Changes

|pop = 89,676,000

'''Azerbaijan''' is an [[Asia]]n country in the [[Middle East]]Caucasia. It has borders with [[Russia]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]],[[Armenia]], [[Iran]] and via the enclave [[Nakhchivan]] to [[Turkey]].English is not very widespread, but many people have at least a basic command of Russian, and almost anybody will be able to understand you if you speak Turkish.  

Hitchhiking The concept of hitchhiking (more likely: Avtostop or Otostop in Russian resp. Turkish) is -- depending on the definition -- either very easy in Azerbaijan, because well-known or not so well-known at all. People stop quite easily as locals rarely do italso very commonly wait by the side of the road for a ride. On the other side, and therefore drivers often expect money. ([[User:Zenit|Zenit]] had a foreigner waiting with his thump up is an attractionPorsche driver stop for him who asked for money). Help people identify you as foreignerThis seems to become less likely the smaller the road gets. Many cars act as taxis Local hitchhikers have reported to just accept rides and may want not talk about these topics, preferring to win you as customerdeal with potential expectations of the drivers at the end (but insisting that they never pay). Therefore If you should ask them, where they are going and if they answer something 'd like "wherever you want to" make clear avoid that (at the danger of losing some lifts), the following vocabulary can come in handy: *Russian: ''bezplatno mozhna?'' (Is it okay to go for free?) / ''dingi nyet'' (I don't have money)*Turkish: ''parasiz (gitmek) mumkun?'' (Is it okay to go for free?) / ''param jok'' (I don't have money) It can help if people can readily identify you are not looking for as a taxiforeigner, eg "taxi yokh - avtostop". Taxi drivers can be very pushing, they grab your luggage without your permission, cheat you with the price etcespecially a western foreigner. Avoid hitchhiking in [[Baku]] and [[Ganja]] − and in smaller cities don't hitchhike near the taxi stand.Hitchhiking is really great in remote mountain areas − but only in those with solid roads.  Hitchhiking in Azerbaijan is not more or less dangerous than elsewhere on the world. But be aware of regions in the southwest, the border to Armenia and the region [[Nagorno-Karabakh]] where sometimes local conflicts escalate. In the border region to Armenia there is the additional danger of landmines. == License plates == Azerbaijan has a system in which you can recognize from the license plate which of the country's many ''rayon''s a car is from. Baku, for example, is ''10'', ''90'', and ''99'', Ganja is ''20'' and Sheki is ''55''. See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Azerbaijan here] for a complete list.

The border used to be closed for non CIS passport holders. The situation has changed in late 2012, now it is possible to cross with valid visas. [[http://hitchwiki.org/en/User:Pite]] went through the border in August 2013, border police were surprised to see Europeans here, but they let him go.

[[Category== Links ==https:Middle East]]//www.facebook.com/groups/256467861393520/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel Azerbaijani hitchhikers's facebook group.