Azerbaijan was the first republic of the former Soviet Union that faced the problem of refugees and internally displaced persons. Up to 600,000 IDPs were in Azerbaijan as of the end of 2012. The refugees are ethnic Azerbaijanis from Armenia and the internally displaced persons are ethnic Azerbaijanis from Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven adjacent rayons, which are occupied (some of them partly) by the Armenian forces. To a large extent, IDPs continue to be prevented from returning to their homes. Azerbaijan per capita, has the highest number of refugees and internally displaced people of any country in the world today.