CAPITAL BAKU - POPULATION 8.1 MILLION - AREA 86,600 SQ KM -OFFICIAL LANGUAGE AZERBAIJANI
Tourism isn't big business on this fringe of Europe – but the country doesn't much care, with plenty of oil money to keep it going. That said, while Caspian Sea-side Baku is basking in black-gold good times, much of the country – from the Caucasus Mountains to the tea plantations of the south – is like a step back in time. In the far north you're in untouched old-world countryside, where villages clack with carpet-weavers' looms, and horses and carts rule the roads. If you only go to one place here, make it Saki – explore the recently renovated Khan's Palace before bedding down in a restored caravanserai like a true nomad.
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