In 1923, the Soviet Union created the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (an oblast is an administrative region or province) within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. This oblast has a 95% ethnically Armenian population. In 1988, Nagorno-Karabakh intended to leave Azerbaijan and join the neighboring Republic of Armenia. While the Soviet Union was able to keep the resulting tension under control, once the USSR began to collapse, armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began for co
