The stunning old city of Baku is a World heritage site. Thanks to the petro-dollars, this city has been impressively restored. The government pays for everything, even if it is a private house. The only condition is that the owners cannot interfere in the works. So non-professional restoration and bad taste can be avoided.

The first oil well in the world to be mechanically drilled was in Azerbaijan in 1846. Large-scale oil development started in 1872, when the Russian imperial authorities auctioned the parcels of oil-rich land around Baku to private investors. Within a short period of time Swiss, British, French, Belgian, German, Swedish and American investors appeared in Baku, among them were the firms of the Nobel brothers and the Rothschild family. An industrial oil belt, better known as Black City, was established near Baku. By the beginning of the 20th century almost half of world production was being extracted in Baku. All around the city is a real forest of derricks, unfortunately environmental disasters appear everywhere.

Oli and pollution