The city is close to major petroleum fields near the border with Iran, and oil refining is its chief industry. Petroleum was extracted in the Baku region as early as the 8th century.
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The first historical reference to Baku dates from AD 885, although archaeological evidence indicates a settlement there several centuries before By the 11th century AD, Baku was in the possession of the Shirvan-Shahs, who made it their capital in the 12th century, although for a period in the 13th and 14th centuries it came under the sway of the Mongols.
In 1723 Peter I the Great captured Baku, but it was returned to Persia in 1735; Russia captured the town finally in 1806. After the Soviet victory over the republic, the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic was declared in 1922, with Baku as its capital. Baku served as the capital of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic from 1920 to 1922 and from 1936 to 1991. In 1991 Azerbaijan became an independent republic.
In 2007 Baku is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan. The population is 1,149,000 (1990 estimate).
Major cities near Baku :
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