Georgia vs. Azerbaijan
Geography
| Georgia | Azerbaijan | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Southwestern Asia, bordering the Black Sea, between Turkey and Russia, with a sliver of land north of the Caucasus extending into Europe; note - Georgia views itself as part of Europe; geopolitically, it can be classified as falling within Europe, the Middle East, or both | Southwestern Asia, bordering the Caspian Sea, between Iran and Russia, with a small European portion north of the Caucasus range |
| Geographic coordinates | 42 00 N, 43 30 E | 40 30 N, 47 30 E |
| Map references | Asia | Asia |
| Area | total: 69,700 sq km land: 69,700 sq km water: 0 sq km note: approximately 12,560 sq km, or about 18% of Georgia's area, is Russian occupied; the seized area includes all of Abkhazia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which consists of the northern part of Shida Kartli, eastern slivers of the Imereti region and Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, and part of western Mtskheta-Mtianeti | total: 86,600 sq km land: 82,629 sq km water: 3,971 sq km note: includes the exclave of Naxcivan Autonomous Republic and the Nagorno-Karabakh region; the region's autonomy was abolished by Azerbaijani Supreme Soviet on 26 November 1991 |
| Area - comparative | slightly smaller than South Carolina; slightly larger than West Virginia | about three-quarters the size of Pennsylvania; slightly smaller than Maine |
| Land boundaries | total: 1,814 km border countries (4): Armenia 219 km, Azerbaijan 428 km, Russia 894 km, Turkey 273 km | total: 2,468 km border countries (5): Armenia 996 km, Georgia 428 km, Iran 689 km, Russia 338 km, Turkey 17 km |
| Coastline | 310 km | 0 km (landlocked); note - Azerbaijan borders the Caspian Sea (713 km) |
| Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm | none (landlocked) |
| Climate | warm and pleasant; Mediterranean-like on Black Sea coast | dry, semiarid steppe |
| Terrain | largely mountainous with Great Caucasus Mountains in the north and Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the south; Kolkhet'is Dablobi (Kolkhida Lowland) opens to the Black Sea in the west; Mtkvari River Basin in the east; fertile soils in river valley flood plains and foothills of Kolkhida Lowland | large, flat Kur-Araz Ovaligi (Kura-Araks Lowland, much of it below sea level) with Great Caucasus Mountains to the north, Qarabag Yaylasi (Karabakh Upland) to the west; Baku lies on Abseron Yasaqligi (Apsheron Peninsula) that juts into Caspian Sea |
| Elevation extremes | highest point: Mt'a Shkhara 5,193 m lowest point: Black Sea 0 m mean elevation: 1,432 m | highest point: Bazarduzu Dagi 4,466 m lowest point: Caspian Sea -28 m mean elevation: 384 m |
| Natural resources | timber, hydropower, manganese deposits, iron ore, copper, minor coal and oil deposits; coastal climate and soils allow for important tea and citrus growth | petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, nonferrous metals, bauxite |
| Land use | agricultural land: 35.5% (2018 est.) arable land: 5.8% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 1.8% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 27.9% (2018 est.) forest: 39.4% (2018 est.) other: 25.1% (2018 est.) | agricultural land: 57.6% (2018 est.) arable land: 22.8% (2018 est.) permanent crops: 2.7% (2018 est.) permanent pasture: 32.1% (2018 est.) forest: 11.3% (2018 est.) other: 31.1% (2018 est.) |
| Irrigated land | 4,330 sq km (2012) | 14,277 sq km (2012) |
| Natural hazards | earthquakes | droughts |
| Environment - current issues | air pollution, particularly in Rust'avi; heavy water pollution of Mtkvari River and the Black Sea; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil pollution from toxic chemicals; land and forest degradation; biodiversity loss; waste management | local scientists consider the Abseron Yasaqligi (Apsheron Peninsula) (including Baku and Sumqayit) and the Caspian Sea to be the ecologically most devastated area in the world because of severe air, soil, and water pollution; soil pollution results from oil spills, from the use of DDT pesticide, and from toxic defoliants used in the production of cotton; surface and underground water are polluted by untreated municipal and industrial wastewater and agricultural run-off |
| Environment - international agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements | party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - note | note 1: strategically located east of the Black Sea; Georgia controls much of the Caucasus Mountains and the routes through them note 2: the world's four deepest caves are all in Georgia, including two that are the only known caves on earth deeper than 2,000 m: Krubera Cave at -2,197 m (-7,208 ft; reached in 2012) and Veryovkina Cave at -2,212 (-7,257 ft; reached in 2018) | both the main area of the country and the Naxcivan exclave are landlocked |
| Total renewable water resources | 63.33 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) | 34.675 billion cubic meters (2017 est.) |
| Population distribution | settlement concentrated in the central valley, particularly in the capital city of Tbilisi in the east; smaller urban agglomerations dot the Black Sea coast, with Bat'umi being the largest | highest population density is found in the far eastern area of the county, in and around Baku; apart from smaller urbanized areas, the rest of the country has a fairly light and evenly distributed population |
Source: CIA Factbook
