This month, a Western consortium begins pumping oil. But only a tiny fraction of the country's 7.7 million people will profit enough to enjoy Baku's new amenities. The wave of construction that transformed the neighborhoods of central Baku has barely touched the rest of the city, where essential government services are in shambles. Teachers and doctors search for ways to supplement their puny salaries. Trash goes uncollected, festering in apartment building entryways.
Conditions are worse outside the capital.
Roughly 800,000 displaced Azerbaijanis are living as refugees. The fortunes and misfortunes of oil make a familiar story in Baku. At the turn of the century, fields in and around the city were producing half of the world's petroleum. But the Kremlin neglected the region after World War II and focused its oil explorations on Siberia. Rows of rusted derricks now stand as a reminder of the treasure Moscow siphoned off.