Translated's Research Center
Translated's Research Center

Azerbaijan

Asia

To what language should you translate to localize in Azerbaijan?

What we know from our community

Azerbaijani language belongs to the group of Turkic languages, the Oghuz class, according to the genealogical division. Thus, this language is closer to Turkmen, Gagauz, Crimean Tatars, and Turkic (Ottoman) languages. Azerbaijani language is used not only in Azerbaijan but also in Iran, Iraq, Georgia, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Syria, and Afghanistan. As a result of trade and international relations with other countries, the language has international words as well as Russian-European and Arabic-Persian loanwords.

The letters and sounds ‘ə,’ ‘ı,’ ‘ğ,’ and ‘x’ belong only to the Azerbaijani language; they are almost never used in other languages. For example: “çok güzelsin” (you’re very beautiful) in Turkish is used as “çox gözəlsən.”

Brands often play word games using synonyms, homonyms, and polysemous words to create original and creative content. E.g., with the slogan “al şal,” it is possible to convey both the message “buy a shawl” and the message “red shawl.”

As a result of major changes in the country’s political, economic, scientific, and cultural life, styles have emerged in the vocabulary of the Azerbaijani language. Understanding which style to use for which channel is vital in marketing campaigns:

Artistic style – Figurative, emotional form of speech. E.g., in the proverb “Azacıq aşım, ağrımaz başım,” the repetition of vowels ‘a’ and ‘ı’ adds emotionality and rhyme to the text.

Scientific style – Its main characteristic is logic and concreteness. Terms such as “gravity,” “sine,” and “phonetics” can be examples.

Journalistic style – Used by radio, television, newspapers, and magazines. Aimed to be understood by everyone.

Household style – The language in which people communicate with one another in everyday life. Brands that want to be closer to their target audience and look sincere use this style in their advertising texts.

Official-business style – Used for documents such as presidential decrees, laws, decisions, resumes, applications, announcements, etc.

Azerbaijani

Azərbaycan dili genoloji bölgüyə əsasən, türk dilləri qrupuna, oğuz sinfinə məxsusdur. Məhz bu səbəbdən Azərbaycan dili türkmən, qaqauz, krım tatarlarının dili və türk (osmanlı) dillərinə daha yaxındır. Azərbaycan dilindən Azərbaycanla yanaşı, İran, İraq, Gürcüstan, Rusiya, Türkiyə, Ukrayna, Suriya və Əfqanıstan ərazisində də istifadə olunur. Digər ölkələrlə ticari və beynəlxalq əlaqələr nəticəsində dildə beynəlmiləl sözlərlə yanaşı rus-avropa, həmçinin ərəb-fars mənşəli alınma sözlər də mövcuddur.

‘ə’, ‘ı’, ‘ğ’, ‘x’ hərf və səsləri ancaq Azərbaycan dilinə məxsusdur, digər dillərdə, demək olar ki, işlədilmir. Məsələn: Türk dilindəki “çok güzelsin” ifadəsi “çox gözəlsən“ şəklində işlədilir.

Brendlər tez-tez orjinal və kreativ kontent yaratmaq üçün sinonim, omonim və çoxmənalı sözlərdən istifadə edərək söz oyunları oynayırlar. Məsələn “al şal” şüarı ilə həm “şal al” mesajını, həm də “al rəngdə şal” mesajını ötürmək mümkündür.
 
Ölkənin siyasi, iqtisadi, elmi, mədəni həyatında baş verən böyük dəyişikliklər nəticəsində Azərbaycan dilinin lüğət tərkibində üslublar yaranmışdır. Marketinq kampaniyalarında hansı kanal üçün hansı üslubu istifadə etmək lazım olduğunu başa düşmək həyati əhəmiyyətlidir:

Bədii üslub – Obrazlı, emosional nitq formasıdır. Məsələn: «Azacıq aşım, ağrımaz başım» atalar sözündə a və ı saitlərinin təkrarı nitqə emosionallıq qatır. 
Elmi üslub – Əsas xüsusiyyəti məntiqilik və konkretlikdir. Nümunə kimi “qravitasiya”, “sinus”, “fonetika” terminlərini göstərə bilərik.
Publisistik üslub – Radio, televiziya, qəzet və jurnallar tərəfindən istifadə olunur. Əsas xüsusiyyəti fikrin hamı tərəfindən anlaşıqlı, aydın və təsirli şəkildə ifadə olunmasıdır.
Məişət üslubu – Gündəlik həyatda insanların bir-biri ilə ünsiyyət saxladığı dildir. Hədəf auditoriyasına daha yaxın olmaq, səmimi görünmək istəyən brendlər reklam mətnlərində bu üslubdan istifadə edir. 
Rəsmi-işgüzar üslub – Prezident fərmanları, qanun, qərar, əmr, tərcümeyi – hal, ərizə, elan, arayış və s. sənədlər üçün istifadə olunur. 


Kamran Shukurlu,
Digital Marketing & Content Strategist

LANGUAGE INSIGHT

Official language

Azerbaijanian (92.5%; 9.35 mln)

Actual languages

Azerbaijanian (92.5%; 9.35 mln), Russian (2.4%; 242k), Lezgian (2.3%; 232k), Armenian (1.4%; 141k), Persian (0.5%; 50k), other (0.9%; 90k)

What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Azerbaijan

(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)

  • 27/150 localize by translating into Azerbaijani
  • 8/150 localize by translating into Russian
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into both Azerbaijani and Russian
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Azerbaijani, Azerbaijani Cyrillic and Arabic
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into both Azerbaijani and South Azerbaijani
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Slovak
  • 1/150 localizes by translating into Arabic
  • Localization not available 3M
  • Localization not available ABB
  • Localization not available Accenture
  • Localization not available Adidas
  • Localization available Adobe
  • Localization available Airbnb
  • Localization not available Aldi
  • Localization not available Amazon
  • Localization not available American Airlines
  • Localization not available American Express
  • Localization not available Apple
  • Localization available Audi
  • Localization not available Autodesk
  • Localization not available Avis
  • Localization not available Bayer
  • Localization available BMW
  • Localization not available Booking.com
  • Localization available Bosch
  • Localization available British Airways
  • Localization not available Bumble
  • Localization not available Burberry
  • Localization not available BYD
  • Localization available Canon
  • Localization not available Capgemini
  • Localization not available Cartier
  • Localization not available Caterpillar
  • Localization not available Chevrolet
  • Localization not available Cisco Systems
  • Localization not available Citibank
  • Localization available Coca-Cola
  • Localization not available Costco
  • Localization available Dell
  • Localization available Deloitte
  • Localization not available Delta
  • Localization not available DHL
  • Localization not available Disney+
  • Localization available Dyson
  • Localization not available eBay
  • Localization not available Eli Lilly
  • Localization not available Emirates
  • Localization not available Ernst & Young
  • Localization available Facebook
  • Localization not available FedEx
  • Localization available Ford
  • Localization not available Four Seasons
  • Localization not available Fujifilm
  • Localization not available GE
  • Localization not available Gillette
  • Localization not available GoDaddy
  • Localization available Google
  • Localization not available Gucci
  • Localization not available Haier
  • Localization not available Heineken
  • Localization not available Hermès
  • Localization not available Hertz
  • Localization not available Hilton
  • Localization not available Hisense
  • Localization not available Hitachi
  • Localization available Honda
  • Localization not available Hotels.com
  • Localization not available HP
  • Localization not available HP Enterprise
  • Localization not available HSBC
  • Localization not available Huawei
  • Localization not available Hyatt
  • Localization available Hyundai
  • Localization not available IBM
  • Localization not available IKEA
  • Localization not available Intel
  • Localization not available InterContinental Hotels
  • Localization not available J&J
  • Localization not available Jack Daniel's
  • Localization available Jehovah’s Witnesses
  • Localization not available John Deere
  • Localization not available Kellogg's
  • Localization available Kia
  • Localization not available KPMG
  • Localization not available LOréal
  • Localization available Land Rover
  • Localization not available LEGO
  • Localization not available Lenovo
  • Localization available Lexus
  • Localization available LG
  • Localization not available Louis Vuitton
  • Localization not available Lululemon
  • Localization not available LUSH
  • Localization not available Marriott
  • Localization available MasterCard
  • Localization available McDonald's
  • Localization available Mercedes-Benz
  • Localization not available Merck
  • Localization not available Microsoft
  • Localization not available Mitsubishi Electric
  • Localization not available Nestlé
  • Localization not available Netflix
  • Localization not available Nike
  • Localization not available Nikon
  • Localization not available Nintendo
  • Localization not available Nio
  • Localization available Nissan
  • Localization available NIVEA
  • Localization not available Oracle
  • Localization not available Pampers
  • Localization not available Panasonic
  • Localization not available PayPal
  • Localization not available Pepsi
  • Localization not available Pfizer
  • Localization available Philips
  • Localization not available Pitney Bowes
  • Localization available Porsche
  • Localization not available Procter & Gamble
  • Localization not available PWC
  • Localization not available Revolut
  • Localization not available Rolex
  • Localization not available Royal Caribbean
  • Localization not available Salesforce
  • Localization available Samsung
  • Localization not available Sanofi
  • Localization available SAP
  • Localization not available Sephora
  • Localization not available Shopify
  • Localization not available Siemens
  • Localization available Sony
  • Localization available Spotify
  • Localization available Starbucks
  • Localization not available Steelcase
  • Localization not available Stripe
  • Localization available Subaru
  • Localization not available Tesla
  • Localization not available The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  • Localization not available Tiffany
  • Localization available Tinder
  • Localization not available Toshiba
  • Localization available Toyota
  • Localization not available TripAdvisor
  • Localization not available Uber
  • Localization not available United Airlines
  • Localization not available UPS
  • Localization available Visa
  • Localization available Volkswagen
  • Localization available Volvo Cars
  • Localization not available Vrbo
  • Localization not available Walmart
  • Localization not available Western Union
  • Localization available Wikipedia
  • Localization not available Wise
  • Localization not available WordPress
  • Localization not available Workday
  • Localization available Xerox
  • Localization not available Xiaomi (Mi)
  • Localization not available Zara
  • Localization not available Zoom
Available in

If you need others information, below you can find a selection of economic/social/cultural data

Index of content

Overview

Language

Official language
Azerbaijani 92.5%

T-index
0.08%

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.

Other languages
Russian (2.4%), Lezgian (2.3%), Armenian (1.4%), Persian (0.5%), other (0.9%)

English
Low proficiency (EF) – 86 out of 116 countries/regions in the world- 35/35 position in Europe.

Demography

Capital: Baku
Currency: Azerbaijani manat
Population: 10.11 million
Population density: 123/km2

Economy

GDP: 72.36 billion USD (2023)
GDP per capita: 7,155.08 USD ‎(2023) ‎
Exports: $38.9 billion (2022)

Statistics

Internet users: 88% penetration, 9.19 million
Unemployment rate: 5.6% (2023)
Urbanisation: 57.58% (2023)
Literacy: 100% (2023)

Conventions

Numbering system
Arabic numbering system, point as decimal separator and space or comma as separator of thousands.

Date format: yyyy-mm-dd
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 0099

Language data sources: Worldatlas/Britannica//EF/Wikipedia; Demography data sources: IMF/Worldometers; Conventions data source: Wikipedia; Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal; Statistics data sources: Datareportal/WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF/Culturalatlas/Commisceoglobal

Facts and data

Economy

Imports
$14.8 billion (2022). Cars ($1.16B), Refined Petroleum ($654M), Crude Petroleum ($410M), Wheat ($390M), and Packaged Medicaments ($368M), importing mostly from Russia ($2.52B), Turkey ($2.5B), China ($1.51B), United Arab Emirates ($699M), and Georgia ($668M).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 29% have an account with a financial institution
• 5.3% have a credit card
• 9.4% make online purchases

Ease of doing business
Very Easy to conduct business (76.7 out of 100) 7th out of 24 European and Central Asian countries, 34th worldwide out of 190 countries (2022, World Bank)

Exports
$38.9 billion (2022). Crude Petroleum ($19.4B), Petroleum Gas ($15.5B), Refined Petroleum ($561M), Nitrogenous Fertilizers ($247M), and Gold ($188M), exporting mostly to Italy ($18.3B), Turkey ($3.57B), Israel ($1.68B), India ($1.64B), and Greece ($1.51B).

Economic freedom
‘Moderately free’ (61.6 out of 100) 3ath out of 44 countries in Europe, ranked 70th out of 186 countries worldwide (2023, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).

Global Innovation Index
Ranked 16th out of 18 Northern African and Western Asian countries, 89th out of 132 worldwide.

The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.

Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal

Service Imports (2018)
Service Exports (2018)

Source: OEC

Trade balance of goods from 2013 to 2023

Source: Statista

Historical Data Trade Imports (2018)

The following section uses historical trade data imports from partners of Azerbaijan.

Historical Data Trade Exports

The following section uses historical trade data exports from partners of Azerbaijan.

Source: OEC

The Top Export Opportunities for Azerbaijan by Relatedness

Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product by showing only products that Azerbaijan is not specialized in.

Azerbaijan's Most Complex Exports

The Product Complexity Index (PCI) measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters.

Source: OEC

Azerbaijan's Most Specialized Products

Specialization is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), an index that takes the ratio between Azerbaijan observed and expected exports in each product.

Source: OEC

Market Growth Imports (2018)

This score represents the likelihood that the given country will start importing that product in the next few years. It forecasts the opening of a new specific market.

Market Growth Exports (2018)

This score represents the likelihood that the given country will start exporting that product in the next few years. It forecasts the opening of a new specific market.

Source: OEC

Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP)

Source: WorldBank

T-index

T-index

Reach most of the online purchasing power

T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.

Try it now

Media

Media language
Russian, English, Azerbaijani 

Information channels
Dissenting voices are practically absent from mainstream media and critical journalists risk arrest and imprisonment.

“President Ilham Aliyev has been waging a relentless war against his remaining critics”, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said in 2017. The organisation reported “independent journalists and bloggers are thrown in prison if they do not first yield to harassment, beatings, blackmail, or bribes.”

TV is the most popular medium and many homes are served by satellite channels. All Azerbaijan-based channels toe the government line. Some networks are owned by relatives or associates of the president. State-owned AzTV runs three national channels and there are four national privately-owned stations. State-funded iTV is a notional public service broadcaster. Turkish, Russian and Western TVs are available on cable. Opposition and exile TVs use satellite and online distribution. Analogue terrestrial TV was phased out in 2016-17. Radio outlets focus on entertainment. Around a dozen stations are on FM in Baku and many of them are relayed elsewhere. Most newspapers were set up for political or personal interests. Their distribution is largely limited to Baku. US-based Freedom House reports that although the government does not extensively block online content, web users and their families can “face arrest and intimidation, and pro-government trolling distorts political discussions”.

Press

Azarbaycan – government daily
Azadliq – opposition, online
Ekho – private daily, in Russian
Zerkalo – private daily, in Russian
Yeni Musavat – opposition title
Yeni Azarbaycan – ruling party title
525 Qazet – weekly

Television

AzTV – state-run, operates three networks
iTV – state-funded
ARB – private
Azad Azarbaycan (ATV) – private

Radio

Azerbaijan Radio – state-run
Public Radio – state-funded

News Agencies

Azartac – state-run, English-language pages
Turan – private, English-language pages
Trend – private, English-language pages
APA – private, English-language pages
Day.az – news website, in Russian

Media data source: BBC

Internet Data

Internet users
88% penetration, 9.19 million

Share of web traffic by device
79.66% mobile phones, 19.29% computers (laptops and desktops), 1.04% tablet devices, others 0.01%

Median speed of mobile Internet connection
45.45 Mbps

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
33.03 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population 113.2%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G) 94.2%

Most popular web search engines
Google (90.1%), Yandex (8.35%), Bing (1.01%), Yahoo! (0.29%), DuckDuckGo (0.19%), other (0.06%)

Most used social media
Instagram (34.79%), Facebook (24.39%), Pinterest (17.82%), YouTube (11.88%), Twitter (6.7%), Reddit (1.71%), LinkedIn (1.32%), other (1.38%)

Internet data sources: Datareportal/Statcounter

Social statistics

Life expectancy
73 years (2022)

CO2 emissions
3.40 metric tons per capita (2020)

Corruption perceptions Index
Azerbaijan scored 23 out of 100, ranked 157th out of 180 countries worldwide.

Ethnicity
There are no overt ethnic problems. There is a tense situation with Armenians concerning an Azeri territory that is occupied by the Armenians, commonly known as the Garabagh conflict. There are small numbers of Kurds – Taats, Jews, etc, but there is no overt discrimination against any ethnicities in the country.

Current health expenditure
4.70% of GDP (2021)

Education expenditure
90.4% of total expenditure in public institutions (2022).

World Happiness Index
Azerbaijan ranked 92 out of 146 countries, with a score of 5.173.

Religion
People are generally non-religious. Having lived under Communism for 70 years and never learned about religion, therefore they are quite secular in their beliefs. However, many identify themselves as Muslims, without fully knowing what it means.

Gender
Society in general is male-oriented, fair pay for women is a battle that has a long way to go.  

Social statistics sources: WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF

The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translated.com

Country Curiosities

Known as the “Land of Fire,” Azerbaijan’s nickname reflects its deep historical ties to natural gas vents and oil seeps that have burned for millennia. This fiery association harks back to ancient times when fire worship, influenced by Zoroastrianism, was prevalent in the region. The eternal flames of Yanardag on the Absheron Peninsula are a striking example, where natural gas combustion in rock fissures creates a captivating spectacle. This unique phenomenon highlights Azerbaijan’s enduring relationship with fire, woven into its cultural and historical fabric.

Additionally…

  • Azerbaijan hosts the world’s largest landlocked exclave, the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, bordered by Armenia, Iran, and Turkey.
  • Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, is the world’s lowest and largest city lying 28 meters below sea level.
  • In 2001, Azerbaijan transitioned from the Cyrillic script, used during Soviet rule, back to the Latin alphabet.
  • Home to over 80 ethnic groups, Azerbaijan’s largest include Lezgins, Talysh, Russians, and Georgians.
  • Azerbaijan was the first Muslim-majority country to grant women voting rights.
  • Neft Daslari in Azerbaijan is a city built entirely on stilts.
  • As part of its territory lies in Europe, Azerbaijan is a transcontinental country.
  • The world’s first oil well was drilled in Azerbaijan in 1849, south of Baku.
  • Baku means “wind-pounded city” in Persian, alluding to its fierce winds and snowstorms.
  • Rich in oil, Azerbaijan’s main exports are oil and gas, making up 91% of its total exports.

Languages research

Languages spoken in Azerbajian

Lezgic

A Lezgic language, Lezgian is spoken by the Lezgins living in northern Azerbaijan. It is classified as a vulnerable language by UNESCO.

Avar

A language of the Northeast Caucasian family, Avar is spoken in parts of north-western Azerbaijan and Dagestan. It is spoken by about 762,000 people worldwide.

Taylish

The Talysh language, an Iranian language, is spoken in parts of Iran and southern Azerbaijan. Although it has about 500,000 to 1 million speakers, its popularity is constantly decreasing. Thus, UNESCO also classifies this language as vulnerable in its Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger

Legend

  • Tsakhur

  • Georgian

  • Lezgi

  • Ludeo Tat

  • Budukh

  • Kryts

  • Muslim Tat

  • Khinalugh

  • Khalaj

  • Talysh

  • Udi

  • Kurdish

  • Armenian

  • Azerbaijani

  • Rutul

  • Avar

  • Uninhabited

The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com

Photo credit: Ganimat Pashazade, Unsplash

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