Editing Economy of Azerbaijan (section)

===Transportation===
{{Main|Transportation in Azerbaijan}}
The convenient location of Azerbaijan on the crossroad of major international traffic arteries, such as the [[Silk Road]] and the south–north corridor, highlights the strategic importance of the transportation sector for the country's economy.<ref>{{cite web | last =Ziyadov | first =Taleh | author-link =Taleh Ziyadov | title =The New Silk Roads | publisher =Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Silk Road Studies Program | url =http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/publications/GCA/GCAPUB-10.pdf | url-status =dead | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20130725084438/http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/publications/GCA/GCAPUB-10.pdf | archive-date =25 July 2013 }}</ref> The transport sector in the country includes roads, railways, aviation, and maritime transport.

Azerbaijan is also an important economic hub in the transportation of raw materials. The [[Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline]] (BTC) became operational in May 2006 and extends more than 1,774&nbsp;kilometers through the territories of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. The BTC is designed to transport up to 50&nbsp;million tons of crude oil annually and carries oil from the Caspian Sea oilfields to global markets.<ref>{{cite journal
 |publisher=The Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, Silk Road Studies Program
 |author=Zeyno Baran
 |author-link=Zeyno Baran
 |title=The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline: Implications for Turkey
 |url=http://www.silkroadstudies.org/BTC_6.pdf
 |journal=The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline: Oil Window to the West
 |pages=103–118
 |year=2005
 |access-date=30 December 2007
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227022300/http://www.silkroadstudies.org/BTC_6.pdf
 |archive-date=27 February 2008
}}
</ref> The [[South Caucasus Pipeline]], also stretching through the territory of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, became operational at the end of 2006 and offers additional gas supplies to the European market from the [[Shah Deniz gas field]]. Shah Deniz is expected to produce up to 296&nbsp;billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.<ref>{{cite press release|title=SCP Commissioning Commences |publisher=[[BP]] |url=http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=9006615&contentId=7018471 |date=1 June 2006 |access-date=4 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011104709/http://www.bp.com/genericarticle.do?categoryId=9006615&contentId=7018471 |archive-date=11 October 2007 }}</ref> Azerbaijan also plays a major role in the EU-sponsored Silk Road Project.

In 2012, the construction of [[Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway]] expected to provide transportation between Asia and Europe through connecting the railways of China and [[Kazakhstan]] in the east with Turkey's [[Marmaray]] to the European railway system in the west. [[Russian gauge|Broad gauge]] railways in 2010 stretched for {{convert|2918|km|0|abbr=on}} and [[electrified railway]]s numbered {{convert|1278|km|0|abbr=on}}. By 2010, there were 35 airports and one [[heliport]].<ref name="CIAWFAJ"/>