Caucasus

From Buddhist Encyclopedia

The Caucasus or Caucasia is a region in Eurasia bordered on the south by Turkey and Iran in Asia, on the west by the Black Sea, on the east by the Caspian Sea, and on the north by Russia. Caucasia 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; for example, the Persian name for the region (harking of Asiatic links) is Qafqâz. 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 comprise the Caucasus today are northeastern Turkey, the post-Soviet states: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, as well various parts of Russia. 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. Azerbaijan has the widest biodiversity of all Caucasus and European states. The natural landscape of the Caucasus is one of mixed forest, with substantial areas of rocky ground above the treeline.

The Biblical Mount Ararat where Noah's Ark is said to have landed is regarded as the landmark of the ancient Armenian realm. 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.

See also

• Caucasian languages
• Ibero-Caucasian languages
• Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline
• Ciscaucasus
• Transcaucasus
• Transcontinental nations

External links

• BBC News: North Caucasus at a glance, September 8 2005
• United Nations Environment Programme map: Landcover of the Caucasus
• United Nations Environment Programme map: Population density of the Caucasus
• Information about the history