AzSSR

Azerbaijan SSR was Soviet republic 1920-1991, capital Baku. Oil-rich Caucasus Caspian republic, one of 15 SSRs, formed 1920. Known for oil fields, gas, caviar, carpets, tea, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Population 7M in 1989, mostly Azerbaijani Shiite Muslims, Russians, Armenians. Soviet rule industrialization, collectivization, Russification, anti-Islam policies, Moscow subsidies. Oil boom vital for USSR. Voted preserve USSR 1991. After collapse became Azerbaijan, war with Armenia over Karabakh.