Present-day Azerbaijan is ruled by Persia since earlier than the first century BC. In the seventh century the area is conquered by the Caliphate. Foreign occupation seizes to exist around 837, but in the eleventh century the area becomes part of Georgia. In 1235 it is conquered by the Mongols. Around 1500 the Azerbaijani tribes form the Sefewide state. In 1555 the region is annexed by Persia. Due to its location astride the trade routes connecting Europe to Central Asia and the Near East and on the shore of the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan is fought over by Russia, Persia and the Ottomans for several centuries. Finally Russia splits Azerbaijan's territory with Persia in 1828 by the Treaty of Turkmenchay, establishing the present frontiers and extinguishing the last native dynasties of local Azerbaijani khans.

At the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917, the independent democratic People's Republic of Azerbaijan is proclaimed in 1918 following an abortive attempt to establish a Transcaucasian Republic with Armenia and Georgia. Prime ministers are Fath Ali Khan Khoiski (1918-1919) and Nasibbey Yusifbeyli (1919-1920) of the Turkic Party of Federalists-Musavat (Turkic Party of Federalist-Equality, TPM). This independence is supported by Turkey and the United Kingdom. Azerbaijan received de facto recognition by the Allies as an independent nation in 1920, an independence terminated by the arrival of the Red Army later that year. This brings the communist to power, who establish the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, that joins Transcaucasia in 1922 and with Transcaucasia the USSR the same year. Azerbaijan becomes a separate republic of the USSR in 1936.

In 1991 the Republic of Azerbaijan secedes from the USSR and becomes independent. The same year Nagorno Karabakh, mainly inhabited by Armenians, secedes from Azerbaijan. This seccession is internationally not recognized. Azerbaijan is a presidential parliamentary republic without a real democratic culture. The first president is Ayaz Mutalibov, leader of the Azərbaycan Kommunist Partiyasi (Azerbaijan Communist Party, AKP), elected in 1991. He resigns after public pressure in 1992 and Abulfaz Elchibey of the pan-Turkic Azərbaycan Xalq Cəbhəsi (Azerbaijan Popular Front, AXC) is elected president. After a rebellion he is ousted and succeeded in 1993 by Heudat əlirza oglu əliyev of the Yeni Azərbaycan Partiyasi (New Azerbaijan Party, YAP). əliyev is an authoritarian leader and doesnt give opposition forces a fair chance at elections. əliyev is re-elected in 1998. In 2003 he is succeeded by his son Ilham Heydər oglu əliyev.