South Caucasus
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South Caucasus (also referred sometimes as Transcaucasus) is a name to the transitional region between Europe and Asia extending from the Greater Caucasus to the Turkish and Iranian borders, between the Black and Caspian seas. The area includes the Colchis Lowland, Kura Lawland, Talysh Mountains, Lenkoran Lowland, Caucasus Minor, Javakheti-Armenian Uplands. The majority of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan falls within this area. The countries of the region are producers of oil, manganese ore, tea, citrus fruits, and wine.
The terms Transcaucasus and Transcaucasia in Western languages are translations of the Russian zakavkazje meaning "the area beyond the Caucasus Mountains".
The region has been a single political entity twice – during the Russian civil war (Trans-Caucasian Democratic Federative Republic) from 9 April 1918 to 26 May 1918, and under the Soviet rule (Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic) from 12 March 1922 to 5 December 1936.
The region remains one of the most complicated in the post-Soviet area, and comprises three disputed area – Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, and Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.
External links
- Transcaucasia (The Columbia Encyclopedia article) (http://www.bartleby.com/65/tr/Transcau.html:)
- Prof. Thomas V. Gamkrelidze. “Transcaucasia or South Caucasus? Towards a more exact geopolitical nomenclature” (http://www.parliament.ge/GENERAL/C_D/caucasus_eng.htm:)