Naftalan

Naftalan is a sahar (city) in Azerbaijan, surrounded by the rayon of Goranboy. It is on an agricultural plain near the Lesser Caucasus Mountains. The word naftalan also means a petroleum product which can be obtained there. The word Naftalan, can be traced to the Greek word "naphtha" ("νάφθα"), meaning pertaining to oil, and the Azerbaijani suffix "-alan", which is of the verb "to take" (and literally meaning "oil buyer"). It is the center of a unique petroleum industry, with a grade of oil referred to as "Naftalan". While Naftalan crude oil is too heavy for normal export uses (unlike Azerbaijan's plentiful Caspian Sea oil), it contains about 50 percent naphthalene, a hydrocarbon that is the active ingredient in coal tar soaps, which...