City (pop., 1997 est.: 1,727,200), capital of Azerbaijan.
Located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea at the sea's best harbour, Baku has long been inhabited. By the 11th century AD, it was in the possession of the Shīrvān shahs, who made it their capital in the 12th century. In 1723 Bolshevik government in 1917 and became the capital of the new Soviet republic of Azerbaijan in 1920. The basis of Baku's economy is petroleum.