We’ve had a privilege to see some very interesting parts of this Caucasian country. The differences between them made us think about people who live in Azerbaijani cities and those who live in the villages scattered across the countryside. We decided to talk about it with Leman and Farid.
1. Do you know what percent of azerbaijanis live in the city or in the countryside?
Leman: I think it’s about 50/50
Farid: Maybe 40% in Baku and 60% in the countryside. There are 3,5 million people in Baku and totally there is roughly 10 million people..
Leman: But there are also other cities, like Ganja, that’s why I said 50.
Farid: We don’t know the exact number, but something like that…
2. What are the reasons that some people stay in the countryside and others leave for the city? Do people go from the countryside to the city, do they want to move?
Farid: The main reason is education. Especially universities. In Baku they have the best ones.. Young people will come to Baku to study law or economy because there are the best programs there. And also some fields you have to come to Baku, you can’t study elsewhere, technology, telecommunications..
3. Is the standard of living better in the city than in the countryside?
Farid: It is. Actually… Requirements for a people who live in a village and those who live in the city centre are different. Because in the city we have so many things to focus on, we are always busy. In the countryside people have stable jobs, like farming..
4. Do people who live in the countryside have the possibility to develop innovative economic ideas?
Laman: Yes, of course they do! Actually in recent years the government paid attention to innovations. They created some innovation centres in different regions to attract people to innovative fields. And if they want to do it they can, but no one can force them to do it. But people who live in rural areas make good money already. I have a friend who’s father is a farmer he earns a lot more than people in the city. He is very good at his job. He doesn’t want to move because he’s doing well there. And people who live in those areas are a bit conservative about moving to the big cities. This is their home, they want to stay there.
5. What are some inequalities inside the cities? Are there areas for rich people and areas for poorer ones? We’ve noticed a big differences in prices in different cafes in the city…
Laman: Prices are a bit higher in the city center but that doesn’t mean that only the rich live there. People of the old town aren’t extremely rich, we could say that some of them are even poor. They inherit the houses from their relatives… Extremely rich people don’t live in the center. Actually, some of them have a fancy apartment in the city centre, but it’s their choice..
6. Do young azerbaijani people like the idea of moving abroad.
Laman: If you talked to young azerbaijanis 2 or 3 years ago they didn’t have any idea about studying abroad. Now it’s completely different because of the opportunities they have. We started to realize that education we got in Azerbaijan isn’t enough for us. We also want to experience the life in foreign countries. The culture, the people… Not just the education. Maybe we can get something from them and apply it to our society.
Farid: Yes there is a tendency to study abroad. A lot of people from my generation went abroad. There are universities here but you have to understand the foreign standards of your field and specialities of it’s practices worldwide. We also want to make our education system better. That’s why we will need teachers with a lot of experience, new styles and techniques… They need to know how to make real change and help the quality of education.
Laman: Another reason that young people want to study abroad is a recent decrease in Azerbaijani economy, so we can hardly find suitable jobs for ourselves. So we want to go out of the country to see what opportunities we have there… Maybe it’s better. I also want to study abroad. Journalism conditions aren’t good in Azerbaijan. Freedom of speech and democracy and so on… That’s why it is not comfortable for me to work in Azerbaijan. That is why I want to experience journalism field in some foreign countries. I am employed now. I work for the news site but all I do is copying and pasting news. I want to be more active..
Farid: The thing is, now we are in crisis because of oil conditions. Young people understand that studying abroad gives them an advantage. The country also needs people who are able to manage government’s projects in various fields.
7. What are your ideas for countryside development?
Leman: Oh, it’s a hard question!
Farid: Infrastructure. Fixing the roads… We need universities closer to people. So students don’t need to move to Baku and spend their money on an apartment.. We also need other projects in rural areas (e.g. sports projects). We mustn’t only focus on Baku. It is in good shape. Now we need to shift to other places. A good example is European youth capital 2016 in Ganja, not in Baku. Government is beginning to understand that Azerbaijan exists not only in Baku but also another regions.