have dark eyes, look Iranian, Turkish. Dark eyes, tanned skin do not make them automatically Black or Mongoloid. There is no doubt that they are Caucasians.

[buddyrydell]

Azeris are definitely Caucasoids for sure. The people posted look more Middle Eastern than European, but at the same time they look rather lighter than a typical Middle Easterner. They're a mix of Europeans and Middle Easterners most likely (the Middle Eastern component being Iranian/Turkish rather than Arab), which is quite typical for the Caucasus.

[nymos]

Kazakhgirl said:

you are mixing here European and Caucasians terms. They are Caucasians, definetely. Most of Azeris are dark haired and have dark eyes, look Iranian, Turkish. Dark eyes, tanned skinned does not make them automatically Black or Mongoloid. There is no doubt that they are Caucasians.

;D LOL. You misunderstood. I didn't mean Caucasian as a race. I was just referring to the people of the Caucasus, who speak one of the so called Caucasian languages.

[Kazakhgirl]

I see, when it comes to Azeri, their language is from Altaic language group, originated in Asia, pretty much like Turks.