Azerbaijan, a nation of Turkic
? Muslims, has been an independent
republic since the collapse of the
Soviet Union in
1991. Despite a cease-fire, in place since
1994, Azerbaijan has yet to resolve its conflict with
Armenia over the Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh
? enclave (largely Armenian populated). Azerbaijan has lost almost 20% of its territory and must support some 750,000 refugees as a result of the conflict. Corruption is ubiquitous and the promise of wealth from Azerbaijan's undeveloped petroleum resources remains largely unfulfilled.