Roads in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

are the main transport network in Azerbaijan. With the railway network still undergoing modernization and not covering the entire country, especially mountainous areas and other areas with difficult

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

, the road system is the most important form of transport in the country. Its role is important both with national, and as an important transit country, with international traffic. AZ road sign 5

Overview

Azerbaijan is an important country for international transit. The total length of the Azerbaijani road network is about 29,000 km, serving domestic cargo traffic and connecting to international highways. Because Azerbaijan's railway network is inadequate, roads provide the most important form of transport in the country. Highways are mostly in fair condition, but do not meet international standards for transit traffic. Smaller main and rural roads are in poor condition. All types of roads are undergoing rapid modernization with rehabilitation and extensions. For every 1,000 km² of the national territory, there is 334 km of roads. In 2018, the

Global Competitiveness Index The ''Global Competitiveness Report'' (GCR) was a yearly report published by the World Economic Forum. Between 2004 and 2020, the ''Global Competitiveness Report'' ranked countries based on the Global Competitiveness Index, developed by Xavier Sa ...

ranked Azerbaijan 36th out of 137 countries for the quality (condition and extensiveness) of its road infrastructure.

History

The first modern paved roads in Azerbaijan were built in the 19th century when it was part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

Road classification

Motorways

The most important class of highways is

motorways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

. They are designated with the letter ''M''.
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Azerbaijan has recently developed a network of multi-lane motorways, which are steadily being expanded. Especially around

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, some of these roads are built to

controlled-access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

standards. Most motorways have six lanes, whereas some in and near Baku have up to eight. In the cities, the motorways are illuminated.

Highways

65 other

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

s are a level below M-level roads and connect main highways to communities. These highways are designated with the letter ''R''. The highway network is four lanes wide, two in each direction. Like motorways, they are illuminated in the cities, but less frequently in towns. In Azerbaijan, highway signs are blue and the names of locations are printed in capital letters. The main highways in the country are:

Roads of local importance

Below R-level roads, roads of local importance connect M- and R-level roads to settlements. They are designated with ''Y'' for '' yerli'' (''local''). The road numbers are named in the format "Y-##-##", where ''#'' stands for a digit. The first two digits follow the same digits allocated to each

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

for

license plates A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian and Australian English), license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for ...

. The second pair of digits is assigned from 01 upwards in each district. Cities of republican significance do not have their individual codes, as there are no local roads, only republican, regional, and municipal.
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File:Баку - Губа - граница с РФ 20.10.2023.jpg File:Баку - Губа - граница с РФ 2 20.10.2023.jpg File:Баку - Губа - граница с РФ 3 20.10.2023.jpg File:Баку - Губа - граница с РФ 4 20.10.2023.jpg File:Баку - Губа - граница с РФ 5 20.10.2023.jpg File:Баку - Губа - граница с РФ 6 20.10.2023.jpg File:Баку - Губа - граница с РФ 7 20.10.2023.jpg File:Ilham Aliyev attended opening of Shamkir-Abbasli-Narimanli highway 08.jpg File:Ilham Aliyev inaugurated Alat-Astara-Iran state border highway 05.jpg File:Ilham Aliyev inaugurated Alat-Astara-Iran state border highway 04.jpg