View source for Earth:Caucasus

{{Short description|Transcontinental region between the Black and Caspian seas}}
<onlyinclude>{{#ifeq:{{{transcludesection|caucasusinfobox}}}|caucasusinfobox|
{{Infobox
| bodyclass   = geography
| above       = Caucasus
| image       = [[File:Caucasus topographic map-en.svg|350px]]
| caption     = Topography of the Caucasus
| label1      = Coordinates
| data1       = {{Coord|42|15|40|N|44|07|16|E|source:kolossus-nlwiki_scale:2000000|display=title,inline}}
| label2      = Countries<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wright |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_2NAgAAQBAJ&q=parts+iran+turkey+in+transcaucasia&pg=PA72 |title=Transcaucasian Boundaries |last2=Schofield |first2=Richard |last3=Goldenberg |first3=Suzanne |date=16 December 2003 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135368500 |page=72 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Caucasus in Encyclopedia Britannica">{{Cite web |title=Caucasus &#124; Mountains, Facts, & Map |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Caucasus |website=Encyclopedia Britannica}}</ref>
|data2        = {{ublist|class=nowrap
 |{{flagicon|Armenia}} [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]]
 |{{flagicon|Azerbaijan}} [[Place:Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]]
 |{{flagicon|Georgia (country)}} [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgia]]
 |{{flagicon|Russia}} {{wipe|Russia}}
 }}
{{Collapsible list
 | title    = Related areas 
 | {{flagicon|Iran}} [[Religion:Iran|Iran]]
 |{{flagicon|Turkey}} [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]]  
}}
| label3    = Partially recognized or unrecognized countries
| data3     = {{ublist|class=nowrap
 | {{flag|Abkhazia}}
 | [[File:Flag of Artsakh.svg|border|22px]] [[Place:Republic of Artsakh|Artsakh]]
 | [[File:Flag of South Ossetia.svg|border|22px]] [[Place:South Ossetia|South Ossetia]]
}}
| label4    = Autonomous republics and federal regions
| data4     = * [[File:Flag of Abkhazia (GE).svg|border|22px|link=]] Abkhazia<br />{{small|(since 2008, in exile)}}
* {{flag|Adjara}}
* {{flag|Adygea}}
* {{flag|Chechnya}}
* {{flag|Dagestan}}
* {{flag|Ingushetia}}
* {{flag|Kabardino-Balkaria}}
* {{flag|Kalmykia}}
* [[File:Flag of Karachay-Cherkessia.svg|border|22px|link=]] Karachay-Cherkessia
* {{flag|Krasnodar Krai}}
* [[File:Flag of Azerbaijan.svg|border|22px|link=]] Nakhchivan 
* [[File:Flag of North Ossetia.svg|border|22px|link=]] North Ossetia-Alania
* {{Flag|Stavropol Krai}}
| label5    = Demonym
| data5     = Caucasian
<!--Please do NOT remove disputed territories from the list. See WP:DUEWEIGHT; articles must represent all sides.-->
| label6    = Time Zones
| data6     = [[UTC+02:00|00]], [[UTC+03:00|00]], [[UTC+03:30|30]], [[UTC+04:00|00]], [[UTC+04:30|30]]
| label7    = Highest mountain
| data7     = [[Earth:Mount Elbrus|Elbrus]] ({{convert|5642|m|ft}})
}}
}}</onlyinclude>

The '''Caucasus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɔ:|k|ə|s|ə|s}}), or '''Caucasia'''<ref>Shamil Shetekauri et al.,  ''Mountain Flowers and Trees of Caucasia''; Pelagic Publishing Limited, 2018, {{ISBN|178427173X}}.</ref><ref>John L. Esposito, Abdulaziz Sachedina (2004). "Caucasus". ''The Islamic World: Past and Present''. Volume 1. Oxford University Press USA. {{ISBN|0195165209}}. [https://archive.org/details/islamicworldpast0000unse_r4t5/page/86/mode/2up p. 86] {{registration}}.  Accessed 30 June 2021.</ref> ({{IPAc-en|k|ɔ:|ˈ|k|eɪ|ʒ|ə}}), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea; mainly comprising [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]], [[Place:Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]], [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgia]], and parts of Southern Russia. The [[Place:Caucasus Mountains|Caucasus Mountains]], including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically been considered as a [[Earth:Natural barrier|natural barrier]] between [[Place:Eastern Europe|Eastern Europe]] and [[Place:Western Asia|Western Asia]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Caucasus - region and mountains, Eurasia |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Caucasus |access-date=26 November 2018}}</ref>

[[Earth:Mount Elbrus|Mount Elbrus]] in {{wipe|Russia}}, [[Earth:Europe|Europe]]'s highest mountain, is situated in the Western Caucasus.<ref name="cia-russia-geography">{{Cite web |title=Russia, Geography |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/russia/ |access-date=22 February 2016 |website=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency}}</ref> On the southern side, the Lesser Caucasus includes the [[Earth:Javakheti Plateau|Javakheti Plateau]] and the Armenian highlands, part of which is in [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Caucasus - region and mountains, Eurasia |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Caucasus |access-date=26 November 2018 |quote=West of the Kura-Aras Lowland rises the Lesser Caucasus range, which is extended southward by the Dzhavakhet Range and the Armenian Highland, the latter extending southwestward into Turkey.}}</ref>

The Caucasus is divided into the [[Earth:North Caucasus|North Caucasus]] and [[Place:South Caucasus|South Caucasus]], although the Western Caucasus also exists as a distinct geographic space within the North Caucasus. The Greater Caucasus mountain range in the north is mostly shared by {{wipe|Russia}} and Georgia as well as the northernmost parts of Azerbaijan. The Lesser Caucasus mountain range in the south is occupied by several independent states, mostly by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, but also extending to parts of northeastern Turkey, northern [[Religion:Iran|Iran]] and the self-proclaimed [[Place:Republic of Artsakh|Republic of Artsakh]].

The region is known for its [[Social:Languages of the Caucasus|linguistic diversity]]:<ref>{{Cite web|title=The languages of the Caucasus|url=https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=531 |work=Language Log |access-date=2021-01-07}}</ref> aside from [[Social:Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] and [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic]] languages, the [[Social:Kartvelian languages|Kartvelian]], Northwest Caucasian, and Northeast Caucasian language families are indigenous to the area.

== Origin of the name==
Pliny the Elder's ''Natural History'' (77–79 AD) derives the name of the Caucasus from a Scythian name, ''Croucasis'', which supposedly means 'shimmering with snow'.<ref>Pliny the Elder, ''Natural History'', [http://attalus.org/translate/pliny_hn6a.html#50 vi.(19).50].</ref> German linguist Paul Kretschmer notes that the [[Social:Latvian language|Latvian]] word ''kruvesis'' also means 'ice'<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kretschmer |first=Paul |date=1928 |title=Weiteres zur Urgeschichte der Inder |trans-title=More about the Pre-History of the Indians |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der indogermanischen Sprachen [Journal of Comparative Linguistic Research into Indo-European Philology] |language=de |volume=55 |pages=75–103}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kretschmer |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Kretschmer |date=1930 |title=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der indogermanischen Sprachen [Journal of Comparative Linguistic Research into Indo-European Philology] |volume=57 |pages=251–255}}</ref> (actually 'frozen mud').

In the ''Tale of Past Years'' (1113 AD), it is stated that Old East Slavic Кавкасийскыѣ горы (''Kavkasijskyě gory'') came from [[Social:Ancient Greek|Ancient Greek]] Καύκασος (''Kaúkasos''),<ref name="ReferenceA" /> which, according to M. A. Yuyukin, is a compound word that can be interpreted as the 'mountain of the seagull(s)' (καύ-: καύαξ, καύηξ, -ηκος, κήξ, κηϋξ 'a kind of seagull' + the reconstructed *κάσος 'mountain' or 'rock' richly attested both in place and personal names).<ref>{{Cite conference |last=Yuyukin |first=M. A. |date=18–20 June 2012 |title=О происхождении названия Кавказ |trans-title=On the Origin of the Name of the Caucasus |url=http://philology.ru/linguistics1/yuyukin-12.htm |language=ru |location=Saint Petersburg |pages=893–899 and 919 |isbn=978-5-02-038298-5 |access-date=19 March 2017 |book-title=Индоевропейское языкознание и классическая филология – XVI (материалы чтений, посвященных памяти профессора И.&nbsp;М.&nbsp;Тронского)}}</ref>

In Georgian tradition, the term Caucasus is derived from Caucas ({{lang-ka|კავკასოსი}} ''Ḳavḳasosi''), the son of the Biblical Togarmah and legendary forefather of Nakh peoples.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Qoranashvili|first=G.|title=Questions of Ethnic Identity According to Leonti Mroveli's Historical Chronicles, Studies, Vol. 1|location=Tbilisi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.circassianworld.com/pdf/The_Vainakhs_George_Anchabadze.pdf |title=The Vainakhs (The Chechen and Ingush) |author = George Anchabadze |access-date=November 3, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225132940/https://www.circassianworld.com/pdf/The_Vainakhs_George_Anchabadze.pdf |archive-date=February 25, 2012 }}</ref>

According to {{wipe|Germany}} [[Philology|philologists]] Otto Schrader and Alfons A. Nehring, the Ancient Greek word Καύκασος (''Kaukasos'') is connected to [[Social:Gothic language|Gothic]] ''hauhs'' 'high' as well as [[Social:Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''kaũkas'' 'hillock' and ''kaukarà'' 'hill, top'.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite encyclopedia |year=1953–1958 |title=Russisches etymologisches Wörterbuch |encyclopedia=Indogermanische Bibliothek herausgegeben von Hans Krahe. Reihe 2: Wörterbüche [Indo-European Library Edited by Hans Krahe. Series 2: Dictionaries] |publisher=Carl Winter |location=Heidelberg |last=Vasmer |first=Max Julius Friedrich |volume=1 |language=de |trans-title=Russian Etymological Dictionary}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Schrader |first=Otto |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_dyS5AAAAIAAJ |title=Reallexikon der indogermanischen Altertumskunde: Grundzüge einer Kultur- und Völkergeschichte Alteuropas |date=1901 |publisher=Karl J. Trübner |location=Strasbourg |language=de |trans-title=Real Lexicon of the Indo-Germanic Antiquity Studies: Basic Principles of a Cultural and People's History of Ancient Europe |author-link=Otto Schrader (philologist)}}</ref> British linguist Adrian Room claims that *''kau-'' also means 'mountain' in Pelasgian,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Room |first=Adrian |url=https://archive.org/details/placenamesofworl00room |title=Placenames of the World: Origins and Meanings of the Names for over 5000 Natural Features, Countries, Capitals, Territories, Cities, and Historic Sites |date=1997 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0-7864-0172-7 |location=Jefferson, NC |quote=*kau-meaning. |url-access=registration}}</ref> though this is speculative given that Pelasgian is so poorly known.

==Toponyms==
[[File:Эльбрус с перевала Гумбаши.JPG|thumb|Mount Elbrus]]
[[File:Bazarduzu robl.JPG|thumb|left|Mount Bazardüzü]]
[[File:Şahdağ Mountain, Qusar, 2013.JPG|thumb|Mount Shahdagh]]

The term ''Caucasus'' is not only used for the mountains themselves but also includes Ciscaucasia (which is part of the Russian Federation) and [[Place:Transcaucasia|Transcaucasia]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Caucasus - region and mountains, Eurasia |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Caucasus |access-date=26 November 2018 |quote=Caucasia includes not only the mountain ranges of the Caucasus proper but also the country immediately north and south of them. The land north of the Greater Caucasus is called Ciscaucasia (Predkavkazye, or “Hither Caucasia”) and that south of it is Transcaucasia (Zakavkazye, or “Farther Caucasia”).}}</ref> According to Alexander Mikaberidze, Transcaucasia is a "Russo-centric" term.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mikaberidze |first=Alexander |title=Historical Dictionary of Georgia |date=6 February 2015 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-4146-6}}</ref>

The Transcaucasus region and Dagestan were the furthest points of [[History:Parthian Empire|Parthian]] and later Sasanian expansions, with areas to the north of the Greater Caucasus range practically impregnable. The mythological Mount Qaf, the world's highest mountain that ancient Iranian lore shrouded in mystery, was said to be situated in this region. The region is also one of the candidates for the location of [[Social:Airyanem Vaejah|Airyanem Vaejah]], the apparent homeland of the Iranians of [[Biography:Zoroaster|Zoroaster]]. In [[Social:Middle Persian|Middle Persian]] sources of the Sasanian era, the Caucasus range was referred to as ''Kaf Kof''.<ref name="brillonline">{{Cite web |last=Gocheleishvili |first=Iago |title=Caucasus, pre-900/1500 |url=http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/caucasus-pre-9001500-COM_25472?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-3&s.q=Caucasus+Iran |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612144345/http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/caucasus-pre-9001500-COM_25472?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-3&s.q=Caucasus+Iran |archive-date=12 June 2018 |access-date=3 June 2018 |website=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE}}</ref> The term resurfaced in Iranian tradition later on in a variant form when Ferdowsi, in his ''Shahnameh'', referred to the Caucasus mountains as ''Kōh-i Kāf''.<ref name="brillonline" /> "Most of the modern names of the Caucasus originate from the Greek ''Kaukasos'' (Lat., ''Caucasus'') and the Middle Persian ''Kaf Kof''".<ref name="brillonline" />

"The earliest etymon" of the name the Caucasus comes from ''Kaz-kaz'', the [[Social:Hittite language|Hittite]] designation of the "inhabitants of the southern coast of the Black Sea".<ref name="brillonline" />

It was also noted that in [[Social:Nakh languages|Nakh]] Ков гас (''Kov gas'') means "gateway to steppe".<ref>Bolatojha J. "Древняя родина Кавкасов [The Ancient Homeland of the Caucasus]", p. 49, 2006.</ref>

===Endonyms and exonyms===
The modern endonym for the region is usually similar in many languages, and is generally between '''''Kavkaz''''' and '''''Kaukaz'''''.
{{Div col|small=yes}}
*{{lang-ab|Кавказ}} ''Kavkaz''
*{{lang-ady|Къаукъаз/с}} ''Kʺaukʺaz/s''
*{{lang-ar|القوقاز}} ''al-Qawqāz''
*{{lang-hy|Կովկաս}} ''Kovkas''
*{{lang-av|Кавказ}} ''Kawkaz''
*{{lang-az|Qafqaz}}
*{{lang-ce|Кавказ}} ''Kawkaz''
*{{lang-ka|კავკასია}} ''K'avk'asia''
*{{lang-de|Kaukasien}}
*{{lang-gr|Καύκασος}} ''Káfkasos''
*{{lang-inh|Кавказ}} ''Kawkaz''
*{{lang-krc|Кавказ}} ''Kavkaz''
*{{lang-kum|Къавкъаз}} ''Qawqaz''
*{{lang-ku|Qefqasya/Qefqas}}
*{{lang-lbe|Ккавкказ}} ''Kkawkkaz''
*{{lang-lez|Къавкъаз}} ''K'awk'az''
*{{lang-xmf|კავკაცია}} ''K'avk'acia''
*{{lang-os|Кавказ}} ''Kavkaz''
*{{lang-fa|قفقاز}} ''Qafqāz''
*{{lang-ru|Кавказ}} ''Kavkaz''
*{{lang-rut|Qawqaz}} ''Kavkaz''
*{{lang-tr|Kafkas/Kafkasya}}
*{{lang-uk|Кавказ}} ''Kavkaz''
{{col div end}}

==Political geography==
The [[Earth:North Caucasus|North Caucasus]] region is known as the ''Ciscaucasus'', whereas the South Caucasus region is commonly known as the ''Transcaucasus''.
[[File:Caucasus regions map2.svg|thumb|right|250px|Contemporary political map of the Caucasus]]

The Ciscaucasus contains most of the Greater Caucasus mountain range. It consists of Southern Russia, mainly the North Caucasian Federal District's autonomous republics, and the northernmost parts of [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and [[Place:Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]]. The Ciscaucasus lies between the Black Sea to its west, the Caspian Sea to its east, and borders the Southern Federal District to its north. The two Federal Districts are collectively referred to as "Southern Russia".

The Transcaucasus borders the Greater Caucasus range and Southern Russia to its north, the Black Sea and [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]] to its west, the Caspian Sea to its east, and [[Religion:Iran|Iran]] to its south. It contains the Lesser Caucasus mountain range and surrounding lowlands. All of [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]], Azerbaijan (excluding the northernmost parts), and Georgia (excluding the northernmost parts) are in the South Caucasus.

The watershed along the Greater Caucasus range is considered by some sources to be the dividing line between [[Earth:Europe|Europe]] and Southwest Asia. According to that, the highest peak in the Caucasus, [[Earth:Mount Elbrus|Mount Elbrus]] (5,642 meters) located in western Ciscaucasus, is considered the highest point in Europe. The Kuma-Manych Depression, the geologic depression that divides the Russian Plain from the North Caucasus foreland is often regarded by classical and non-British sources as the natural and historical boundary between Europe and Asia. Another opinion is that the rivers Kura and Rioni mark this border, or even that of the river Aras.

The Caucasus is a [[Social:Languages of the Caucasus|linguistically]], culturally and geographically diverse region.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Caucasus: Land of Diverse Cultures - The University of Chicago Library News - The University of Chicago Library |url=https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/about/news/the-caucasus-land-of-diverse-cultures/ |access-date=2022-03-28 |website=www.lib.uchicago.edu}}</ref> The [[Social:Nation state|nation state]]s that compose the Caucasus today are the [[Earth:Post-Soviet states|post-Soviet states]] Georgia (including Adjara and [[Place:Abkhazia|Abkhazia]]), Azerbaijan (including Nakhchivan), [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]], and the Russian Federation. The Russian divisions include Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, {{nowrap|North Ossetia–Alania}}, {{nowrap|Kabardino–Balkaria}}, {{nowrap|Karachay–Cherkessia}}, Adygea, [[Place:Krasnodar Krai|Krasnodar Krai]] and Stavropol Krai, in clockwise order.

Three territories in the region claim independence but are recognized as such by only a handful of entities:  {{nowrap|[[Place:Republic of Artsakh|Artsakh]]}}, [[Place:Abkhazia|Abkhazia]] and [[Place:South Ossetia|South Ossetia]]. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are largely recognized by the world community as part of Georgia, <ref>{{Cite web|title=Non-recognition and engagement. The EU's policy towards Abkhazia and South Ossetia {{!}} European Union Institute for Security Studies|url=https://www.iss.europa.eu/content/non-recognition-and-engagement-eus-policy-towards-abkhazia-and-south-ossetia|access-date=2021-01-07|website=www.iss.europa.eu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-02|title=The Spectrum of Georgia's Policy Options Towards Abkhazia and South Ossetia|url=https://www.e-ir.info/2020/03/02/the-spectrum-of-georgias-policy-options-towards-abkhazia-and-south-ossetia/|access-date=2021-01-07|website=E-International Relations|language=en-US}}</ref> and {{nowrap|Artsakh}} as part of Azerbaijan.

=== General statistics of South Caucasian states ===
{| class=wikitable style="margin:auto; border-collapse:collapse;"
|-
!
! [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]]
! [[Place:Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]]
! [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgia]]
! Total
|-
! Coat of arms
| style="text-align:center" | {{Coat of arms|Armenia|size=50px|text=none}}
| style="text-align:center" | {{Coat of arms|Azerbaijan|size=50px|text=none}}
| style="text-align:center" | {{Coat of arms|Georgia (country)|size=50px|text=none}}
| {{NA}}
|-
! Flag
| style="text-align:center" | {{flagicon|Armenia|size=50px}}
| style="text-align:center" | {{flagicon|Azerbaijan|size=50px}}
| style="text-align:center" | {{flagicon|Georgia (country)|size=50px}}
| {{NA}}
|-
! Capital
| [[Place:Yerevan|Yerevan]]
| [[Place:Baku|Baku]]
| [[Place:Tbilisi|Tbilisi]]
| {{NA}}
|-
! Independence
| 
*[[History:History of Armenia|Early history]]
*[[Place:First Republic of Armenia|28 May 1918]]
*21 September 1991
| 
*Early history
*[[Place:Azerbaijan Democratic Republic|28 May 1918]]
*30 August 1991
| 
*Early history
*26 May 1918
*9 April 1991
| {{NA}}
|-
! Political system
| [[Social:Parliamentary republic|Parliamentary republic]]
|[[Social:Semi-presidential system|Semi-presidential republic]]
| [[Social:Parliamentary republic|Parliamentary republic]]
| {{NA}}
|-
! Parliament
| Azgayin Zhoghov
| Milli Majlis
| Parlamenti
| {{NA}}
|-
! Current President
| Armen Sarkissian
| [[Biography:Ilham Aliyev|Ilham Aliyev]]
| Salome Zourabichvili
| {{NA}}
|-
! Population (2020)
| {{decrease}} 2,963,900
| {{increase}} 10,027,874
| {{decrease}} 3,716,858
| {{increase}} 16,701,632
|-
! Area
| {{convert|29,743|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| {{convert|86,600|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| {{convert|69,700|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
| {{convert|186,043|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|-
! Density
| {{convert|101.5|PD/km2|PD/sqmi|abbr=on}}
| {{convert|115|PD/km2|PD/sqmi|abbr=on}}
| {{convert|53.5|PD/km2|PD/sqmi|abbr=on}}
| {{convert|90|PD/km2|PD/sqmi|abbr=on}}
|-
! Water area %
|4.71%
|1.6%
| 3.2%
| 
|-
! GDP (nominal) total (2019)
| $13.444&nbsp;billion
| $47.171&nbsp;billion
| $15.925&nbsp;billion
| $76.540&nbsp;billion
|-
! GDP (nominal) per capita (2019)
| $4,528
| $4,689
| $4,289
| $4,571
|-
! [[Finance:Military budget|Military budget]] (2020)
| $634&nbsp;million
| $2.267&nbsp;billion
| $290&nbsp;million
| $3.191&nbsp;billion
|-
! [[Finance:Gini coefficient|Gini Index]]
| 34.4 (2018)
| 28.6 (2018)
| 36.4 (2018)
| {{NA}}
|-
! [[Engineering:Human Development Index|HDI]]
| 0.760 ([[Finance:Developed country|High]])
| 0.754 ([[Finance:Developed country|High]])
| 0.786 ([[Finance:Developed country|High]])
| {{NA}}
|-
! Internet [[Country code top-level domain|TLD]]
| .am
| .az
| .ge
| {{NA}}
|-
! Calling code
| +374
| +994
| +995
| {{NA}}
|}

==Demographics==
{{multiple image
 | align = right
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 200
 | header = Population pyramids of the Caucasian countries
 | image1 = Bevölkerungspyramide Armenien 2016.png 
 | caption1 = Population pyramid of Armenia, 2016
 | image2 = Bevölkerungspyramide Georgien 2016.png
 | caption2 = Population pyramid of Georgia, 2016
 | image3 = Bevölkerungspyramide Aserbaidschan 2016.png
 | caption3 = Population pyramid of Azerbaijan, 2016
}}
{{Further|Social:Languages of the Caucasus}}
[[File:Caucasus-ethnic en.svg|thumb|upright=1.45|Ethno-linguistic groups in the Caucasus region in 2014<ref name="ECMI">{{Cite web |title=ECMI – European Centre For Minority Issues Georgia |url=http://www.ecmicaucasus.org/menu/info_maps.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904143533/http://ecmicaucasus.org/menu/info_maps.html |archive-date=4 September 2014 |access-date=17 October 2014 |website=ecmicaucasus.org}}</ref>]]
The region has many different languages and language families. There are more than 50 ethnic groups living in the region.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Caucasian peoples |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9021862/Caucasian-peoples}}</ref> No fewer than three language families are unique to the area. In addition, Indo-European languages, such as [[Social:East Slavic languages|East Slavic]], [[Social:Armenian language|Armenian]] and [[Social:Ossetian language|Ossetian]], and [[Social:Turkic languages|Turkic languages]], such as [[Social:Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]], [[Social:Kumyk language|Kumyk language]] and [[Social:Karachay-Balkar language|Karachay–Balkar]], are spoken in the area. [[Social:Russian language|Russian]] is used as a ''lingua franca'' most notably in the North Caucasus.

The peoples of the northern and southern Caucasus mostly are [[Religion:Shia Islam|Shia Muslims]], Sunni Muslims, Eastern Orthodox Christians or Armenian Christians.

==History==
{{Further|Place:History of the Caucasus}}
Located on the peripheries of [[Place:Turkey|Turkey]], [[Religion:Iran|Iran]], and {{wipe|Russia}}, the region has been an arena for political, military, religious, and cultural rivalries and expansionism for centuries. Throughout its history, the Caucasus was usually incorporated into the [[History:History of Iran|Iranian world]].<ref name="CAUCAIRANICA">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Caucasus and Iran |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/caucasus-index |access-date=3 September 2012 |last=Multiple Authors}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|year=2020|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE|last=Rapp|first=Stephen H.|editor1-last=Fleet|editor1-first=Kate|issn=1873-9830|quote=While Hodgson astutely perceived Caucasia’s cross-cultural condition, subsequent research has exposed the region’s long-term participation in the Iranian and wider Persianate world. This multifaceted association began in the Iron Age, survived the intensive Christianization of Caucasia, and continued until the annexation of Caucasian lands by the Russian Empire in the nineteenth century. (...) Above all, pre-modern Caucasia is characterised by its integration into the Iranian and Persianate socio-cultural world, the Iranian commonwealth, which extended from Central Asia to Anatolia and south to the Arabian Peninsula. Caucasia’s active membership in this commonwealth began under the first “world empire” of the Achaemenids and survived both Christianization and the demise of the Sāsānian empire.|title=Georgia, Georgians, until 1300|editor2-last=Krämer|editor2-first=Gudrun|editor3-first=Denis|editor3-last=Matringe|editor4-last=Nawas|editor4-first=John|editor5-last=Rowson|editor5-first=Everett|publisher=Brill Online|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/georgia-georgians-until-1300-COM_32056?s.num=0&s.f.s2_parent=s.f.book.encyclopaedia-of-islam-3&s.q=georgia|url-access=subscription}}</ref> At the beginning of the 19th century, the [[Place:Russian Empire|Russian Empire]] conquered the territory from Qajar Iran.<ref name="CAUCAIRANICA" />

===Prehistory===
[[File:Gobustan ancient Azerbaycan full.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Petroglyphs in Gobustan, Azerbaijan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, dating back to 10,000 BC]]
The territory of the Caucasus region was inhabited by Homo erectus since the Paleolithic Era. In 1991, early human (that is, hominin) fossils dating back 1.8&nbsp;million years were found at the Dmanisi archaeological site in Georgia. Scientists now classify the assemblage of fossil skeletons as the subspecies ''Homo erectus georgicus''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Ferring|first1=Reid|last2=Oms|first2=Oriol|last3=Agustí|first3=Jordi|last4=Berna|first4=Francesco|last5=Nioradze|first5=Medea|last6=Shelia|first6=Teona|last7=Tappen|first7=Martha|last8=Vekua|first8=Abesalom|last9=Zhvania|first9=David|last10=Lordkipanidze|first10=David|date=2011-06-28|title=Earliest human occupations at Dmanisi (Georgian Caucasus) dated to 1.85–1.78 Ma|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=108|issue=26|pages=10432–10436|doi=10.1073/pnas.1106638108|issn=0027-8424|pmid=21646521|pmc=3127884|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The site yields the earliest unequivocal evidence for the presence of early humans outside the African continent;<ref>Vekua, A., Lordkipanidze, D., Rightmire, G. P., Agusti, J., Ferring, R., Maisuradze, G., et al. (2002). A new skull of early Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia. ''Science'', 297:85–9.</ref> and the Dmanisi skulls are the five oldest hominins ever found outside [[Earth:Africa|Africa]].

===Antiquity===
Kura–Araxes culture from about 4000 BC until about 2000 BC enveloped a vast area approximately 1,000&nbsp;km by 500&nbsp;km, and mostly encompassed, on modern-day territories, the Southern Caucasus (except western Georgia), northwestern Iran, the northeastern Caucasus, eastern Turkey, and as far as Syria.

Under Ashurbanipal (669–627 BC), the boundaries of the Assyrian Empire reached as far as the Caucasus Mountains. Later ancient kingdoms of the region included [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]], [[Place:Caucasian Albania|Albania]], [[Place:Colchis|Colchis]] and [[Place:Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Iberia]], among others. These kingdoms were later incorporated into various [[Religion:Iran|Iran]]ian empires, including Media, the [[Place:Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Empire]], Parthia, and the Sassanid Empire, who would altogether rule the Caucasus for many hundreds of years. In 95–55 BC, under the reign of Armenian king Tigranes the Great, the [[History:Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]] included Kingdom of Armenia, vassals Iberia, Albania, Parthia, [[Place:Atropatene|Atropatene]], [[Place:Mesopotamia|Mesopotamia]], Cappadocia, [[Place:Cilicia|Cilicia]], [[Place:Syria|Syria]], Nabataean kingdom, and Judea. By the time of the first century BC, [[Religion:Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrianism]] had become the dominant religion of the region; however, the region would go through two other religious transformations. Owing to the strong rivalry between Persia and Rome, and later [[Place:Byzantine Empire|Byzantium]]. The Romans first arrived in the region in the 1st century BC with the annexation of the kingdom of Colchis, which was later turned into the province of [[Place:Lazica|Lazicum]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Theodor Mommsen, William Purdie Dickson, Francis Haverfield |title=The provinces of the Roman Empire: from Caesar to Diocletian |pages=68}}</ref> The next 600 years was marked by a [[History:Roman–Persian Wars|conflict]] between Rome and Sassanid Empire for the control of the region. In western Georgia the eastern Roman rule lasted until the Middle Ages.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Allen |first=W.E.D |title=A history of the Georgian people |year=1932 |pages=123}}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Georgian empire with tributaries.png|upright=1.35|thumb|Kingdom of Georgia at the peak of its might, early 13th century.]]
As the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia (an eponymous branch of the Arsacid dynasty of Parthia) was the first nation to adopt Christianity as [[Religion:State religion|state religion]] (in 301 AD), and [[Place:Caucasian Albania|Caucasian Albania]] and [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgia]] had become Christian entities, [[Religion:Christianity|Christianity]] began to overtake [[Religion:Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrianism]] and pagan beliefs. With the [[History:Muslim conquest of Persia|Muslim conquest of Persia]], large parts of the region came under the rule of the Arabs, and [[Religion:Islam|Islam]] penetrated into the region.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hunter |first=Shireen |title=Islam in Russia: The Politics of Identity and Security |date=2004 |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |page=3 |quote="(..) It is difficult to establish exactly when Islam first appeared in Russia because the lands that Islam penetrated early in its expansion were not part of Russia at the time, but were later incorporated into the expanding Russian Empire. Islam reached the Caucasus region in the middle of the seventh century as part of the Arab [[History:Muslim conquest of Persia|conquest]] of the Iranian Sassanian Empire. " |display-authors=0}}</ref>

In the 10th century, the Alans (proto-Ossetians)<ref name="Great Soviet Encyclopedia">[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article009862.html Аланы], [[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]</ref> founded the Kingdom of [[Place:Alania|Alania]], that flourished in the Northern Caucasus, roughly in the location of latter-day [[Place:Circassia|Circassia]] and modern North Ossetia–Alania, until its destruction by the Mongol invasion in 1238–39.

During the Middle Ages Bagratid Armenia, Kingdom of Tashir-Dzoraget, Kingdom of Syunik and Principality of Khachen organized local Armenian population facing multiple threats after the fall of antique [[History:Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity)|Kingdom of Armenia]]. [[Place:Caucasian Albania|Caucasian Albania]] maintained close ties with [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]] and the Church of Caucasian Albania shared same Christian dogmas with the Armenian Apostolic Church and had a tradition of their Catholicos being ordained through the Patriarch of Armenia.<ref>{{Cite news |date=9 August 2013 |title=Caucasian Albanian Church celebrates its 1700th Anniversary |language=en-US |work=The Georgian Church for English Speakers |url=https://georgianorthodoxchurch.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/caucasian-albanian-church-celebrates-its-1700th-anniversary/ |access-date=2 March 2018}}</ref>

In the 12th century, the Georgian king David the Builder drove the Muslims out from Caucasus and made the [[History:Kingdom of Georgia|Kingdom of Georgia]] a strong regional power. In 1194–1204 Georgian Queen Tamar's armies crushed new Seljuk Turkish invasions from the south-east and south and launched several successful campaigns into Seljuk Turkish-controlled Southern Armenia. The Georgian Kingdom continued military campaigns in the Caucasus region. As a result of her military campaigns and the temporary fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1204, Georgia became the strongest Christian state in the whole [[Place:Near East|Near East]] area, encompassing most of the Caucasus stretching from Northern Iran and Northeastern Turkey to the North Caucasus.

The Caucasus region was conquered by the Ottomans, Turco-Mongols, local kingdoms and khanates, as well as, once again, [[Religion:Iran|Iran]].
<gallery widths="150" heights="100">
File:Ejmiadzin Cathedral2.jpg|Etchmiadzin Cathedral in Armenia, original building completed in 303 AD, a religious centre of [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]]. It is a [[Organization:UNESCO|UNESCO]] World Heritage Site.
File:Svetitskhoveli Cathedral - Mtskheta – 03.jpg|Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Georgia, original building completed in the 4th century. It was a religious centre of monarchical [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. It is a [[Organization:UNESCO|UNESCO]] World Heritage Site.
File:Caftan MET DT1115.jpg|Northwest Caucasus caftan, 8-10th century, from the region of [[Place:Alania|Alania]].
File:Ushguli towers in Svaneti, Georgia.png|Svaneti defensive tower houses 
File:Şirvanşahlar saray kompleksi.jpg|Palace of the Shirvanshahs, 13-th-15th centuries
File:İmamzadə türbəsi (Gəncə) 2.jpg|Imamzadeh of Ganja, 7th-9th centuries
File:Ashura in South Caucasus 19th century. Celebration of Shakhsey-Vakhsey (Persian).jpg|Celebration of Ashura, (Persian:Shakhsey-Vakhsey),19th century
File:Street in Shamakhi, 19th century, Azerbaijan.jpg|Shamakhi, 19th century

</gallery>

===Modern period===
[[File:CircassianCoastBattle.JPG|thumb|Circassian strike on a Russian military fort in the Caucasus, 1840]]
Up to and including the early 19th century, the Southern Caucasus and southern Dagestan all formed part of the Persian Empire. In 1813 and 1828 by the Treaty of Gulistan and the Treaty of Turkmenchay respectively, the Persians were forced to irrevocably cede the Southern Caucasus and Dagestan to Imperial Russia.<ref>Timothy C. Dowling [https://books.google.nl/books?id=KTq2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA728 ''Russia at War: From the Mongol Conquest to Afghanistan, Chechnya, and Beyond''] pp 728–730 ABC-CLIO, 2 Dec. 2014. {{ISBN|978-1598849486}}</ref> In the ensuing years after these gains, the Russians took the remaining part of the Southern Caucasus, comprising western Georgia, through several wars from the [[Place:Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Empire]].<ref>Suny, page 64</ref><ref>Allen F. Chew. "An Atlas of Russian History: Eleven Centuries of Changing Borders", Yale University Press, 1970, p. 74</ref>

In the second half of the 19th century, the Russian Empire also conquered the Northern Caucasus. In the aftermath of the Caucasian Wars, an ethnic cleansing of Circassians was performed by Russia in which the indigenous peoples of this region, mostly Circassians, were expelled from their homeland and forced to move primarily to the Ottoman Empire.<ref>Yemelianova, Galina, Islam nationalism and state in the Muslim Caucasus. Caucasus Survey, April 2014. p. 3</ref><ref>Memoirs of Miliutin, "the plan of action decided upon for 1860 was to cleanse [ochistit'] the mountain zone of its indigenous population", per Richmond, W. <u>The Northwest Caucasus: Past, Present, and Future</u>. Routledge. 2008.</ref>

Having killed and deported most of Armenians of Western Armenia during the Armenian genocide, the Turks intended to eliminate the Armenian population of [[Social:Eastern Armenia|Eastern Armenia]].<ref>Balakian. ''Burning Tigris'', pp. 319-323.</ref> During the 1920 Turkish–Armenian War, 60,000 to 98,000 Armenian civilians were estimated to have been killed by the Turkish army.<ref>Vahakn Dadrian. (2003). ''The History of the Armenian Genocide: Ethnic Conflict from the Balkans to Anatolia to the Caucasus''. New York: Berghahn Books, [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZCVJMAVoMM0C&pg=PA360 pp. 360–61]. {{ISBN|1-57181-666-6}}.</ref>

In the 1940s, around 480,000 Chechens and Ingush, 120,000 Karachay–Balkars and Meskhetian Turks, thousands of Kalmyks, and 200,000 Kurds in Nakchivan and Caucasus Germans were deported en masse to Central Asia and Siberia by the Soviet security apparatus. About a quarter of them died.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Weitz |first=Eric D. |url=https://archive.org/details/centuryofgenocid0000weit |title=A century of genocide: utopias of race and nation |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-691-00913-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/centuryofgenocid0000weit/page/82 82] |url-access=registration}}</ref>
[[File:1993 Georgia war1.svg|thumb|upright=1.35|Georgian Civil War and the War in Abkhazia in August–October 1993]]

The Southern Caucasus region was unified as a single political entity twice&nbsp;– during the Russian Civil War ([[Place:Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic|Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic]]) from 9 April 1918 to 26 May 1918, and under the [[Place:Soviet Union|Soviet]] rule (Transcaucasian SFSR) from 12 March 1922 to 5 December 1936. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Place:Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]] and [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]] became independent nations.

The region has been subject to various territorial disputes since the collapse of the Soviet Union, leading to the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–1994), the East Prigorodny Conflict (1989–1991), the War in Abkhazia (1992–93), the First Chechen War (1994–1996), the Second Chechen War (1999–2009), Russo-Georgian War (2008), and the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (2020).

==Mythology==
In [[Religion:Greek mythology|Greek mythology]], the Caucasus, or Kaukasos, was one of the pillars supporting the world.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Gregović|first=Marko|date=2018-02-21|title=Caucasus — The Mountain Where They Chained Prometheus|url=https://medium.com/@grexovic/caucasus-the-mountain-where-they-chained-prometheus-564c1ef83bab|access-date=2021-06-12|website=Medium|language=en}}</ref> After presenting man with the gift of fire, [[Religion:Prometheus|Prometheus]] (or Amirani in the Georgian version) was chained there by [[Religion:Zeus|Zeus]], to have his liver eaten daily by an eagle as punishment for defying Zeus' wish to keep the "secret of fire" from humans.

In Persian mythology, the Caucasus might be associated with the mythic Mount Qaf which is believed to surround the known world. It is the battlefield of Saoshyant and the nest of the [[Unsolved:Simurgh|Simurgh]].{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

The [[History:Ancient Rome|Roman]] poet Ovid placed the Caucasus in [[Place:Scythia|Scythia]] and depicted it as a cold and stony mountain which was the abode of personified hunger. The Greek hero Jason sailed to the west coast of the Caucasus in pursuit of the Golden Fleece, and there met Medea, a daughter of King Aeëtes of [[Place:Colchis|Colchis]].

===Later folklore===
The Caucasus has a rich folklore tradition.<ref name="Rashidvash, pp. 33–34">Rashidvash, pp. 33&ndash;34.</ref> This tradition has been preserved orally&mdash;necessitated by the fact that for most of the languages involved there was no alphabet until the early twentieth century&mdash;and only began to be written down in the late nineteenth century.<ref>Mayor, p. xx; Hunt, p. 9.</ref> One important tradition is that of the Nart sagas, which tell stories of a race of ancient heroes called the Narts. These sagas include such figures as Satanaya, the mother of the Narts, Sosruquo a shape changer and trickster, Tlepsh a blacksmith god, and Batradz, a mighty hero.<ref name="Rashidvash, pp. 33–34" /> The folklore of the Caucasus shows ancient Iranian Zoroastrian influence, involve battles with ancient Goths, [[Social:Huns|Huns]] and Khazars, and contain many connections with ancient {{wipe|India}}n, Norse Scandinavian, and Greek cultures.<ref>Rashidvash, pp. 33&ndash;34; for connections found in the Nart sagas, see Colarusso, pp. 5&ndash;7.</ref>

===Links between Greek mythology and subsequent folklore===
Caucasian folklore contains many links with the myths of the ancient Greeks. There are resemblances between the mother goddess Satanaya and the Greek goddess of love [[Religion:Aphrodite|Aphrodite]].<ref>Rashidvash, p. 33; Colarusso, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 6], 44, 53, 399.</ref> The story of how the trickster Nart Sosruquo, became invulnerable parallels that of the Greek hero Achilles.<ref>When Sosruquo was born burning in flames, the blacksmith god Tlepsh, grabbed Sosruquo and plunged him into water, making him invulnerable except where he was held by tongs, see Rashidvash, pp. 33&ndash;34; Colarusso, pp. 52&ndash;54 (Circassian Saga 8: ''Lady Setenaya and the Shepherd: The Birth of Sawseruquo''), 185&ndash;186 (Abaza Saga 47: ''How Sosruquo Was Born''), 387&ndash;394 (Ubykh Saga 86: ''The Birth of Soseruquo''), cf. pp. 323&ndash;328 (Abkhaz Saga 75: ''The Mother of Heroes'').</ref> The ancient Greek [[Social:Amazons|Amazons]] may be connected to a Caucasian "warrior Forest-Mother, Amaz-an".<ref>Rashidvash, p. 34; Colarusso, pp. 130, 318.</ref>

Caucasian legends include stories involving giants similar to [[Biography:Homer|Homer]]'s [[Unsolved:Polyphemus|Polyphemus]] story.<ref>Hunt, pp. 9, 13, 201, 210&ndash;229; Bachvarova, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wxd-CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 p. 106]; Mayor, pp. xxi; Rashidvash, p. 34; Colarusso. pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 6&ndash;7], [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA170 170] (Circassian Saga 37: ''A Cyclops Bound atop Was'hamakhwa''), [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA200 200&ndash;202] (Abaza Saga 52: ''How Sosruquo Brought Fire to His Troops'').</ref> In these stories, the giant is almost always a shepherd,<ref>Hunt, p. 13.</ref> and he is variously a one-eyed rock-throwing cannibal, who lives in a cave (the exit of which is often blocked by a stone), kills the hero's companions, is blinded by a hot stake, and whose flock of animals is stolen by the hero and his men, all motifs which (along with still others) are also found in the Polyphemus story.<ref>Hunt, Table 1, pp. 211&ndash;212.</ref> In one example from [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgia]], two brothers, who are being held prisoner by a giant one-eyed shepherd called "One-eye", take a spit, heat it up, stab it into the giant's eye, and escape.<ref>Hunt, pp. 218&ndash;222 (45. The Story of One-eye (''Georgian'')).</ref>

There are also links with the ancient Greek myth of [[Religion:Prometheus|Prometheus]].<ref>Mayor, p. xxi; Hunt, pp. 14, 330&ndash;357; Calarusso, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 7], [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA170 170], [https://books.google.com/books?id=BaE5BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA200 200&mdash;202]; Rashidvash, p. 34.</ref> Many legends, widespread in the Caucasus, contain motifs shared with the [[Religion:Prometheus|Prometheus]] story.<ref>Hunt, p. 14. Hunt, p. 330, mentions forty-four versions.</ref> These motifs include: a giant hero, his conflict with God or gods, the stealing of fire and giving it to men, being chained, and being tormented by a bird who pecks at his liver (or heart).<ref>Hunt, pp. 330&ndash;331.</ref> The Adyge/Circassian Nart Nasran,<ref>Colarusso, pp. 158&ndash;168 (Circassian Saga 34: ''How Pataraz Freed Bearded Nasran, Who Was Chained to the High Mountain''), 168&ndash;169 (Circassian Saga 35: ''Bound Nasran''); Hunt, pp. 355&ndash;356; Rashidvash, p. 34.</ref> the Georgian Amirani,<ref>Hunt, pp. 332&ndash;337, 351&ndash;355; Colarusso, p. 169.</ref> the Chechen Pkharmat,<ref>Hunt, pp. 332, 339&ndash;344.</ref> and the Abkhazian Abrskil,<ref>Hunt, pp. 333, 347&ndash;351.</ref> are examples of such Prometheus-like figures.

==Ecology==
[[File:View of the village Zrikh in Dagestan, RF.jpg|thumb|View of the Caucasus Mountains in Dagestan, Russia]]
The Caucasus is an area of great ecological importance. The region is included in the list of 34 world [[Biology:Biodiversity hotspot|biodiversity hotspot]]s.<ref>Zazanashvili N, Sanadiradze G, Bukhnikashvili A, Kandaurov A, Tarkhnishvili D. 2004. Caucasus. In: Mittermaier RA, Gil PG, Hoffmann M, Pilgrim J, Brooks T, Mittermaier CG, Lamoreux J, da Fonseca GAB, eds. Hotspots revisited, Earth's biologically richest and most endangered terrestrial ecoregions. Sierra Madre: CEMEX/Agrupacion Sierra Madre, 148–153</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=WWF – The Caucasus: A biodiversity hotspot |url=http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/project/projects/index.cfm?uProjectID=GE0026&source=ge |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508212359/http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/project/projects/index.cfm?uProjectID=GE0026&source=ge |archive-date=8 May 2013 |access-date=2 August 2012 |website=panda.org}}</ref> It harbors some 6400 species of higher plants, 1600 of which are [[Biology:Endemism|endemic]] to the region.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.endemic-species-caucasus.info/|title=Endemic Species of the Caucasus}}</ref> Its wildlife includes [[Biology:Persian leopard|Persian leopard]]s, [[Biology:Brown bear|brown bear]]s, [[Biology:Wolf|wolves]], [[Biology:Bison|bison]], marals, golden eagles and [[Biology:Hooded crow|hooded crow]]s. Among invertebrates, some 1000 [[Biology:Spider|spider]] species are recorded in the Caucasus.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A faunistic database on the spiders of the Caucasus |url=http://caucasus-spiders.info/introduction/checklists/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328225817/http://caucasus-spiders.info/introduction/checklists/ |archive-date=28 March 2009 |access-date=17 September 2010 |publisher=Caucasian Spiders}}</ref><ref name="chaladzeetal2014">{{Cite journal |last1=Chaladze |first1=G. |last2=Otto |first2=S. |last3=Tramp |first3=S. |year=2014 |title=A spider diversity model for the Caucasus Ecoregion |journal=Journal of Insect Conservation |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=407–416 |doi=10.1007/s10841-014-9649-1 |s2cid=16783553}}</ref> Most of arthropod biodiversity is concentrated on Great and Lesser Caucasus ranges.<ref name=chaladzeetal2014 />

The region has a high level of endemism and a number of [[Biology:Relict|relict]] animals and plants, the fact reflecting presence of refugial forests, which survived the [[Earth:Last glacial period|Ice Age]] in the Caucasus Mountains. The Caucasus forest refugium is the largest throughout the Western Asian (near Eastern) region.<ref>van Zeist W, Bottema S. 1991. ''Late Quaternary vegetation of the Near East''. Wiesbaden: Reichert.</ref><ref name="tgm">{{Cite journal |last1=Tarkhnishvili |first1=D. |last2=Gavashelishvili |first2=A. |last3=Mumladze |first3=L. |year=2012 |title=Palaeoclimatic models help to understand current distribution of Caucasian forest species |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=105 |pages=231–248 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.2011.01788.x |doi-access=free}}</ref> The area has multiple representatives of [[Earth:Disjunct distribution|disjunct]] relict groups of plants with the closest relatives in Eastern Asia, southern Europe, and even North America.<ref>Milne RI. 2004. "Phylogeny and biogeography of ''Rhododendron'' subsection ''Pontica'', a group with a Tertiary relict distribution". ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 33: 389–401.</ref><ref>Kikvidze Z, Ohsawa M. 1999. "Adjara, East Mediterranean refuge of Tertiary vegetation". In: Ohsawa M, Wildpret W, Arco MD, eds. ''Anaga Cloud Forest, a comparative study on evergreen broad-leaved forests and trees of the Canary Islands and Japan''. Chiba: Chiba University Publications, 297–315.</ref><ref>Denk T, Frotzler N, Davitashvili N. 2001. "Vegetational patterns and distribution of relict taxa in humid temperate forests and wetlands of Georgia Transcaucasia". ''Biological Journal of the Linnean Society'' 72: 287–332.</ref> Over 70 species of forest snails of the region are endemic.<ref>Pokryszko B, Cameron R, Mumladze L, Tarkhnishvili D. 2011. "Forest snail faunas from Georgian Transcaucasia: patterns of diversity in a Pleistocene refugium". ''Biological Journal of the Linnean Society'' 102: 239–250</ref> Some relict species of vertebrates are [[Biology:Caucasian parsley frog|Caucasian parsley frog]], [[Biology:Caucasian salamander|Caucasian salamander]], [[Biology:Robert's snow vole|Robert's snow vole]], and [[Biology:Caucasian grouse|Caucasian grouse]], and there are almost entirely endemic groups of animals such as lizards of genus ''[[Biology:Darevskia|Darevskia]]''. In general, species composition of this refugium is quite distinct and differs from that of the other Western Eurasian refugia.<ref name=tgm />

The natural landscape is one of mixed forest, with substantial areas of rocky ground above the treeline. The Caucasus Mountains are also noted for a [[Biology:Dog breed|dog breed]], the Caucasian Shepherd Dog (Rus. Kavkazskaya Ovcharka, Geo. Nagazi). Vincent Evans noted that [[Biology:Minke whale|minke whale]]s have been recorded from the Black Sea.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oceancare.org/en/startpage/|title=OceanCare - Protecting oceans and marine mammals}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Horwood |first=Joseph |title=Biology and Exploitation of the Minke Whale |date=1989 |page=27}}</ref><ref name="GreekCetacea">{{Cite journal |year=2003 |title=Current knowledge of the cetacean fauna of the Greek Seas |url=http://cetaceanalliance.org/download/literature/Frantzis_etal_2003.pdf |pages=219–232 |access-date=21 April 2016 |journal= |archive-date=7 September 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907032339/http://www.cetaceanalliance.org/download/literature/Frantzis_etal_2003.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Energy and mineral resources==
The Caucasus has many economically important [[Earth:Mineral|mineral]]s and [[Physics:Energy|energy]] resources, such as [[Chemistry:Gold|gold]], [[Chemistry:Silver|silver]], [[Chemistry:Copper|copper]], [[Earth:Iron ore|iron ore]], [[Chemistry:Manganese|manganese]], [[Chemistry:Tungsten|tungsten]], [[Chemistry:Zinc|zinc]], [[Chemistry:Petroleum|oil]], [[Chemistry:Natural gas|natural gas]], and [[Earth:Coal|coal]] (both hard and brown).<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=August 2019|title=2015 Minerals Yearbook: EUROPE AND CENTRAL EURASIA|url=https://prd-wret.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/atoms/files/myb3-sum-2015-europe-eurasia.pdf|access-date=|website=USGS}}</ref>

==Sport==
[[File:Arabika from Aibga.jpg|thumb|Rosa Khutor alpine ski resort near Krasnaya Polyana, Sochi, Russia, the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics venue]]
Krasnaya Polyana is a popular centre of mountain skiing and a snowboard venue.<br> The 2015 European Games is the first in the history of the European Games to be held in [[Place:Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]].

Mountain-skiing complexes include:
*Alpika-Service
*Mountain roundabout
*Rosa Hutor
*Tsaghkadzor Ski Resort in [[Place:Armenia|Armenia]]
*Shahdag Winter Complex in [[Place:Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]]

The 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix (motor racing) was the first in the history of Formula One to be held in [[Place:Azerbaijan|Azerbaijan]]. The 2017 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was held in [[Place:Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. In 2017 the U-19 Europe Championship (Football) was held in Georgia.


==See also==
* Caucasian cuisine
* [[Organization:Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations|Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations]]
* Culture of Armenia
* Culture of Azerbaijan
* Culture of Georgia (country)
* [[Organization:Eastern Partnership|Eastern Partnership]]
* [[Finance:Eurasian Economic Union|Eurasian Economic Union]]
* Euronest Parliamentary Assembly
* [[Place:Khanates of the Caucasus|Khanates of the Caucasus]]
* Prometheism
* [[Place:Regions of Europe|Regions of Europe]]
* Transcontinental nations
===Tourism-related links===
* Tourism in Armenia
* Tourism in Azerbaijan
* Tourism in Georgia
* Tourism in Russia

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Bachvarova, Mary R., ''From Hittite to Homer: The Anatolian Background of Ancient Greek Epic'', Cambridge University Press, 2016. {{ISBN|978-0521509794}}.
*{{Cite book |last=Coene |first=Frederick |title=The Caucasus: An Introduction |publisher=Routledge |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-415-48660-6}}
* Colarusso, John, ''Nart Sagas from the Caucasus: Myths and Legends from the Circassians, Abazas, Abkhaz, and Ubykhs'', Princeton University Press, 2002, 2014. {{ISBN|9781400865284}}.
* Cornell, Susan E., ''Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus''.
*{{Cite book |last=de Waal |first=Thomas |title=The Caucasus: An Introduction |publisher=[[Organization:Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-19-539977-6 |}}
* Golvin, Ivan, ''The Caucasus''.
* Griffin, Nicholas, ''Caucasus: A Journey to the Land Between Christianity and Islam'', University of Chicago Press, 2004. {{ISBN| 9780226308593}}.
* Hunt, David, ''Legends of the Caucasus'', Saqi Books, London, 2012. {{ISBN|978-0863568237}}.
* Mayor, Adrienne (2016), "Introduction to the Paperback Edition" in ''Nart Sagas: Ancient Myths and Legends of the Circassians and Abkhazians'', by John Colarusso, Princeton University Press, 2016. {{ISBN|978-0691-16914-9}}.
*{{Cite book |last=Suny |first=Ronald Grigor |title=The Making of the Georgian Nation |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=1994 |isbn=0-253-20915-3 |edition=2nd |}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last= Baumer |first= Christoph |title= History of the Caucasus - Volume 1: At the Crossroads of Empires |publisher= I.B. Tauris |location= London |date= 2021 |type= Hardback |isbn= 9781788310079}}
* Dubrovin, Nikolai F. [https://web.archive.org/web/20190503193010/https://new.runivers.ru/lib/book3084/ The history of wars and Russian domination in the Caucasus] (История войны и владычества русских на Кавказе). Sankt-Petersburg, 1871–1888, at Runivers.ru in [[DjVu]] and [[PDF]] formats.
* Fadeev, Rostislav Andreevich (1860). [https://web.archive.org/web/20190504101003/https://new.runivers.ru/lib/book3194/10251/ Sixty years of the Caucasian War] (Шестьдесят лет Кавказской войны). Tiflis, at Runivers.ru in [[DjVu]] format.
* Gagarin, G. G. (1840). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110216032810/http://new.runivers.ru/lib/book4314/45273/ Costumes Caucasus] (Костюмы Кавказа). [[Place:Paris|Paris]],  at Runivers.ru in [[DjVu]] and [[PDF]] formats.
* Gasimov, Zaur (2011). [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0159-2011081894 ''The Caucasus''], European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History, retrieved: 18 November 2011.
* Kaziev Shapi (2003). [[Earth:North Caucasus|Caucasian highlanders]] (Повседневная жизнь горцев Северного Кавказа в XIX в.). [http://www.kaziev.ru/index/highlanders/0-50 Everyday life of the Caucasian Highlanders. The 19th Century (In the co-authorship with I. Karpeev). "Molodaya Gvardiy" publishers. Moscow] {{ISBN|5-235-02585-7}}

==External links==
{{wikivoyage|Caucasus}}
*[https://english.caucasianjournal.org/ ''Caucasian Journal''] — a multilingual online journal on South Caucasus
*[http://www.artsakh.org.uk/ Articles and Photography on Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) from UK Photojournalist Russell Pollard]
*[http://gotocaucasus.com/ Information for travellers and others about Caucasus and Georgia]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20190801130007/http://www.cria-online.org/ ''Caucasian Review of International Affairs'']—an academic journal on the South Caucasus
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3632274.stm BBC News: North Caucasus at a glance], 8 September 2005
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050924024959/http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/map/images/caucasus_envsec2_landcoverb.gif United Nations Environment Programme map: Landcover of the Caucasus]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050924025007/http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/map/images/caucasus_envsec2_popdensityb.gif United Nations Environment Programme map: Population density of the Caucasus]
*[http://www.foodsec.org/web/regional/europe/overview/en/ Food Security in Caucasus (FAO)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810031016/http://www.foodsec.org/web/regional/europe/overview/en/ |date=10 August 2013 }}
*[http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v5f1/v5f1a032.html Caucasus and Iran] entry in ''[[Encyclopædia Iranica]]''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080813013133/http://www.oc.unito.it/en/index.html University of Turin-Observatory on Caucasus]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090827073642/http://www.circassiandiaspora.com/ Circassians Caucasus Web (Turkish)]
*[http://www.biodiversity-georgia.net Georgian Biodiversity Database (checklists for ca. 11,000 plant and animal species)]
*[https://caucasusmountains.info/ WHAT TO SEE IN CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS]

{{Regions of the world}}

[[Category:Eastern Europe]]
[[Category:Eurasia]]
[[Category:Regions of Asia]]
[[Category:Regions of Europe]]
[[Category:Western Asia]]

{{Sourceattribution|Caucasus|1}}