Baku

Baku occupies the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, along the Bay of Baku on the Caspian Sea. The city lies twenty-eight metres below sea level, making it one of the most striking depressions occupied by a large settlement. Its bay and harbour give access to maritime routes across the Caspian, while the peninsula and nearby islands extend the city into a watery archipelago. Strong winds sweep the shore and have earned Baku the name City of Winds, a physical condition that has shaped how the settlement meets the sea.

The historic core, Icheri Sheher or the Old City, contains the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and the Maiden Tower. These buildings show the city's long association with Shirvan and with rulers whose authority joined courtly power, urban trade and defensive architecture. Baku's maritime position also exposed it to attack. In 1170 Akhsitan I used a fleet based at Baku to repel a Rus assault, demonstrating that the bay could serve as both a commercial opening and a base for defence.

Oil and gas seeping from the ground around the peninsula were known from the Middle Ages, and naphtha from the Absheron wells was carried across the Caspian. In 1723 Russian troops of Peter the Great occupied Baku, which was returned to Persia in 1735; later it became the seat of a khanate, and by 1806 Russian forces had taken it, a change confirmed by the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813.