The Greater Caucasus, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; 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 aris ...

of the Caucasus Mountains. It stretches for about from west-northwest to east-southeast, from the Taman Peninsula of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea 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 bound ...

to the Absheron Peninsula of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

: from the Western Caucasus in the vicinity of

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

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

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

on the Caspian.

Geography

The range is traditionally separated into three parts: * The Western Caucasus between the Black Sea and Mount Elbrus * The Central Caucasus between Mount Elbrus and Mount Kazbek * The Eastern Caucasus between Mount Kazbek and the

In the wetter Western Caucasus, the mountains are heavily forested ( deciduous forest up to , coniferous forest up to and alpine meadows above the tree line). 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 Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

and

Western Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

. The European part to the north of the watershed is known as Ciscaucasia; the Asiatic part to the south as Transcaucasia, 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 country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

with

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

runs along most of the Caucasus' length. The Georgian Military Road ( Darial Gorge) and Trans-Caucasus Highway 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 that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

in the north and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

in the south (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 Georgia and Russia 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 and northern Mtskheta-Mtianeti where Georgia extends north of the watershed), while Azerbaijan is south of the watershed except that its northeastern corner has five districts north of the watershed ( Khachmaz, Quba, Qusar, Shabran, and Siazan).

Peaks

* Mount Elbrus, , is the highest mountain in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. * Dykh-Tau, , * Shkhara, , * Koshtan-Tau, , * Shota Rustaveli Peak, , * Kazbek (Mkinvartsveri), , * Tebulosmta, , * Diklosmta, , * Bazardüzü, , * Babadag, , * Katyn-Tau, , *, , * Janga, , * Tetnuldi, , * Ushba, , *

Ailama Ailama or Ahlama ( ka, აილამა, აჰლამა) is a mountain peak, peak in the central part of the Svaneti section of the Caucasus Mountains, Greater Caucasus Mountain Range, located on the border between Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo ...

, , * Mount Karakaya, , , highest of the Skalisty Range, Caucasus

Passes

* Bogovatchosgele Pass , * Abano Pass , * Mamison Pass , * Datvisjvari Pass , * Marukhi Pass ,) * Pereval Klukhorskiy , * Jvari Pass , * Dübrar Pass ,

Notes

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