The
South Caucasus is a
geopolitical region located on the border
[1] of
Eastern Europe[2] and
Southwest Asia[3][4][5][6] also referred to as
Transcaucasia, or
The Transcaucasus. More specifically, the South Caucasus area spans the southern portion of the
Caucasus Mountains and its lowlands, lying between the two continents of
Europe and
Asia and extending from the southern part of the
Greater Caucasus Mountain range of southwestern
Russia and going southerly to the
Turkish and
Armenian borders, travelling between the
Black and
Caspian Seas. The area includes the southern part of the Greater Caucasus Mountain range, the entire Lesser Caucasus Mountain range, the
Colchis Lowlands and
Kura-Aras Lowlands, the
Talysh Mountains, the
Lenkoran Lowlands, and the
Javakheti-Armenian Uplands.
The Transcaucasus, or South Caucasus area, is a part of the entire
Caucasus geographical region that essentially divides the
Eurasian transcontinent into two.
All of Armenia is in Southern Caucasus; the majority of Georgia and Azerbaijan, including the exclave of Naxçivan, fall within this area. The countries of the region are producers of oil, manganese ore, tea, citrus fruits, and wine.
In Western languages, the terms Transcaucasus and Transcaucasia are translations of the Russian zakavkazie meaning "the area beyond the Caucasus Mountains", i.e., as seen from the Russian capital (analogous to the Roman terms Transalpine and Transpadania). The region remains one of the most complicated in the post-Soviet area, and comprises three heavily disputed areas – Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, and Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. Several wars, including the 2008 South Ossetia war, Ossetian-Georgian conflict, and the Nagorno-Karabakh war have been waged in this region.
Located on the peripheries of Turkey, Iran and Russia, the region has been an arena for political, military, religious, and cultural rivalries and expansionism for centuries.
