Nagorno-Karabakh, a region inside the republic of Azerbaijan with an ethnic Armenian majority, declared independence in 1991 and won a bloody war which was ended by a ceasefire in 1994.

• First European civil war sparked by disintegration of the Soviet Union
• More than 800,000 people displaced across Azerbaijan and Armenia
• Prospects for a settlement may be improving

Full-scale conflict broke out in early 1992, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Azerbaijani forces initially had the upper hand, but met with spirited resistance from the Karabakh Armenians, who soon drove the Azerbaijanis out of Nagorno-Karabakh.

It is estimated that more than 35,000 people were killed in the war, which also displaced more than 600,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis and 300,000 ethnic Armenians. More than 800,000 people remain displaced across Azerbaijan and Armenia.

After years of fruitless negotiations between the opposing nations, international mediators hope a solution could be in sight later in 2007, saying the two sides were close to agreement on most of the basic principles of a proposed settlement plan.

AZERBAIJAN
Displaced people in Azerbaijan	687,000 (Nov 2006) Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Ethnic Azerbaijani refugees in other countries	233,700 (end 2005) Source: UNHCR
NAGORNO-KARABAKH
Displaced people in Nagorno-Karabakh	30,000 (2005 ) (mainly ethnic Armenians) Source: International Crisis Group
ARMENIA
Number of refugees from Azerbaijan	235,101 (2004) Source: UNHCR
Number of ethnic Armenian refugees in other countries	13,965 (end 2005) Source: UNHCR