Caucasus

The Caucasus is a region in Eastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus mountains and surrounding lowlands.

The highest peak is Elbrus (5642m).

The nations that comprise today's Caucasus include Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The northern slopes of the Caucasus are in the Russian Federation: Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai and the autonomous republics Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan.

Three areas here claim independence, but are not acknowledged by the international institutions: Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia. The Caucasus is one of the most linguistically and culturally diverse places on Earth. The Caucasus region (Caucasia) is geographically a part of Asia, but historically and culturally it is often seen as a part of Europe (precisely Eastern Europe).

The southern section of the Caucasus is known as the Transcaucasus.

Historical events:

• The Arab-Khazar Wars
• Conquest of the Caucasus by Russia
• Armenian Genocide
• 1991: Re-establishment of the independence of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan

The Biblical Mountain Ararat where Noah's Ark landed is in Caucasus, in historically Armenian lands. Therefore, Armenians claim that re-birth of the world started from Armenia. 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. Loreena McKennitt's song "Night Ride Across the Caucasus" vaguely describes this region. Cheese is a major product of this region.

See also

• Peoples of the Caucasus
• Ibero-Caucasian languages
• BTC Pipeline
• Transcaucasia

External links

• Ethnolinguistic Groups in the Caucasus Region – University of Texas at Austin (1995)
• About Rugs from Caucasus