What Do You Call Someone From Azerbaijan? (Answered!)

Someone from Azerbaijan is most commonly called Azerbaijani. This term represents a fairly large global population of Turkic ethnic people who live primarily in Azerbaijan and northern Iran. Azerbaijanis represent the largest ethnic group in Azerbaijan itself, though there are also significant populations of other ethnic groups.

Azerbaijani, then, is a term both for someone who is a legal citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan, but it also describes large numbers of people who live outside of the country.

At the same time, the term Azerbaijani is not one that large parts of the population of Azerbaijan would use to describe themselves.

Let’s find out more.

In This Article

What are people from Azerbaijan called?

The simple answer is that people from Azerbaijan are called Azerbaijani.

To be “Azerbaijani” is a legal distinction in the simplest case because if you are a citizen of the country from a legal point of view, then you are Azerbaijani in that sense.

However, the question is naturally a lot more complicated than this.

For one thing, depending on the estimates, there are far more Azerbaijanis living in Iran than there are in Azerbaijan itself.

Estimates range generally from 15-20 million Azerbaijanis living in Iran, primarily in the northern part of the country.

Again, legally speaking, these people are largely Iranian citizens, and yet ethnically speaking they are Azerbaijani and this is largely what they prefer to be called.

The population of Azerbaijanis in Azerbaijan itself is around 8 million, so no matter what the estimate of the Iranian population you believe, plainly the majority of Azerbaijanis do not live in Azerbaijan.

Indeed, they comprise the largest minority ethnic group in Iran.

Azerbaijan as a nation is relatively young, having been established in 1918 after achieving independence from the Russian Empire.

Historically speaking, then, Azerbaijani as an ethnic identity is far older and more well-established than the nation itself, which goes some way to explaining the distribution of Azerbaijani people.

Azerbaijan itself is also not an ethnic monolith.

Though the Azerbaijani people represent around 91.6% of the population, you have a variety of other ethnic groups living there, such as Lezgins and Armenians.

Again, legally speaking these people would mostly be considered Azerbaijani, but ethnically speaking they would not use this term.

I will look at this in more detail later, but it’s also worth noting that the term Azeri is also widely used to describe the Azerbaijani people, and some prefer this term.

Where does the name “Azerbaijan” come from?

The precise etymological origin of the name Azerbaijan is not known with any certainty.

The most plausible explanation we have is that it comes from the Old Persian Aturpatakan, which in turn came from the Greek Atropane.

This is thought to derive from the Persian ruler Atropates, who ruled large parts of modern day Azerbaijan in classical antiquity during the time of Alexander the Great.

Others believe it relates instead to the local word azer, meaning “fire”, and baydjan, meaning guardian.

This is thought to be a reference to the worship of fire which supposedly took place in ancient and prehistoric Azerbaijan.

As mentioned, though, the term Azerbaijan did not describe the modern territory of that Republic until the country’s formation in 1918.

Before that, Azerbaijan had only referred to the area of north-western Iran where so many Azerbaijanis are native to today.

Azerbaijan, the nation, before then had been referred to as Arran and Shirvan.

It’s more than a little complicated, then, at least for an outsider.

The country is very young, and so it’s probably again more helpful to think of the Azerbaijani people rather than the nation and geographical area.

Where do Azerbaijanis live?

So, as we’ve already seen, the vast majority of Azerbaijani people live in north-western Iran and Azerbaijan.

Around 15-20 million live in Iran with a further 8 million living in Azerbaijan itself.

This represents the vast majority of Azerbaijani people, though there are also many Azerbaijanis living in other places around the world.

The next largest population of Azerbaijanis, living outside of Iran and Azerbaijan, is in Russia.

Here, there are around 600,000 Azerbaijanis. Though they may have Russian citizenship, they would still consider themselves to be Azerbaijani.

Estimates vary in Turkey, and there may be up to 800,000 Azerbaijanis living in the nation—though most estimates are closer to around half a million.

You will also find large populations of Azerbaijanis in Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine.

Is it Azerbaijani or Azeri?

Azerbaijani is what most Azerbaijani people call themselves.

Some have argued that Azeri is the preferred term, but this is really more limited to a specific ethnic group in Iran.

There is no debate among Azerbaijanis that they should instead refer to themselves as Azeri.

On the other hand, Azeri is more commonly accepted as a word for the Azerbaijani language, rather than their ethnic identity.

The Turkic people living in Azerbaijan, Armenia and Iran are called Azerbaijani, not Azeri.

So, the question can get a little bit muddled. It will likely make things easier for you if you think of the Azerbaijani people as an ethnic group spread fairly wide, though they are of course primarily concentrated in Azerbaijan and neighboring regions.

Further, any given Azerbaijani may in fact prefer the term Azeri to Azerbaijani.

Ethnic identity is rarely a simple and clear-cut matter—so just as the individual you are talking to!

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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