South Caucasus

The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It stretches across the southern Caucasus Mountains.

The South Caucasus roughly matches the modern countries of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. Together, these countries cover about 186,100 square kilometres (71,850 square miles).

The South Caucasus and the North Caucasus together make up the larger Caucasus region, which divides Eurasia.

For the 1918 republic, see Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic. For the Soviet republic, see Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.

Geography

The South Caucasus covers the southern part of the Caucasus Mountains and their lowlands. It lies on the border between Europe and Asia. It stretches south from the southern part of the Main Caucasian Range in southwestern Russia to the Turkish and Armenian borders, and from the Black Sea in the west to the Caspian Sea coast of Iran in the east. The region includes the southern part of the Greater Caucasus range, all of the Lesser Caucasus range, the Colchis Lowlands, the Kura-Aras Lowlands, Qaradagh, the Talysh Mountains, the Lankaran Lowland, Javakheti, and the eastern part of the Armenian Highlands.

All of present-day Armenia is in the South Caucasus. Most of Georgia and Azerbaijan are also in the region, including the exclave of Nakhchivan. Goods made in the region include oil, manganese ore, tea, citrus fruits, and wine. It remains one of the most politically tense regions in the former Soviet area. It has two heavily disputed areas: Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Between 1878 and 1917, the Russian-controlled province of Kars Oblast and the county of Surmalu uezd, which is now Iğdır Province, were also included in the administrative regions of the South Caucasus.

Etymology

Today, the region is called the South Caucasus or Southern Caucasia. It has names in several languages, including Armenian: Հարավային Կովկաս, romanized: Haravayin Kovkas; Azerbaijani: Cənubi Qafqaz; Abkhaz: Агырҭ Кавказ, romanized: Agyrt Kavkaz; Georgian: სამხრეთ კავკასია, romanized: samkhret k'avk'asia; Russian: Южный Кавказ, romanized: Yuzhnyy Kavkaz.

The region's older name, Transcaucasia, is the Latin spelling of the Russian-language word Zakavkazye, which means "[the area] beyond the Caucasus". This name shows a Russian point of view and is similar to other terms such as Transnistria and Transleithania. Rarer forms of the name include Trans-Caucasus and Transcaucasus (Russian: Транскавказ, romanized: Transkavkaz).

History

Two Greek writers, Herodotus and Strabo, wrote about the early peoples of the Caucasus. In the Middle Ages, many groups settled there, including Scythians, Alani, Huns, Khazars, Arabs, Seljuq Turks, and Mongols. Their arrival shaped the cultures of the South Caucasus. At the same time, Middle Eastern influence spread Iranian languages and the Islamic religion. Because the region sat between Iran, Russia, and Turkey, it was a place of rivalry for centuries. Many empires ruled it, including the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Sasanian, Umayyad, Abbasid, Safavid, Afsharid, and Russian Empires, and each brought its own faith and culture. Most of the South Caucasus was usually ruled directly by empires based in Iran and was part of the Iranian world. In the 19th century, Qajar Iran gave up the region, along with its lands in Dagestan and the North Caucasus, after the Russo-Persian Wars and came under Russian control. Earlier kingdoms there included Colchis, Urartu, Iberia, Armenia, and Albania. Over time these kingdoms came under Iranian empires, such as the Achaemenid Empire, the Parthian Empire, and the Sassanid Empire, when Zoroastrianism was the main religion. After Christianity spread and the Caucasian kingdoms adopted the new religion, Zoroastrianism lost its place, though Persian influence kept it alive. The region became a meeting point of armies and faiths, which often led to bitter conflicts between Persian empires and the Roman Empire, later the Byzantine Empire and the Russian Empire. The Parthians also set up branches of their family in the region, including the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, the Arsacid dynasty of Iberia, and the Arsacid dynasty of Caucasian Albania.

In the mid-8th century, Umayyad armies captured Derbend during the Arab–Khazar wars, and most of the South Caucasus became part of the Caliphate, where Islam spread widely. Later, the Kingdom of Georgia, an Orthodox Christian kingdom, became the leading power in most of the region. It was then conquered by the Seljuk, Mongol, Turkic, Safavid, Ottoman, Afsharid, and Qajar dynasty rulers. After two wars in the early 19th century, the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) and the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828), the Russian Empire took most of the South Caucasus and Dagestan from Iran, which cut its old ties to the region. The Treaty of Gulistan forced Iran to give up Dagestan, Eastern Georgia, and most of the Azerbaijan Republic. The Treaty of Turkmenchay then took all of present-day Armenia and the rest of Azerbaijan. After the 1828–1829 war, the Ottomans gave Western Georgia to Russia, except Adjaria, which was called the Sanjak of Batum. Russia used this southern border to resettle people it considered undesirable and allowed heretics (sektanty) to live there. In 1844, present-day Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan were joined into one government area under the czar, which was called a vice-royalty in 1844–1881 and 1905–1917. After the 1877–78 Russo-Turkish War, Russia took Kars, Ardahan, Agri, and Batumi from the Ottomans and added them to this area, forming Kars Oblast as its most south-western part. After the fall of the Russian Empire in 1918, the region was united into one political state twice: as the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic from 9 April to 26 May 1918, and as the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic from 12 March 1922 to 5 December 1936. Both times, these unions broke apart, but the three countries stayed linked in the Soviet Union as separate Soviet Socialist Republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, all three became independent countries recognized around the world. Travel through the South Caucasus has been limited since 1989 because of the ongoing Turkish–Azeri blockade of Armenia. The Russo-Georgian War in 2008 added to the instability of the region, which is as complicated as the Middle East because of its mix of religions and ethnic and language groups. Since independence, the three countries have had different levels of success in their relations with Russia and other countries. After the Rose Revolution in 2004, Georgia, like the Baltic states, began integrating into wider European society by building ties with NATO and the European Union. Armenia continues to build relations with Russia while also developing ties with the EU. Azerbaijan depends less on Russia and works closely with Turkey. All three countries belong to the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, and the European Political Community, and they take part in the EU's Eastern Partnership and the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly. They are also members of NATO's Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and Partnership for Peace. On 8 November 2023, the European Commission recommended giving EU candidate status to Georgia, and this was confirmed on 14 December 2023, making Georgia the first country in the South Caucasus to receive it. On 12 March 2024, the European Parliament passed a resolution confirming that Armenia meets the requirements of Article 49 of the Maastricht Treaty and may apply for EU membership. On 12 February 2025, Armenia's parliament approved a bill officially supporting Armenia's EU accession.

Demographics