The central portion of the country is dominated by the Aras-Kura river valleys. With the exception of the L nk ran Lowland in the subtropical southeast and upper elevations in the mountainous zones, the climate is generally arid. Large-scale canals divert water, primarily for agricultural purposes. Reservoir on the upper Kura to the Aras River. The Samur-Apsheronskiy Canal redirects water from the Samur River on Azerbaijan's northern border to the Apsheron Peninsula, which juts into the Caspian Sea.
Forests grow in the subalpine zone, which is inhabited by bear, deer, lynx, and wild boar.
The arid and semiarid lowlands support a great number of lizards, poisonous snakes, and other reptiles. Population Azerbaijan is the most populous country in the Transcaucasus, with an estimated population of 7,174,000 in 1991. Although it contains people of many different nationalities, the republic has become more ethnically homogeneous in recent years. Large numbers of Azeri refugees have flowed over the border from Armenia, and large numbers of Russians, Armenians, and other nationalities have left Azerbaijan. The Armenian community, which comprised 6 percent of the population in 1989, is now confined almost exclusively to the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.