Azerbaijanis in Russia - Rest of Russia

Rest of Russia

For the past decade, Azeris have played significant roles in developing the Russian economy. With many of them being involved in entrepreneurship, they have been employed in major economical areas, such as trade and oil industry. Among Russia's 100 richest people ranked by the Forbes in 2004, 3 ethnic Azeris were ranked 10, 66 and 74.

Azeris have established numerous cultural communities, the largest one being the All-Russian Azeri Congress, which controls smaller communities throughout Russia. In addition, the Moscow Public Secondary School #157 is set up for students with keen interest in the Azeri language and culture.

Among ethnic Caucasus diasporas in Moscow, Azeris stand out as the least integrated into Russian society and constitute about 1% of the city's population. They have been described as the strongest adherents to their traditions and marriages within their own ethnic community compared to local Armenians, Georgians, Ukrainians, and Tatars. According to a 2006 survey, 71% of Moscow Azeris described themselves as being religious. A great number of them has retained Azerbaijani citizenship and is willing to relocate back to Azerbaijan at some point.

A 2005 study indicated noticeable social differences between the Azeris who are native to or lived considerable parts of their lives in Moscow and the Azeris who are recent immigrants. About half of the people in the first group have a post-secondary degree, whereas among immigrant Azeris only 25% do. Fluency in the Russian language is characteristic of virtually all of those in the first group (moreover, 24% of Azeris from this group showed it as their first language), while almost one-third of those in the second group speak very limited Russian. About half of Azeri newcomers are engaged in commerce and service sector, compared to the native and earlier immigrant Azeris who tend to pursue careers in sciences, health care, education and the arts.