The Mud Volcanoes of Azerbaijan — Where the Earth Breathes

Azerbaijan is often called the Land of Fire — known for its eternal flames and burning gas seeps. Yet, beyond the fiery hills of Yanar Dag lies another wonder that makes this land truly unique: the mud volcanoes.

Here, across the Absheron Peninsula, the Gobustan plateau, and the shores of the Caspian Sea, the very earth seems alive. It bubbles, murmurs, exhales warm gases, and throws up cool gray mud straight from its depths.

Mud volcanoes in Azerbaijan are not rare phenomena — they are part of the country’s identity. Out of roughly 700 known mud volcanoes in the world, more than half are located here. This remarkable concentration is the result of Azerbaijan’s unique geology: beneath its surface lie rich oil and gas fields, and these reservoirs feed the underground pressure that pushes gas and mud upward. When that pressure grows too high, the earth bursts open. A mixture of clay, minerals, and gas erupts through the crust, forming miniature cones or wide craters that harden into strange, lunar-like landscapes. Over time, these sites have become natural sculptures — raw, untamed, and endlessly fascinating.

The phenomenon of mud volcanoes has long captured human imagination. Ancient chronicles and folklore speak of lands where the earth breathes. Locals once believed that these places were gateways to the spirit world — points where the Earth released its hidden energy.

According to one legend, the Earth Mother Goddess, Ana Gaya, chose these lands as her resting place. When angered, she exhaled her fury through bubbling mud and gas, shaking the ground beneath her. For the ancient Zoroastrians, who worshipped fire, these eruptions were sacred signs — a divine message rising from the heart of the earth itself.

As science advanced, these mysterious outbursts became subjects of study. Geologists discovered that mud volcanoes are caused by trapped methane and hydrocarbons beneath the surface — the same gases that fuel Azerbaijan’s oil fields. The first recorded eruption occurred in 1810, near modern-day Baku, when a fiery column of gas and mud rose into the sky. Nearly two centuries later, in 2001, the world watched in awe as Boyuk Kanizadag volcano erupted, sending flames over 300 meters high — one of the largest mud volcano eruptions ever recorded.

Visit the Gobustan mud volcanoes, and you’ll feel like you’ve stepped onto another planet. The gray cracked earth stretches endlessly, dotted with cone-shaped mounds and pools of bubbling clay. The silence is broken only by the gentle gurgle of mud and the hiss of escaping gas — the sound of a living landscape. At sunset, the view turns surreal: the glowing light paints the terrain in gold and silver tones. Many travelers and photographers call this area “Azerbaijan’s lunar valley.” Even NASA scientists have compared Gobustan’s terrain to images of Mars, using satellite data from this region for geological studies.

> Azerbaijan is home to over 350 mud volcanoes, including both land and underwater formations.

> More than 140 volcanoes lie beneath the Caspian Sea, some of which create temporary islands after eruptions.

> In 2023, one such eruption near the Caspian’s Kumani Bank formed a “ghost island” that soon vanished back into the sea.

> The volcanic mud is rich in minerals and is used in therapeutic treatments for its anti-inflammatory properties.

> In 2022, the Mud Volcanoes Tourism Complex opened near Baku, allowing visitors to safely observe eruptions and learn about this natural phenomenon.

Mud volcanoes are more than a geological curiosity — they are symbols of Azerbaijan’s raw energy.

They remind us that the earth here is never still; it breathes, transforms, and speaks in bursts of gas and liquid clay. This connection between fire, earth, and life itself runs deep in Azerbaijani culture. It is the pulse of a land in constant motion — the heartbeat of the “Land of Fire.”