Mud volcanoes is very interesting, unique and enigmatic natural phenomenon - they are carriers of a huge volume of cognitive information about the Earth interior. Territory of Azerbaijan is a unique and classical region of mud volcanism in our planet. More than 300 mud volcanoes are located on land of the Eastern Azerbaijan and in the adjacent water area of the Caspian Sea. It is called “a motherland” of mud volcanoes. The latter are represented in all their grandeur and diversity of manifestations (active, dormant, buried, volcanoes with oil seeps, underwater, insular). Territory of Azerbaijan is a unique one by number of mud volcanoes, their diversity and activity. Mainly, mud volcanoes, are located in the territory of the Eastern Azerbaijan – in the Absheron peninsula, in Shamakhy – Gobustan region, in the south – east Shirvan and in the Baku archipelago. In Gobustan there exist more than 100 mud volcanoes and 40 of them abundantly discharge oil. In the Baku archipelago 9 isles are of mud-volcanic origin. Mud volcanoes being, natural resources represents themselves national property of Azerbaijan. For this reason, for more than 10 years, with the help of mass media, there has been advertised urgency of the foundation of mud volcano reserves aimed, first of all, at the preservation of these unique natural monuments for future generations (the first article “volcanoes – monuments of the nature” was published in a newspaper “Vyshka” on January 30, 1993).
On December 3, 2002 Milli Medjlis (Azerbaijan Parliament) adopted a resolution (N 390 – II QD) to include mud volcanoes into a law of the Azerbaijan Republic “About a specially preserved natural territories” (Chapter VIII, clause 29). Volcanoes have acquired a status of natural monuments. A year later at the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Azerbaijan Republic on issues of mud volcanism of mud volcanism there was formed the Coordination Board (order of minister N 012 as of January 06.2004) under the chairmanship of Ad.A.Aliyev.For three and a half years the Coordination  Board prepared passports of mud volcanoes, maps of their location in

different regions of Republic. On August 15.2007 President of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev signed order (N 2315) about the foundation of the State Reserve of a group of mud volcanoes in Baku and in the Absheron peninsula. This web site is a brief characteristics of 25 typical mud volcanoes in the Absheron peninsula, Shamakhy – Gobustan region, South – East Shirvan and the Baku archipelago, which may be interesting for tourist.