South Caucasus
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South Caucasus | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 42°15′40″N 44°07′16″E / 42.26111°N 44.12111°E |
Countries | |
Time Zones | UTC+04:00, UTC+03:30 and UTC+03:00 |
Highest mountain | Shkhara (5,203 metres (17,070 ft)) |
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.[1][2] The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, which are sometimes collectively known as the Caucasian States. The total area of these countries measures about 186,100 square kilometres (71,850 square miles).[3] The South Caucasus and the North Caucasus together comprise the larger Caucasus geographical region that divides Eurasia.
Geography
The South Caucasus spans the southern portion of the
All of present-day
Etymology
Nowadays, the region is referred to as the South Caucasus or Southern Caucasia (
History
Prehistory
Herodotus, a Greek historian who is known as 'the Father of History' and Strabo, a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian, spoke about autochthonous peoples of the Caucasus in their books. In the Middle Ages, various people, including Scythians, Alani, Armenians, Huns, Khazars, Arabs, Seljuq Turks, and Mongols settled in Caucasia. These invasions influenced on the culture of the peoples of the South Caucasus. In parallel Middle Eastern influence disseminated the Iranian languages and Islamic religion in Caucasus.[3]
Located on the peripheries of
Ancient kingdoms of the region included
The Iranian Parthians established and installed several eponymous branches in the South Caucasus, namely the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, the Arsacid dynasty of Iberia, and the Arsacid dynasty of Caucasian Albania.
Middle ages and Russian rule
In the middle of the 8th century, with the capture of
After two wars in the first half of the 19th century, namely the
In 1844, what comprises present-day Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan were combined into a single czarist government-general, which was termed a vice-royalty in 1844-1881 and 1905–1917. Following the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War, Russia annexed Kars, Ardahan, Agri and Batumi from the Ottomans, joined to this unit, and established the province of Kars Oblast as its most south-westerly territory in the South Caucasus.
Modern era
After the fall of the Russian Empire in 1918, the South Caucasus region was unified into a single political entity twice, as the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic from 9 April 1918 to 26 May 1918, and as the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic from 12 March 1922 to 5 December 1936.
Both times these Transcaucasian entities dissolved, although the region would remain politically bound together in the Soviet Union in the form of the three separate Soviet Socialist Republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. All three regained independence in 1991 when the Soviet Union dissolved.
The Russo-Georgian War took place in 2008 across the South Caucasus, contributing to further instability in the region, which is as intricate as the Middle East, due to the complex mix of religions (mainly Muslim and Orthodox Christian) and ethno-linguistic groups.
Since their independence, the three countries have had varying degrees of success in their relations with Russia and other countries. In Georgia, after the Rose Revolution in 2004, the country, like the Baltic states, began integrating into wider European society by opening up relations with NATO and the European Union. Armenia continues to foster relations with Russia, while also developing ties with the EU. Azerbaijan relies less on Russia, strategically partnering with Turkey and other NATO states. All three South Caucasus countries are members of the Council of Europe, the European Political Community, and participate in the EU's Eastern Partnership and Euronest Parliamentary Assembly.
On 8 November 2023, the European Commission issued an official recommendation to grant EU candidate status to Georgia, which was confirmed on 14 December 2023. Georgia, thus becoming, the first country in the South Caucasus to receive EU candidate status.[11]
Demographics
Year | Armenia | Azerbaijan | Georgia | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|---|
1897 | 798,853 better source needed ]
|
1,806,700[13] | 1,919,400[14] | 4,524,953 |
1908 | 877,322 better source needed ]
|
2,014,300[13] | ||
1914 | 1,014,255 better source needed ]
|
2,278,245 | 2,697,500[15] | 5,990,000[16] |
1916–17 | 993,782 better source needed ]
|
2,353,700[13] | 2,357,800[15] | 5,705,282 |
First World War and Russian Revolution | ||||
1920–22 | 780,000 | 1,863,000 | 2,677,000 | 5,321,000[16] |
1926 | 880,464 | 2,314,571 | 2,666,494 | 5,861,529[17] |
1929 | 6,273,000[16] | |||
1931 | 1,050,633 better source needed ]
|
6,775,000[16] | ||
1932 | 6,976,000[16] | |||
1933 | 7,110,000[16] | |||
1939 | 1,282,338 | 3,205,150 | 3,540,023 | 8,027,511[18] |
1956 | 9,000,000[16] | |||
1959 | 1,763,048 | 3,697,717 | 4,044,045 | 9,504,810[19] |
1970 | 2,491,873 | 5,117,081 | 4,686,358 | 12,295,312[20] |
1979 | 3,037,259 | 6,026,515 | 4,993,182 | 14,056,956[21] |
1989 | 3,304,776 | 7,037,867 | 5,400,841 | 15,743,484[22] |
1999–2002 | 3,213,011[23] | 7,953,400[13] | 3,991,300[24] | 15,157,711 |
2009–14 | 3,018,854[25] | 8,922,000[13] | 3,713,804[26] | 15,654,658 |
Wine
The South Caucasus, in particular where modern-day
See also
- Caucasus
- Caucasus Greeks
- Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations
- Eastern Europe
- Eastern European Group
- Eurasian Economic Union
- Eurovoc
- EU Strategy for the South Caucasus
- Ibero-Caucasian languages
- North Caucasus (Ciscaucasia)
- Peoples of the Caucasus
- Post-Soviet states
- Regions of Europe
References
- ^ "Caucasus". The World Factbook. Library of Congress. May 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
- ^ Mulvey, Stephen (16 June 2000). "The Caucasus: Troubled borderland". News. BBC. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
"The Caucasus Mountains form the boundary between West and East, between Europe and Asia..."
- ^ a b c Solomon Ilich Bruk. "Transcaucasia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
- ISBN 9781135368500.
- ^ Albert Kirk Grayson (1972). Assyrian Royal Inscriptions: Volume I. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. p. 108. §716.
- ISBN 978-1409407218.
- ^ a b "Caucasus and Iran" in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Multiple Authors
- ISBN 978-1-59884-948-6.
- ISBN 978-0199884322.
- ^ Allen F. Chew. An Atlas of Russian History: Eleven Centuries of Changing Borders. Yale University Press, 1967. pp 74
- ^ "European Commission Recommends EU Candidacy for Georgia". Retrieved 7 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Korkotyan, Zaven (1932). Խորհրդային Հայաստանի բնակչությունը վերջին հարյուրամյակում (1831-1931) [The population of Soviet Armenia in the last century (1831–1931)] (PDF) (in Armenian). Yerevan: Pethrat. p. 167. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 February 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "Azərbaycanda dеmоqrаfik vəziyyət" (in Azerbaijani). State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan. 18 February 2019.
- ^ ჯაოშვილი, ვახტანგ. საქართველოს მოსახლეობა XVIII–XX საუკუნეებში./Jaoshvili, Vakhtang. Population of Georgia in the XVIII–XX centuries. Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 1984, pp. 92
- ^ a b ჯაოშვილი, ვახტანგ. საქართველოს მოსახლეობა XVIII–XX საუკუნეებში./Jaoshvili, Vakhtang. Population of Georgia in the XVIII–XX centuries. Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 1984, pp. 95
- ^ JSTOR 4323084– via JSTOR.
- ^ "Приложение. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1926 г. СССР, республики и их основные регионы". Демоскоп Weekly. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Приложение. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1939 года". Демоскоп Weekly. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Приложение. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1959 г." Демоскоп Weekly. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Приложение. Численность наличного населения городов, поселков городского типа, районов и районных центров СССР по данным переписи на 15 января 1970 года по республикам, краям и областям (кроме РСФСР)". Демоскоп Weekly. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ "Приложение. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1979 г." Демоскоп Weekly.
- ^ "Приложение. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г." Демоскоп Weekly. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
- ^ Information from the 2001 Armenian National Census
- ^ "Population Dynamics in Georgia – An Overview Based on the 2014 General Population Census Data" (PDF). UNFPA, National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat). 29 November 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ^ "The Results of 2011 Population Census of the Republic of Armenia (Figures of the Republic of Armenia), trilingual / Armenian Statistical Service of Republic of Armenia". armstat.am. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ ჯაოშვილი, ვახტანგ. საქართველოს მოსახლეობა XVIII–XX საუკუნეებში./Jaoshvili, Vakhtang. Population of Georgia in the XVIII–XX centuries. Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 1984.
- ^ Boston Globe
- ^ Hugh Johnson Vintage: The Story of Wine pg 15 Simon & Schuster 1989
- ^ Johnson pg 17
- ^ Ellsworth, Amy (18 July 2012). "7,000 Year-old Wine Jar". Penn Museum.
- ^ "'World's oldest wine' found in 8,000-year-old jars in Georgia". BBC. 13 November 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
- ^ Berkowitz, Mark (1996). "World's Earliest Wine". Archaeology. 49 (5). Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
- ISBN 978-0-7614-3033-9.
Further reading
- Shahinyan, Arsen K. (2022). "The Southern Boundaries of the Southern Caucasus". Iran and the Caucasus. 26 (4): 418–424. S2CID 254388941.
External links
- Caucasian Journal – a multilingual online journal on the South Caucasus
- Caucasian Review of International Affairs – an academic journal on the South Caucasus
- Caucasus Analytical Digest – Journal on the South Caucasus
- Transcaucasia (The Columbia Encyclopedia article)
- Kropotkin, Peter Alexeivitch (1888). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (9th ed.). pp. 513–515.
- Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 172. .