The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translated as "''Caucasus Major''", "''Big Caucasus''" or "''Large Caucasus''") is the major

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have ari ...

of the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...

. The range stretches for about from west-northwest to east-southeast, between the Taman Peninsula of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Rom ...

to the

Absheron Peninsula The Absheron Peninsula ( az, Abşeron yarımadası) is a peninsula in Azerbaijan. It is the location of Baku, the biggest and the most populous city of the country, and also the Baku metropolitan area, with its satellite cities Sumqayit and Khyrd ...

of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central A ...

: from the Western Caucasus in the vicinity of

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents i ...

on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea and reaching nearly to

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...

on the Caspian.

Geography

The range is traditionally separated into three parts: * The Western Caucasus, between the Black Sea and

Mount Elbrus Mount Elbrus ( rus, links=no, Эльбрус, r=Elbrus, p=ɪlʲˈbrus; kbd, Ӏуащхьэмахуэ, 'uaşhəmaxuə; krc, Минги тау, Mingi Taw) is the highest and most prominent peak in Russia and Europe. It is situated in the we ...

* The Central Caucasus, between Mount Elbrus and

Mount Kazbek Mount Kazbek or Mount Kazbegi is a dormant stratovolcano and one of the major mountains of the Caucasus, located on the Russian-Georgian border - in Russia's North Ossetia region and Georgia's Kazbegi District. At 5,034 m (16,515 ft) high, i ...

* The Eastern Caucasus, between Mount Kazbek and the

In the wetter Western Caucasus, the mountains are heavily

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

ed (

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals ...

up to , coniferous forest up to and

alpine meadow Alpine tundra is a type of natural region or biome that does not contain trees because it is at high elevation, with an associated harsh climate. As the latitude of a location approaches the poles, the threshold elevation for alpine tundra gets ...

s above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snow ...

). In the drier Eastern Caucasus, the mountains are mostly treeless.

Europe–Asia boundary

The watershed of the Caucasus is also considered by some to be the boundary between

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...

and

Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes A ...

. The European part north of the watershed is known as

Ciscaucasia The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...

; the Asiatic part to the south as

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

, which is dominated by the Lesser Caucasus mountain range and whose western portion converges with Eastern Anatolia. Most of the border of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

with

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

runs along most of the Caucasus' length. The

Georgian Military Road The Georgian Military Road or Georgian Military Highway (, 'sakartvelos samkhedro gza'' , os, Арвыкомы фæндаг 'Arvykomy fændag'' is the historic name for a major route through the Caucasus from Georgia to Russia. Alternative ...

(

Darial Gorge The Darial Gorge ( ka, დარიალის ხეობა, ''Darialis Kheoba''; russian: Дарьяльское ущелье; os, Арвыком, ''Arvykom''; inh, Даьра Аьле, ''Dära Äle''; Chechen: Теркан чӀаж, ''Te ...

) and

Trans-Caucasus Highway The Transcaucasian Highway (russian: Транскавказская автомагистраль) or TransKAM (ТрансКАМ) is a mountain highway in the South Caucasus region, connecting southern Russia and Georgia. Geography As the A164 h ...

traverse this mountain range at altitudes of up to .

Watershed

The watershed of the Caucasus was the border between the ''Caucasia'' province of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

in the north and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in the south in 1801, until the Russian victory in 1813 and the Treaty of Gulistan which moved the border of the Russian Empire well within Transcaucasia.Encyclopædia Britannica o 1833
vol 5, p. 251
The border between

and

still follows the watershed almost exactly (except for Georgia's western border, which extends south of the watershed, and a narrow strip of territory in northwestern

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region ( mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises ...

and northern Mtskheta-Mtianeti where Georgia extends north of the watershed), while

is south of the watershed except that its northeastern corner has five districts north of the watershed ( Khachmaz, Quba, Qusar, Shabran, and

Siazan Siyazan ( az, Siyəzən; Tat: ''Siyəzən'') is a city, municipality and the capital of the Siyazan District of Azerbaijan. It has a population of 24,900. The city's name is said to be derived from Persian Persian may refer to: * People and th ...

Peaks

, , is the highest mountain in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. *

Dykh-Tau Dykh-Tau or Dykhtau (russian: Дыхтау, krc, Дых тау that is derived from Turkic "dik dagh" which means Jagged Mount), is a mountain located in Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia; its peak stands about north of the border with Georgia. Acc ...

, , *

Shkhara Shkhara ( ka, შხარა) is the highest point in the nation of Georgia It is located near the Russian-Georgian border, in Russia's Kabardino-Balkaria region on the northern side, and the Svaneti region of Georgia in the south. Shkhara lies ...

, , *

Koshtan-Tau Koshtan-Tau (russian: Коштан-тау; Karachay-Balkar: Къоштан-тау, means ''paired mountain'') is the highest peak (5,144m) of the Koshtan massif of the central Caucasus Mountains in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic of Russia, near ...

, , *

Shota Rustaveli Peak Shota Rustaveli (officially known as the Shota Rustaveli Peak) ( ka, შოთა რუსთაველის მწვერვალი) is a mountain in the central part of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range, straddling the border of Svane ...

, , *

Kazbek Mount Kazbek or Mount Kazbegi is a dormant stratovolcano and one of the major mountains of the Caucasus, located on the Russian-Georgian border - in Russia's North Ossetia region and Georgia's Kazbegi District. At 5,034 m (16,515 ft) high, i ...

(Mkinvartsveri), , *

Tebulosmta Tebulosmta ( ce, Тулой-лам, ''Tuloy-Lam'' or Tiebuolt-Lam, ka, ტებულოს მთა, ''Tebulos mta'', russian: Тебулосмта) is the highest mountain of the Eastern Caucasus and the highest mountain of the Chechen Rep ...

, , * Diklosmta, , * Bazardüzü, , *

Babadag Babadag (; tr, Babadağ, "Father Mountain"), formerly known as Babatag, is a town in Tulcea County, Romania, located on a small lake formed by the river Taița, in the densely wooded highlands of Northern Dobruja. One of the several tom ...

, , *

Katyn-Tau Katyn-Tau ( ka, კათინთაუ; russian: Катын-Тау) is a summit in the central part of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range ( Bezengi Wall). It lies on the border of Svaneti (Mestia Municipality, Georgia) and Kabardino-Balkaria (R ...

, , *, , * Janga, , *

Tetnuldi Tetnuldi () is a prominent peak in the central part of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range, located in the Svaneti region of Georgia. According to most sources, Tetnuldi is the 10th highest peak of the Caucasus. The slopes of the mountain are gla ...

, , *

Ushba Ushba ( ka, უშბა) is one of the most notable peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. It is located in the Svaneti region of Georgia, just south of the border with the Kabardino-Balkaria region of Russia. Although it does not rank in the 10 highe ...

, , *

Ailama Ailama or Ahlama ( ka, აილამა, აჰლამა) is a peak in the central part of the Svaneti section of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range, located on the border between Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region of Georgia, and Kabardino-Bal ...

, , * Mount Karakaya, , , highest of the

Skalisty Range, Caucasus Skalisty Range (russian: Скалистый хребет) is a mountain range in the Greater Caucasus, Russian Federation. Geography The Skalisty Range is a chain of ten separate mountain massifs stretching parallel to the northern side of the La ...

Passes

* Bogovatchosgele Pass , * Abano Pass , *

Mamison Pass Mamison Pass ( ka, მამისონის უღელტეხილი, os, Мамысоны æфцæг amysony æfcæg russian: Мамисонский перевал) is a high mountainous pass in the central Greater Caucasus crest, on t ...

, * Datvisjvari Pass , * Marukhi Pass ,) *

Pereval Klukhorskiy ''The Pass'' (russian: Перевал, translit=Pereval, italic=yes) is a 1988 Soviet animated short film, directed by Vladimir Tarasov Vladimir Ilich Tarasov (russian: Владимир Ильич Тарасов; born 7 February 1939 in Mosc ...

, *

Jvari Pass The Georgian Military Road or Georgian Military Highway (, 'sakartvelos samkhedro gza'' , os, Арвыкомы фæндаг 'Arvykomy fændag'' is the historic name for a major route through the Caucasus from Georgia to Russia. Alternative ...

, * Dübrar Pass ,

References

{{Authority control + Mountain ranges of Azerbaijan Mountain ranges of Georgia (country) Mountain ranges of Russia Lists of coordinates Geography of the Caucasus Physiographic sections Landforms of North Ossetia–Alania Mountains of Krasnodar Krai Mountain ranges of Europe

Geography

Europe–Asia boundary

Watershed

Peaks

Passes

See also

References