Who knows what kind of city Baku is in England?

Azerbaijan is the capital of People's Republic of China (PRC), the main port of Caspian Sea and the largest city in Transcaucasia. Located in the south of the Apsheron Peninsula on the west coast of the Caspian Sea. It covers an area of about 2,200 square kilometers and has a population of nearly 1.7 million. Azerbaijan is rich in oil and cotton, which Azerbaijanis proudly call "black gold and platinum". The national emblem of the Republic of China is engraved with the patterns of oil derrick and cotton bell, which is a symbol of the country's two major economic pillars. In fact, Baku is a very old city. Its earliest history can be traced back to the 5th century.18th century became the capital of Baku khanate, 1806 was merged into Russia, and 1920 became the capital of Azerbaijan in the former Soviet Union. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Baku was still a backward city, with no trees and full of smoke. After the October Revolution in Russia, with the large-scale exploration and development of oil in the Caspian Sea, Baku has taken on a new look, and gradually built a modern city with many tall buildings and trees. From 65438 to 0940, Baku's oil production reached its peak, accounting for 7 1.5% of the total output of the Soviet Union at that time. Since then, Baku's crude oil production began to decline, but it remained the largest oil field in the Soviet Union until 1950, accounting for 39.2% of the total output of the Soviet Union. After the 1950s, due to the decline of reserves, the crude oil output declined after the cumulative exploitation of 654.38+0.2 billion tons, and the production situation turned sharply. 1955, the proportion of crude oil production in the whole Soviet Union decreased to 15%. From 65438 to 0970, it dropped to about 5%, and in the 1980s, the proportion was less than 2%, which was followed by the great slowdown of urban development and the continuous decline of its status.

As the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku is not only a political and cultural center, but also an important oil base and economic center. As early as the 10 century, wells were dug here to pump oil. The Apsheron Peninsula with Baku as the center and its adjacent seabed have become one of the world-famous oil producing areas with a history of 100 years. The world's industrialized oil exploitation began in 1877, and Azerbaijan drilled its first oil well as early as 1873. At the beginning of the 20th century, the output of Baku Oilfield ranked first in the world. 190 1 accounts for almost half of the world's oil production, becoming the industrial center of the South Caucasus and the oil base of Russia. Since then, Baku has become famous as an "oil city".

Since it is an oil city, naturally many industrial categories are closely related to oil, such as petrochemical industry and petroleum machinery. However, Baku's economic transformation is relatively early, which is a successful case of developing an oil city under the planned economic system of the former Soviet Union. During the Soviet period, apart from oil and natural gas exploitation, other industries in Baku, such as machinery manufacturing, metallurgy, mining, machine tools, motors, shipbuilding, auto repair, cement and building materials, fire fighting equipment, etc. , but also gradually developed and expanded; Light industry has also grown from scratch and become an important light industry base in Transcaucasia. Carpet and food industries are quite developed, and the granular snakehead roe and caviar produced are world-famous. Petroleum development has also promoted the development of military enterprises, transportation, urban transportation, housing construction, commerce, service industry and other undertakings. Baku is also an important railway hub and shipping center in Transcaucasia, where many railway trunk lines in Caucasus gather. As a port, Baku can berth medium-tonnage ships with an annual throughput of180,000 tons.

Baku attaches great importance to the development of culture, education and science and technology in the process of industrial restructuring. Azerbaijan's education system is divided into preschool education, general education in primary and secondary schools, vocational and technical education, secondary professional education and higher education. The literacy rate of residents reached 99.9%. Baku has more than 65,438,000 scientific research institutions, including Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, and more than 65,438,000 institutions of higher learning. The most famous institution of higher learning is the National University of Lasuzzad, along with Azerbaijan Petroleum Institute, Azerbaijan Medical College and Higher Conservatory of Music. Akhundov National Library in Baku, built in 1923, has a collection of more than 3 million books and is the largest library in Azerbaijan. In addition, there are the senac-Karl Mosque Tower built in 1 1 century, the Notre Dame Tower and the Kizikaraseta Tower built in12nd century, and the Silva Palace built in15th century. The famous "Notre Dame Tower" is located in the center of the old city of Baku, near the Caspian Sea, and is a part of the Khan Palace in the12nd century. The circular part of the tower faces north, and the cold wind bypasses it; The prominent wing of the tower faces south, and the cool south wind in summer leads into the city. The old city is always warm in winter and cool in summer. Numerous scenic spots and historical sites provide favorable conditions for the development of tourism.

There have been many negative reports about the oil city of Baku, and it is very one-sided to describe Baku as a typical city with a single economic structure and a "exhausted city". The economic structure of Baku is not "single". It is true that the remaining oil reserves are declining rapidly, but they will never be exhausted. There is great potential to increase reserves through exploration. 1997 65438+ 10, the Albanian government signed a new "century contract" with famous oil companies in the United States, Japan and other countries, and western countries will invest 2 billion US dollars to develop oil-bearing structures in the south of Baku with a reserve of1500,000 tons in the next 25 years. So far, in order to revitalize the economy, Azerbaijan has signed at least five "century contracts" with foreign companies to explore and develop Caspian oil, with a total investment of 654.38+08 billion US dollars. In recent years, new progress has been made in oil exploration and development in the Caspian Sea region, and the development of Baku has recovered its vitality. Now, Baku is still famous as an "oil city". International observers believe that after twists and turns, Baku will surely embark on a healthier development path.

The case of Baku shows that: firstly, the economic system reform under the planned economy system should be analyzed realistically and cannot be completely denied; Second, we should be cautious about the conclusion that "the mine is exhausted and the city is declining". Once the new mechanism is adopted, new discoveries will be made in the exploration of mineral resources, and the economy will certainly turn around and regain its vitality.