Caucasus

I

Introduction

Caucasus or Caucasia (Russian Kavkaz), mountainous region in extreme southeastern Europe and western Asia, occupying the isthmus between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The region covers about 400,000 sq km (about 150,000 sq mi) and includes the countries of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, as well as a portion of far southern Russia.

II

Land and Resources

The main stretch of the Caucasus Mountains, known as the Greater Caucasus, divides the Caucasus region into a northern half, North Caucasus, and a southern half, South Caucasus. About 1,200 km (about 700 mi) in length, the Greater Caucasus run in a southeasterly direction from the Taman’ Peninsula on the Black Sea to the Abşeron Peninsula on the Caspian Sea. The Greater Caucasus, which contain Europe’s highest peak, El’brus (5,642 m/18,510 ft), mark a traditional boundary between Europe and Asia.

The North Caucasus (also known as Ciscaucasia) has broad plains and plateaus that blend into the Russian steppes to the north. In the south the North Caucasus rises up the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus. The Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, Alania (North Ossetia), and Adygea lie within the North Caucasus.

The South Caucasus (also known as Transcaucasia) contains high mountainous plateaus that are bisected by the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, as well as by valleys along the Kura in Georgia and the Aras River on the border of Armenia and Turkey. Mount Aragats (4,090 m/13,419 ft) in Armenia is the highest peak of the Lesser Caucasus. The South Caucasus also includes the low-lying coastal plains of Azerbaijan.

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The Caucasus region is traversed by many rivers: the Kura, Aras, Sulak, Terek, and Kuma flow into the Caspian Sea; the Rioni and Enguri flow into the Black Sea; and the Kuban’ flows into the Sea of Azov. The largest lake of the Caucasus is Lake Sevan in Armenia, which feeds the Hrazdan River. The landscape is predominantly mountainous, with coniferous forests covering both the Greater and Lesser Caucasus. The valleys are fertile, and the semitropical Black Sea coast is suited for tea, tobacco, and citrus growing. Other fertile farmland lies in the valleys of the Kura and Aras rivers, while sheep and goat raising thrive in the mountainous regions. The Caucasus region is a principal source of oil for many surrounding countries; oil is found primarily in Chechnya and under the shelf of the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan. The region is also rich in manganese, lead, copper, zinc, iron, molybdenum, and coal.

The climate of the Caucasus ranges from semitropical to temperate. The average temperatures in the North Caucasus range from -5° to -2° C (23° to 28° F) in January, while the South Caucasus is milder, ranging from 1° to 6° C (34° to 43° F). In summer the difference in temperature between the north and south is less extreme, with temperatures ranging from 23° to 29° C (73° to 84° F). Precipitation is heavy on the Black Sea coast, where 1,200 to 1,800 mm (50 to 70 in) fall each year, and, to a lesser extent, on the Caspian Sea, where Lenkoran receives about 1,200 mm (about 50 in) each year. The valleys of the Kura and Aras rivers are much drier, receiving 200 to 400 mm (8 to 16 in) of precipitation annually, with mild winters and very hot summers.

III

The People of the Caucasus

In 1989 the Caucasus had a population of 21 million. The principal cities of the Caucasus are Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia; Yerevan, the capital of Armenia; Groznyy, the capital of Chechnya; Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan; and Vladikavkaz, the capital of Alania. With more than 50 distinct peoples and dozens of distinct languages, the Caucasus is one of the most complex linguistic and ethnic regions in the world. More than half of the people of the Caucasus are Muslims. Among them are the predominantly Shia Azerbaijanis, Talysh, Tats, and some Lezgins; the predominantly Sunni Chechens and Ajars (ethnic Georgians who are Sunni Muslims); and some Abkhazians and Ossetians. Most of the other Caucasians are Orthodox Christians, including the Georgians, the Kabardinians, many Abkhazians and Ossetians, and most of the ethnic Russians and Ukrainians. The Armenians adopted Christianity in the 4th century and have had a separate Christian church, the Armenian Church, since the 5th century.

The region’s native Caucasian languages are usually divided into two main groups: North Caucasian and South Caucasian. The majority of languages are part of the North Caucasian language family, including Abkhaz, Adyghe, Bats, Chechen, Ingush, and Kabardian. The most widely spoken South Caucasian language is Georgian. The Caucasus also has a number of Indo-European languages, including Armenian, Russian, and Ukrainian, as well as languages of the Indo-Iranian languages subfamily such as Kurdish and Ossetic. The third major language group in the Caucasus consists of Altaic languages, including the Turkic languages Azeri and Karachay-Balkar.

IV

History

The Caucasus was one of the world’s earliest sites of human settlement, farming, and metallurgy (the extraction of metal from ore). The region was viewed by ancient and modern empires as a vital transit corridor and a mountain fortress from which to defend against enemy attacks. The earliest organized state in the region was the Urartian Empire, which existed from about the 9th century bc. The first Armenian and Georgian kingdoms were established in the 6th century bc. The Armenian princes survived until the 13th century ad, when they faded under Mongol invasions; a Georgian dynasty lasted until the early 19th century. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Ottoman, Persian, and Russian empires engaged in a triangular struggle over the Caucasus that ended with Russian conquests and annexations of the area early in the 19th century.

In 1918 Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan declared their independence from Russia, following the Russian Revolution of 1917. In 1920 and 1921 the Bolsheviks (Communists) gained power in the region. In early 1922 the three countries joined to form the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (TSFSR), which entered the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) later that year. The Transcaucasian SFSR was dissolved in 1936, and each of its three republics became full union republics of the USSR.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia became independent states. They soon encountered claims of independence from territories within their borders. Violent ethnic clashes broke out in the autonomous regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia and in the Armenian-populated region of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. The republics of the North Caucasus remained part of Russia, although in 1991 Chechnya declared its intention to become independent.

From late 1994 to 1996 Russian and Chechen military forces fought a brutal war for control of Chechnya. Russian troops and Chechen fighters resumed fighting in 1999. By early February 2000, Chechnya was under Russian military occupation and Groznyy had been reduced to ruins. A separatist insurgency continued in Chechnya as the Russian government attempted to reestablish federal control in the region.