Caucasus

This article is about the geographic region. For other uses, see Caucasus (disambiguation).

Administrative map of Caucasus in USSR, 1952-1991.

The Caucasus or Caucasia is a region in Eurasia bordered on the south by Iran, on the southwest by Turkey, on the west by the Black Sea, on the east by the Caspian Sea, and on the north by Russia. The Caucasus includes the Caucasus Mountains and surrounding lowlands.

The Caucasus Mountains are commonly reckoned as a dividing line between Asia and Europe, and territories in Caucasia are variably considered to be in one or both continents. The northern portion of the Caucasus is known as the Ciscaucasus and the southern portion as the Transcaucasus. The highest peak in the Caucasus is Mount Elbrus (5,642 m) which, in the western Ciscaucasus in Russia, is generally considered the highest point in Europe.

The Caucasus is one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse regions on Earth. The nation-states that compose the Caucasus today are the post-Soviet states Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan; and various parts of Russia and Iran. The Russian divisions include Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai, and the autonomous republics of Adygea, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya, and Dagestan. Three territories in the region claim independence but are not generally acknowledged as nation-states by the international community: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia.

The Caucasus is an area of great ecological significance; among its native animals are leopards, brown bears, wolves, European bison, marals and golden eagles. The natural landscape of the Caucasus is one of mixed forest, with substantial areas of rocky ground above the treeline.

1 Affiliated states
2 Myths and Legends
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Affiliated states

[edit] Myths and Legends

The Biblical Mount Ararat where Noah's Ark is said to have landed is regarded as the landmark of the ancient Armenian realm. However this fact is greatly debated since there were many Mt. Ararats at the time. The peak of Ararat is seasonally capped with snow. In Greek mythology, the Caucasus or Kaukasos was one of the pillars supporting the world. Prometheus was chained there by Zeus. The Roman poet Ovid placed Caucasus in Scythia and depicted it as a cold and stony mountain which was the abode of personified hunger.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

Caucasus: A Journey to the Land Between Christianity and Islam By Nicholas Griffin
Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus By Svante E. Cornell
The Caucasus By Ivan Golovin