Editing Azerbaijan (section)

===Transportation===
{{Main|Transportation in Azerbaijan|Rail transport 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 |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 includes roads, railways, aviation, and maritime transport. It 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 {{convert|1774|km|0|abbr=on}} 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|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.<ref>{{cite web |last= Ziyadov |first= Taleh |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 |df= dmy-all}}</ref>

In 2002, the government established the Ministry of Transport with a broad range of policy and regulatory functions. In the same year, the country became a member of the [[Vienna Convention on Road Traffic]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cracowrent.pl/uploads/pliki/CP_Vienna_convention.pdf |title=List of Contracting Parties to the Convention on Road Traffic |publisher=UN Economic Commission for Europe |access-date=23 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814012703/http://cracowrent.pl/uploads/pliki/CP_Vienna_convention.pdf |archive-date=14 August 2011 }}</ref> Priorities are upgrading the transport network and improving transportation services to better facilitate the development of other sectors of the economy.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} The 2012 construction of Kars–Tbilisi–Baku railway was meant to improve transportation between Asia and Europe by connecting the railways of China and Kazakhstan in the east to the European railway system in the west via Turkey. In 2010 [[Russian gauge|Broad-gauge]] railways and electrified railways stretched for {{convert|2918|km|0|abbr=on}} and {{convert|1278|km|0|abbr=on}} respectively. By 2010, there were 35 airports and one [[heliport]].<ref name="cia" />