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Azerbaijan

AZ

Western Asia

Azerbaijan is home to 6 documented ethnic groups in Western Asia — led by Azerbaijani (~92%), Azerbaijan Other (~4%), Lezgian (~2%), Russian Azerbaijan (~1%). This page blends their phenotype and demographic data into one weighted reference: skin tone, facial features, hair texture and build, drawn from published census and ancestry sources.

Demographic Composition

Composition weights are derived from self-identification in published census and demographic surveys. Each row links to the source ethnic-group atlas page.

Ethnic groupWeightSource
AzerbaijaniAzerbaijani91.6%State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan 2019 Census; ethnic Azerbaijanis (~91.6%, ~9.2M+ of ~10M total). The dominant ethnic group, predominantly Shia Muslim (~65% of the broader Azerbaijani population) plus substantial Sunni Muslim sub-population. Azerbaijani is part of the Oghuz Turkic family, closely related to Turkish and Turkmen
Azerbaijan OtherAzerbaijan Other3.9%Azerbaijan 2019 Census residual; includes Avar, Tatar, Tat, Ukrainian, Tsakhur, Georgian, Kurd, plus other smaller groups
LezgianLezgian2.0%Azerbaijan 2019 Census, Lezgian (~2.0%, ~200,000+); concentrated in northern Azerbaijan along the Russian Dagestan border. Northeast Caucasian / Lezgic language family. Cross-border population shared with Russia
Russian AzerbaijanRussian Azerbaijan1.3%Azerbaijan 2019 Census, Russian (~1.3%, ~120,000+); declined substantially from ~6% in 1989 through post-1991 emigration
TalyshTalysh1.1%Azerbaijan 2019 Census, Talysh (~1.1%, ~110,000+); concentrated in southern Azerbaijan along the Iranian border. Iranian-language community
Armenian AzerbaijanArmenian Azerbaijan0.1%Azerbaijan 2019 Census, Armenian (~0.1%, ~120,000 historic Armenian-Azerbaijani population was largely expelled or fled during the 1988-1994 First Nagorno-Karabakh War; current Azerbaijani-Armenian population is approximately 12,000 predominantly in the Nagorno-Karabakh region prior to the 2020-2023 displacement)

Azerbaijan Phenotype Profile

Azerbaijan's population is dominated by Azerbaijanis (~92%) with smaller Lezgian (~2%), Russian (~1.3%), Talysh (~1.1%), and other (~4%) communities. The country's demographic structure reflects the Oghuz Turkic migration into the Caucasus and Iranian Azerbaijan during the 11th-13th c. CE plus substantial Caucasus / Iranian Indigenous source-population substrate. The post-1988 First Nagorno-Karabakh War produced the demographic restructuring that expelled most ethnic Armenians from Azerbaijan plus most ethnic Azerbaijanis from Armenia; the 2020 and 2023 conflicts have completed the demographic separation of the two countries.

Genome-wide studies place Azerbaijani populations as showing predominantly West Eurasian / Iranian-Caucasus source-population ancestry with smaller East Asian / Mongol-Turkic admixture. Skin tone across the population spans Fitzpatrick II-IV with III the modal value. Hair predominantly straight to wavy black to dark brown. Eye color is predominantly brown with elevated frequencies of hazel, green, and rarely lighter variants. Facial features track West Asian / Iranian-Caucasus source populations.

The substantial cross-border Iranian Azerbaijani population (~16-18M+ in Iran) is approximately twice the size of the source-country Azerbaijani population, reflecting the historical Iranian-Azerbaijani heartland (East Azerbaijan, West Azerbaijan, Ardabil provinces of Iran) being south of the Aras River that became the Russian-Iranian border under the 1828 Treaty of Turkmenchay.

A descriptive view, not a claim about individuals

This page shows a weighted aggregate of phenotype observations across the Azerbaijan population, based on demographic composition from published census and ancestry sources. Phenotypes within any country are far more varied than the aggregate suggests; this is a descriptive reference, not a deterministic claim about any individual. For source-level detail on individual ethnic groups, see the constituent atlas pages linked below.

Methodology Notes

Composition weights are derived from the State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan 2019 Census, the most recent comprehensive Azerbaijani census. Caveats: (1) the post-1988 First Nagorno-Karabakh War, the 2020 Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, and the September 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh have produced substantial demographic restructuring with the displacement of approximately 100,000+ Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh; (2) the cross-border Iranian Azerbaijani population (~16-18M+) substantially exceeds the source-country Azerbaijani population; (3) the historic Armenian-Azerbaijani community (~390,000 in 1989) is now nearly extinct in Azerbaijan; (4) the Russian-Azerbaijani population has declined substantially from 1989 peak through emigration; (5) the small Mountain Jewish community has been substantially reduced through post-1991 emigration to Israel.

See full project methodology →

Primary Sources

  1. 1.State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan. 2019 Population Census of Azerbaijan. Baku: ArDSK; 2020.
  2. 2.Swietochowski T. Russia and Azerbaijan: A Borderland in Transition. Columbia University Press; 1995.
  3. 3.Yunusbayev B, Metspalu M, Järve M, et al. The Caucasus as an asymmetric semipermeable barrier to ancient human migrations. Mol Biol Evol. 2012;29(1):359-365.
  4. 4.de Waal T. Black Garden: Armenia and Azerbaijan Through Peace and War (rev ed). NYU Press; 2013.
  5. 5.Souleimanov E. Understanding Ethnopolitical Conflict: Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia Wars Reconsidered. Palgrave Macmillan; 2013.

Other countries in Western Asia

Aggregate phenotype references for neighbouring Western Asia nations, weighted by demographic composition.

Browse all Western Asiaethnic groups & countries →