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 The Caucasus Mountains * * Azerbaijani: , * * * * * * * * * * * is a mountain range at the intersection of Asia and Europe. Stretching between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, they are surrounded by the Caucasus region ...

. 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 The Western Caucasus is a western region of the North Caucasus in Southern Russia, extending from the Black Sea to Mount Elbrus. World Heritage Site The Western Caucasus includes a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site (named 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

between the Black Sea and

Mount Elbrus Mount Elbrus; ; is the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. It is a dormant stratovolcano rising above sea level, and is the highest volcano in Eurasia, as well as the tenth-most prominent peak in the world. It is situated in the south ...

* The Central Caucasus between Mount Elbrus and

Mount Kazbek Mount Kazbek or Mount Kazbegi, , romanized: ''q'azbegi''; ; ; ; is a dormant stratovolcano and one of the major mountains of the Caucasus Mountains, Caucasus, located in Georgia (country), Georgia, just south of the border with Russia. Lying ...

* The Eastern Caucasus between Mount Kazbek and the

In the wetter Western Caucasus, the mountains are heavily forested (

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, after flo ...

up to ,

coniferous forest Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

up to and alpine meadows above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

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

, 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 The Georgian Military Road or Georgian Military Highway; , Гуржий никъ, romanized: Gurzhiy niqh; ; is the historic name for a major route through the Caucasus from Georgia (country), Georgia to Russia. Alternative routes across the m ...

( 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 The Treaty of Gulistan (also spelled Golestan: ; ) was a peace treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and Qajar Iran on 24 October 1813 in the village of Gülüstan, Goranboy, Gulistan (now in Goranboy District, the Goranboy District of Azerb ...

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 Kakheti (; ) is a region of Georgia. Telavi is its administrative center. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta. Kakhetians speak the ...

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 Quba () is a city and the administrative centre of the Quba District (Azerbaijan), Quba District of Azerbaijan. The city lies on the north-eastern slopes of Mount Shahdagh, Shahdag mountain, at an altitude of 600 metres above sea level, on the ...

, Qusar, Shabran, and Siazan).

Peaks

, , 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 Skalisty Range () 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 Lateral Range along the Krasnodar Territo ...

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