Azerbaijan Profile

Total Area:
86,600 sq. km

Population:
8,177,717 (July 2008 est.)
 
Ethnicity:
Azeri 90.6%, Dagestani 2.2%, Russian 1.8%, Armenian 1.5%, other 3.9% (1999 est.)  NOTE: almost all Armenians live in the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh region

Language:
Azerbaijani (Azeri) 90.3%, Lezgi 2.2%, Russian 1.8%, other 3.3%, unspecified 1% (1999)

Religion:
Muslim 93.4%, Russian Orthodox 2.5%, Armenian Orthodox 2.3%, other 1.8% (1995 est.)

Government Type:
Republic

Capital:
Baku (Baki, Baky)

Population Below Poverty Line:
24% (2005 est.)

Country Reports

Pastor Arrested in Aliabad Print E-mail
June 25, 2008
 

Pastor Hamid Shabanov

Pastor Hamid Shabanov was arrested after police claimed to find an illegal weapon while searching his home in Aliabad on June 20, according to a June 21 report from Forum 18. Pastor Shabanov's family and congregation insist that police planted the gun they claimed to discover. Shabanov's brother sees the arrest as a direct attack on the pastor's Baptist church and an attempt to halt Christian activity in the area. Shabanov's home was among those searched when another local pastor arrested on fabricated charges, Pastor Zaur Balaev, was detained in May 2007.

Pray that the truth of this situation will be made known and that Pastor Shabanov will be released. Pray that Christians in Azerbaijan will be emboldened to follow in their Saviour's footsteps (1 Corinthians 4:9-14, 16).

For more details on persecution in Azerbaijan vist Azerbaijan's Country Report.

 
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