Azerbaijan in the southern Caucasus and the Caspian Sea are home to nearly four hundred mud volcanoes - more than half the total throughout the world.
They erupt occasionally with spectacular results, but are generally not considered to be dangerous. An impressive volcanic eruption occured in 2001 in Azerbaijan, but there were no casualties or evacuation warnings.
Mud volcanoes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but those most common in Azerbaijan have several small cones, or vents, up to about four metres in height (13 feet), sometimes topping a hill of several hundred metres. These small cones emit cold mud, water and gas almost continually - an amazing and even beautiful sight, which has become part of the tourist itinerary for foreigners visiting Azerbaijan.
This was the kind of eruption that witnesses described seeing on a hillside 15 kilometres (nine miles) outside the Azerbaijani capital Baku in Oct 2001. "There was a big explosion, and a huge flame started coming from the hillside," said one witness. "It looked as though an animal was trying to get out of the ground.
"The flame was unbelievably big, about three hundred metres high. It was surrounded by dense, black smoke, and lots of mud was being thrown into the air. "The biggest flames burned for about five minutes. Then there was another huge explosion, and then they calmed down to about 10 or 20 metres (32 or 65 feet) high." The flames could easily be seen from 15 kilometres away on the day of the explosion, and were still burning, although at a lower level, three days later.
Mud volcanoes are one of the visible signs of the presence of oil and gas reserves under the land and sea in the Caspian region. Gas seeps are a related phenomenon. These occur when a pocket of gas under the ground finds a passage to the surface. One gas seep burns continually on a hillside near Baku, ignored by the sheep but sometimes visited by curious tourists. It is an unearthly sight, especially at dusk, and it is easy to understand how these fires that never appear to burn out became objects of worship.
The appearance of the Zoroastrian religion in Azerbaijan almost 2,000 years ago is closely connected with these geological phenomena, and, according to one theory, the name "Azerbaijan" itself was derived from the word for "fire" in Persian. Gobustan is very rich in archaeological monuments. The reserve has more than 6,000 rock engravings dating back between 5,000 - 40,000 years. The site also features the remains of inhabited caves, settlements and burials, all reflecting an intensive human use by the inhabitants of the area during the wet period that followed the last Ice Age, from the Upper Paleolithic to the Middle Ages. The site, which covers an area of 537 ha, is part of the larger protected Gobustan Reservation.
Most of the rock engravings depict primitive men, animals, battle-pieces, ritual dances, bullfights, boats with armed oarsmen, warriors with lances in their hands, camel caravans, pictures of sun and stars.
The petroglyphs and rock engravings are an exceptional testimony to a way of life that has disappeared, graphic representations of activities connected with hunting and fishing at a time when the climate and vegetation of the area were warmer and wetter than today.
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