Baku Azerbaijan [ 4K HDR ] full central boulevard walking tour - Bulvar-

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Baku (US: /bɑːˈkuː, ˈbɑːkuː/, UK: /bæˈkuː, ˈbækuː/;Azerbaijani: Bakı [bɑˈcɯ] (listen)) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region.Baku is located 28 metres (92 ft) below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world and also the largest city in the world located below sea level. Baku lies on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, alongside the Bay of Baku. Baku's urban population was estimated at two million people as of 2009.Baku is the primate city of Azerbaijan - it is the sole metropolis in the country, and about 25% of all inhabitants of the country live in Baku's metropolitan area. Baku is divided into twelve administrative raions and 48 townships. Among these are the townships on the islands of the Baku Archipelago, and the town of Oil Rocks built on stilts in the Caspian Sea, 60 kilometres (37 miles) away from Baku. The Inner City of Baku, along with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000.

The city is the scientific, cultural, and industrial centre of Azerbaijan. Many sizeable Azerbaijani institutions have their headquarters there. In recent years, Baku has become an important venue for international events. It hosted the 57th Eurovision Song Contest in 2012, the 2015 European Games, 4th Islamic Solidarity Games, the European Grand Prix in 2016, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix since 2017, hosted the final of the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, and was one of the host cities for UEFA Euro 2020. The Baku International Sea Trade Port is capable of handling two million tonnes of general and dry bulk cargoes per year.

The city is renowned for its harsh winds, which is reflected in its nickname, the "City of Winds".

Etymology
Baku is long attested under the Perso-Arabic name باکو (Bākū). Early Arabic sources also refer to the city as Bākuh and Bākuya,all of which seem to come from a Persian name. The further etymology is unclear.

A popular etymology in the 19th century considered it to be derived from Persian بادکوبه (Bâd-kube, meaning "wind-pounded city", a compound of bād, "wind", and kube, which is rooted in the verb کوبیدن kubidan, "to pound", thus referring to a place where wind would be strong and pounding,as is the case of Baku, which is known to experience fierce winter snow storms and harsh winds). This popular name (Badkubə in modern Azergained currency as a nickname for the city by the 19th century (e.g., it is used in Akinchi, volume 1, issue 1, p. 1), and is also reflected in the city's modern nickname as the "City of Winds". Another and even less probable folk etymology explains the name as deriving from Baghkuy, meaning "God's town". Baga (now بغ bagh) and kuy are the Old Persian words for "god" and "town" respectively; the name Baghkuy may be compared with Baghdād ("God-given") in which dād is the Old Persian word for "give".

During Soviet rule, the city was spelled in Cyrillic as "Бакы" in Azerbaijani (while the Russian spelling was and still is "Баку", Baku). The modern Azerbaijani spelling, which has been using the Latin alphabet since 1991, is Bakı; the shift from the Perso-Arabic letter و (ū) to Cyrillic "ы" and, later, Latin "ı" may be compared to that in other Azerbaijani words (e.g. compare قاپو qāpū in old Perso-Arabic spelling with modern Azerbaijani qapı, "door") or in suffixes, as و was often used to transcribe the vowel harmony in Azerbaijani (which was also the practice in Ottoman Turkish).
Culture
In 2007 the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid, was opened.Baku also has many museums such as Baku Museum of Modern Art and Azerbaijan State Museum of History, most notably featuring historical artifacts and art. Many of the city's cultural sites were celebrated in 2009 when Baku was designated an Islamic Culture Capital.Baku was chosen to host the Eurovision Dance Contest 2010. It has also become the first city hosting the first European Games in 2015.
Theatres
Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater
Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre
Azerbaijan State Academic Drama Theatre
Azerbaijan State Russian Drama Theatre named after Samad Vurgun
Baku Puppet Theatre (formally Azerbaijan State Puppet Theatre named after Abdulla Shaig)
Azerbaijan State Theatre of Young Spectators
Azerbaijan State Theatre of Musical Comedy
Baku State Circus
"Oda" Theatre
Baku Marionette Theatre
Baku Municipal Theatre
Azerbaijan State Pantomime Theatre
Mugham Azerbaijan National Music Theatre
Azerbaijan State Theatre of Song named after Rashid Behbudov
"UNS" Theatre
"Yugh" Theatre
Museums
The Museum Centre
Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography
Azerbaijan State Carpet Museum
Azerbaijan Museum of Geology