Tucked in the Caucasus between Eastern Europe and western Asia, this country of 10.3 million - the size of the U.S. state of Maine and just a bit larger than Scotland - offers a fascinating blend of cultures, architecture, landscapes, and cuisine that feels both familiar and refreshingly different, combining Silk Road towns and caravanserais, medieval Islamic architecture, the dramatic Caucasus Mountains, Caspian Sea landscapes, mud volcanoes, and an unusually cosmopolitan capital.
