Azerbaijan - Media



Azerbaijan is connected to other former Soviet republics by landline or microwave, and to other countries through Moscow. In 1998, there were 1.4 million telephones in use. Service is said to be of poor quality and inadequate. In 1997, there were about 40,000 cellular phones in use nationwide.

In 2002 there were several newspapers, most of them published in Azerbaijani. Azerbaijan Ganjlari ( Youth of Azerbaijan ) had a circulation of 161,000 in 2002. Over 100 periodicals are published, more than half in Azerbaijani. As of 1999, there were 10 AM and 17 FM stations and two television stations. Domestic and Russian television programs are received locally, while Iranian television is received from an Intelsat satellite through a receive-only earth station. In 2000, there were 22 radios and 259 television sets for every 1,000 people. In 2001, 12,000 Internet subscribers were served by about two service providers.

The Constitution of Azerbaijan specifically outlaws press censorship; however, it is said that the government does not always respect freedom of the press in practice.

User Contributions:

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: