Roads in Azerbaijan

Roads in Azerbaijan are the main transport network in Azerbaijan. With the railway network still undergoing modernization and not covering the entire country, especially mountainous areas and other areas with difficult topography, the road system is the most important form of transport in the country. Its role is important both with national, and as an important transit country, with international traffic.

Overview

The total length of the Azerbaijani road network is about 29,000 km, serving domestic cargo traffic and giving access to international main highways. The first modern paved roads, appeared in Azerbaijan in the 19th century when it was part of the Russian Empire. Highways are mostly in fair condition and need an upgrade to international standards in a view to accommodate growing transit traffic. Main and rural roads are in poor condition and in urgent need of rehabilitation and maintenance. The road network, from rural roads to motorways, is today undergoing a rapid modernization with rehabilitations and extensions. For every 1000 km² of national territory, there are 334 km of roads.

According to Global Competitiveness Index 2017-2018 report, Azerbaijan ranks 36th out of 137 countries for the quality (condition and extensiveness) of its road infrastructure.^[1]

Highways in Azerbaijan

The highway network is 4 lanes (2 in each direction) wide and are illuminated in cities but less frequently in towns. The highway sign in Azerbaijan is blue and locations are shown in capital letters. The main highways in the country are:

Sign	Number	Route	Length
	R1	Qəndob – Xaçmaz – Xudat – Yalama – Russia	088 km
	R2	Giləzi – Xızı	031 km
	R3	Quba – Qusar	012 km
	R4	Quba – Xaçmaz	022 km
	R5	Qusar – Xudat	029 km
	R6	Hacı Zeynalabdin – Sahil	040 km
	R7	Hacı Zeynalabdin – Sumqayıt	018 km
	R8	Muğanlı – İsmayıllı	040 km
	R9	Qaraməryəm – İsmayıllı – Şəki – Oğuz	158 km
	R10	Qaraməryəm – Müsüslü	022 km
	R11	Ağsu – Kürdəmir – İmişli – Bəhramtəpə	113 km
	R12	Göyçay – Bərgüşad	018 km
	R13	Göyçay – Ucar	020 km
	R14	Ağdaş – Ləki	010 km
	R15	Ağdaş – Zarağan	045 km
	R16	Qorağan – Qax – Zaqatala	043 km
	R17	Xaldan – Mingəçevir	013 km
	R18	Mingəçevir – Mingəçevir Hydro Power Plant – Bəhramtəpə	166 km
	R19	Ganja – Kəlbəcər – Laçın	200 km
	R20	Ganja – Daşkəsən	038 km
	R21	Ganja – Samux	008 km
	R22	Şəmkir – Gədəbəy	045 km
	R23	Qazax – Uzuntala – Armenia (closed)	014 km
	R24	Ağstafa – Poylu – Georgia	054 km
	R25	Goranboy – Naftalan	018 km
	R26	Goranboy – Tərtər	035 km
	R27	Tərtər – Hindarx	041 km
	R28	Yevlax – Xocalı – Laçın – Xankəndi – Şuşa	154 km
	R29	Bərdə – İstisu – Kəlbəcər	164 km
	R30	Xankəndi – Xocavənd	042 km
	R31	Şuşa – Füzuli	053 km
	R32	Ucar – Zərdab – Ağcabədi	076 km
	R33	Ağdam – Hindarx – Ağcabədi	048 km
	R34	Ağdam – Ağdərə	026 km
	R35	Ağdam – Füzuli – Horadiz – Xocavənd	094 km
	R36	Laçın – Həkəri	083 km
	R37	Laçın – Zabux – Armenia (closed)	023 km
	R38	Qubadlı – Xanlıq	016 km
	R39	Həkəri – Zəngilan	023 km
	R40	Füzuli – Cəbrayil – Mahmudlu	046 km
	R41	Yuxarı Qarabağ Kanalı – Beyləqan – Daşburun	032 km
	R42	Bəhramtəpə – Biləsuvar	062 km
	R43	Biləsuvar – Iran	019 km
	R44	Hacıqabul – Şirvan	011 km
	R45	Şirvan – Noxudlu – Salyan	043 km
	R46	Salyan – Neftçala	040 km
	R47	Masallı – Yardımlı	053 km
	R48	Lənkəran – Lerik	055 km
	R49	Nakhchivan – Şahbuz – Armenia (closed)	065 km
	R50	M2 (371 km) – Ganja International Airport	011 km
	R51	M2 (336 km) – Ganja	008 km
	R52	M2 (317 km) – Train station Kürəkçay	005 km
	R53	M2 (376 km) – Train station Alabaşlı	008 km
	R54	M2 (70 km) – Train station Ələt	005 km
	R55	M3 (220 km) – Train station Masallı	005 km
	R56	M5 (17 km) – Kərimli	031 km
	R57	M5 (46 km) – Şəki	012 km
	R58	M5 (128 km) – Train station Zaqatala	009 km
	R59	M5 (150 km) – Train station Balakən	002 km
	R60	M6 (94 km) – İmişli	007 km
	R61	M6 (250 km) – Zəngilan	011 km
	R62	M7 (58 km) – Şərur	004 km
	R63	M7 (80 km) – Sədərək	008 km
	R64	M8 (3 km) – Babək	003 km
	R65	M8 (44 km) – Culfa	002 km
	R66	M8 (75 km) – Train station Ordubad	005 km

Motorways

Azerbaijan has recently developed a network of multilane highways, which are steadily being expanded. Especially around Baku, some of these roads are built to controlled-access highway standards. The majority of these highways consists of four-lane highways, while some routes in and around Baku consist of six to eight-lane highways.

Sign	Number	Route	Length	International numbers
	M1	Baku - Abşeron - Sumqayıt - Xızı - Siyəzən - Şabran - Quba - Qusar - Xaçmaz - Russia	205 km
	M2	Baku - Tovuz - Georgia	507 km
	M3	Ələt - Salyan - Lənkəran - Astara - Iran (Astara)	311 km
	M4	Baku - Şamaxı - Ağsu - Göyçay - Ağdaş	253 km
	M5	Yevlax - Şəki - Zaqatala - Balakən	184 km
	M6	Hajiqabul - Şirvan - Bəhramtəpə - Horadiz - Zəngilan - Armenia (closed)	290 km
	M7	Nakhchivan - Babək - Kəngərli - Şərur - Sədərək - Turkey	081 km
	M8	Culfa - Ordubad - Armenia (closed)	089 km

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the CIA World Factbook website https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html.