What Are The Characteristics Of Women From Azerbaijan?

Without a doubt, family is of the utmost importance for many Azerbaijani women, which may be due to their often traditional upbringing. Many women from Azerbaijan are raised in a patriarchal manner, which usually means that they have very traditional views regarding households and how these should be approached. As such, a very family-oriented approach is crucial when attempting to meet Azerbaijani women; your new partner will likely expect you to be very family oriented. However, this isn’t necessarily bad and directly relates to Azerbaijani women’s incredibly kind and caring nature. She’ll often take great pride in her ability to manage a household, so giving your Azerbaijani partner a chance to show her skills as a homemaker is essential. 

Interestingly, most Azerbaijani women are incredibly determined to introduce their new partners to their family members. However, the patriarchal nature of Azerbaijani culture means that you will have to put your best foot forwards to impress her relatives. They will likely expect you to show that you can look after their daughter, as is typical for Azerbaijani men. So, holding a firmly established career will help significantly when meeting your new girlfriend’s family. Regarding family structures, the norm in Azerbaijan is usually to have an extensive family. Most Azerbaijan households have multiple children, but the number of families having high numbers of children (over five) is increasing. This trend began in the 1970s with the Soviet Union, where a trend towards “mother heroines” saw women having more children than ever before. However, the growing norm these days for the number of children is around two, with households of four or five slowly increasing. The average fertility rate per woman in Azerbaijan is currently around 1.7.

Despite the significant importance of family in Azerbaijan, the number of marriages is slowly beginning to fall over the years. As such, the current marriage rate has reached its lowest point since approximately 2000. Meanwhile, the number of divorces in Azerbaijan has been slowly increasing, getting a new high rate since 1990. As such, this indicates a changing approach to family in Azerbaijan, which may also influence your outlook on marriage. However, despite this fact, the number of divorces is still low compared to the number of marriages, with around 6000 divorces and over 30,000 marriages annually. Therefore, around one in six marriages or fewer will potentially end in divorce in the country. Compared to many other countries internationally, this may be due to the importance of loyalty in Azerbaijan, which holds an important place in many people’s lives. Despite this trend, it’s also worth considering that the average age at first marriage in Azerbaijan has remained relatively stable, with women typically marrying for the first time at around 24.5 years. Though this has fluctuated slightly between 23.8 and 23.5 years over the past two decades, relative stability suggests that the focus on marriage remains high in the country.

Historically, education was not always vital in Azerbaijani culture, especially for young Azerbaijani girls. However, the arrival of the Soviet Union in the 20th century saw attitudes toward education dramatically shift. As such, education is now much more available in Azerbaijan than in the past. Soviet data from 1970 suggested that every single male and female in the country was literate in 1970; however, more current data from 2009 by the United Nations Development Program suggests a much more realistic literacy estimate of 99.5%. Impressively, this is something of the highest levels of literacy in the world, something many people are surprised to learn. These days, education in Azerbaijan is extensive. Following the collapse of Soviet power in the country, the only significant changes to the education system were that religious education was re-introduced to the curriculum, and Cyrillic was replaced with a modified Latin alphabet.

Public education is free for students in Azerbaijan, but it’s interesting to note that the country’s main strength is secondary education rather than primary. Based on data from the HRMI, the country achieves approximately 85.6% of its obligations, considering its overall income level. However, this is skewed strongly between primary education (81%) and secondary education (90.3%). As such, there is a long way to go before the country achieves its commitments from a funding perspective. With that being said, the level of education in Azerbaijan is still impressively high, which indicates that the country’s education policy is still incredibly effective, even if it could do more. Most education facilities within Azerbaijan are called madrasahs, which are tied to mosques – influencing the religious connection to the schools. Children must attend education from five until at least the ninth grade, but many students continue to study to an even higher level). Getting into a university requires students to pass an entry exam in the summer, free to attempt for the first effort (but students will subsequently have to pay for the examination).

After education, Azerbaijan is a good country for excellent working opportunities. The country’s employment rate is currently meager at roughly 6.5%, which ensures that as many people as possible have a chance of winning their dream job. Plus, average annual salaries also tend to be on the increase; this may influence your quality of life, accordingly. The average monthly salary is just above 800 AZN, roughly 10,000 AZN annually. This only equates to around £5000 per year, unfortunately. However, this is somewhat more affordable considering the lower cost of living for households in Azerbaijan. Fortunately, since the number of women in Azerbaijan in work is increasing (currently around 60%), your household income will usually be slightly higher by having two working partners in the household. Before you start a family with your new Azerbaijani partner, try to ensure you’ve considered finances to decide whether this is a financially safe decision.

The importance of religion is somewhat hard to define in Azerbaijan. Overall, the significant majority of the population follows Islam. Around 96% of the population is Muslim. However, it is worth considering that many of these are only nominally Muslim. In other words, they associate with Muslims but do not actively follow Islam. As such, the number of active followers of Islam is a little more unclear, and this is worth considering when dating women from Azerbaijan. Your new partner will likely follow Islam, but there is no guarantee that they will necessarily be an active follower. Therefore, they may not attend religious ceremonies as actively as can be the case for people from other countries. The most common form of Islam in Azerbaijan is Shia Islam, but around 11.1% of the population follows Sunni Islam still. There also appears to be some level of distaste for Sunni Muslims by the Azerbaijani government, who often hold suspicion over men who grow long beards.

Unfortunately, due to official census data not collating information about irreligion and atheism in the country, it is not always clear how many people are actively religious and how many don’t. This also means that some data may be partially skewed since people may have claimed a particular religion to tick a box if they are otherwise irreligious. Based on data from surveys over several years, based on a much smaller proportion of the population of several thousand people, approximately 20% of people do not consider religion to be that important in terms of their lifestyle. Furthermore, this research found that only around 3% (fewer than one in thirty) of men and women from Azerbaijan attend weekly services. Surprisingly, most are incredibly dedicated to their religion and attend services daily. Nevertheless, it remains clear that most Azerbaijani women will consider themselves Muslims but not necessarily attend regular services. The number of Azerbaijani women and men who are genuinely irreligious is meager, but this is still worth considering as part of your decision to date women from Azerbaijan. Of course, regardless of her faith, you should always support her choices.

While Islam is still the predominant religion within Azerbaijan, several other minority religions exist. However, these are incredibly underrepresented, even though Azerbaijan technically offers religious freedom to its people. Christianity in Azerbaijan, for example, accounts for around 3% of people in the country. However, other minority religions in Azerbaijan include Zoroastrianism (dating back to the first Millenium BC), Judaism, Hinduism, and other ancient pagan religions. Of these, Dualism is perhaps the most well-known pagan religion in Azerbaijan, and ancestor worship is still occasionally seen for men and women in Azerbaijan. Notably, however, not all faiths are allowed in Azerbaijan, despite its religious freedom for the most part. For example, Baptists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Assemblies of God are often declined when applying for registration, which may limit the opportunities for men and women in Azerbaijan to express their true beliefs.

Before you begin dating any women from Azerbaijan, it’s well worth considering their common traits. Indeed, the mentality of women from Azerbaijan is often very different from what we might expect from women raised in western culture. This could significantly influence whether women from Azerbaijan could be a good match for you. However, it’s always worth keeping in mind that women from Azerbaijan are quickly becoming more independent, which may influence their behaviors. Always keep an open mind when dating women from Azerbaijan – there’s a lot to love! Women from Azerbaijan are often easy to love thanks to their friendly, caring, and compassionate nature. This usually means that they are easy to get along with; not only do Azerbaijani women often go out of their way to help others, but they are incredibly caring of their partners. They aim to do whatever they can to make their partner feel valued and cared for.

A notable trait of many Azerbaijani women is that they are incredibly determined. As the earliest women from a Muslim country to receive the vote, it’s safe to say that women from Azerbaijan are relatively progressive, which impacts how they live and act. As a result, while women from Muslim countries are traditionally quiet and self-reserved, Azerbaijani women are more likely to speak up and let you know their thoughts, primarily if prompted. If you ask something from your Azerbaijani partner, she’ll likely tell you exactly what she is thinking. This makes Azerbaijani women very honest. Then again, that’s not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to your relationship, as this helps ensure your Azerbaijani partner won’t just leave disputes to fester. This may also contribute to the relatively low divorce rate in Azerbaijan. However, despite her progressive mindset, it’s worth considering that old habits die hard; so many Azerbaijani women are still highly traditional.

Finally, we should also point out that women from Azerbaijan are also incredibly strong-willed and motivated, and they tend to have a much stronger drive to achieve personal success and independence than women from other Muslim nations. Since modern Azerbaijani women have grown up with the right to vote, they often have a much more determined and motivated outlook on life, working hard to succeed in their lives. You’ll likely find as such that your new Azerbaijani partner probably won’t be content to settle down and accept the status quo; she’ll often want to contribute to the household in any way that she can! Therefore, if your Azerbaijani partner wants to help with household finances, encourage her dreams. Many Azerbaijani women are highly driven and will do their utmost at every opportunity to find a great result from their new career choices. However, that’s not to say that she’s necessarily a workaholic. Instead, most women in Azerbaijan enjoy the challenge of working, but they tend not to work themselves to the bone (which is common in some other Western cultures).