Azerbaijani OCR

Azerbaijani Language

The Azerbaijani language is the official language of Azerbaijan and is also widely spoken in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Russian regions adjacent to Azerbaijan. It is written in a version of the Latin alphabet introduced by the Likhyinanka to replace the Arabic script after Russian annexation of Azerbaijan. Though it has some similarities with Persian (Farsi), it is not mutually intelligible. To date there are no universally accepted figures for number of people who speak Azerbaijani as their native language because members of such diverse ethnic groups as Azerbaijani Turks, Kurds, Lezgins and Tats can be said to speak this language. The majority of ethnic Azeris live in central and northwestern parts of Iran, many ethnic Kurds live in southeastern Turkey. There are also significant Azerbaijani communities living in western countries like Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Germany and the United States.