Azerbaijan, the nation and former Soviet republic, is bounded by the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, which span Asia and Europe. Its capital, Baku, is famed for its medieval walled Inner City. Within the Inner City lies the Palace of the Shirvanshahs, a royal retreat dating to the 15th century, and the centuries-old stone Maiden Tower, which dominates the city skyline.

The Manat is the currency of Azerbaijan which is subdivided into 100 qepik. Today we are discussing a 1 Manat banknote issued in the year 2009. The note specifications are as follows:

The obverse has graphic reflections of Azerbaijani national musical instruments – Tar, Kamancha, and Daf (Ghaval) in centre with the ancient carpet patterns of Azerbaijan in the background. The reverse shows the map of Azerbaijan in centre, a map representing Azerbaijan’s integration into Europe to left and the in centre background there are Azerbaijani national carpet ornaments. This olive, grey and yellow note has the theme of Independent Azerbaijan with a Fire bud, symbolising Yanar Dag Mountain, Ateshgah, pre-islamic fire worshiping and a connection to Zoroastrianism and an Electrotype "1" as it’s watermark.

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