Forests of Azerbaijan facts for kids
The total forest area of Azerbaijan is 1,021,880 ha or 11.8% of the country's area. The forest biomes are made up of temperate deciduous forests, temperate mixed deciduous and coniferous forests, temperate coniferous forests and riparian forests. Specialists estimate that in the 8th-9th centuries the forest cover was around 30-35%, most of it situated in mountainous areas.
While as a whole, Azerbaijan is a country with modest forest cover, the forest cover is unevenly spread across the country. In the low-lying areas, the forest cover is very sparse, also due to the fact that the precipitation is too low for trees and forests to grow in most of these areas; whereas in many mountainous areas, the forest cover is much greater especially in wetter areas.
49% of the country's forests are located in the Greater Caucasus Mountains, 34% in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, 15% in the Talysh Mountains-Lankaran Lowland region, 2% in the Kur-Araz Lowland, and 0.5% in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
The forests are classified into two major ecoregions in Azerbaijan: the Caucasus mixed forests of the Greater Caucasus Mountains and the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, and the Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests of the Talysh Mountains-Lankaran Lowland region.
Azerbaijan has many endemic tree and shrub species, relicts of the Tertiary period which were not affected by Pliocene and Pleistocene glaciations.
The forests of Azerbaijan have 150 endemic species of trees and bushes out of a total of 435 species of trees and bushes.
Images for kids
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Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forest in the Lerik District
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Mountain forests in Gakh
