South Caucasus

Coordinates: 42°15′40″N 44°07′16″E / 42.26111°N 44.12111°E / 42.26111; 44.12111
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

South Caucasus
1994 map of Caucasus region prepared by the U.S. State Department
Coordinates42°15′40″N 44°07′16″E / 42.26111°N 44.12111°E / 42.26111; 44.12111
Countries
Related areas
Time ZonesUTC+04:00, UTC+03:30 and UTC+03:00
Highest mountainShkhara (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

Armenian Highland
.

All of present-day

Kars Oblast and the county of Surmalu uezd (present-day Iğdır Province
) were also incorporated into the South Caucasus.

Etymology

Nowadays, the region is referred to as the South Caucasus or Southern Caucasia (

Transleithania. Other, rarer forms of this word include Trans-Caucasus and Transcaucasus (Russian: Транскавказ, romanized
Transkavkaz).

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]

Contemporary political map of the Caucasus (including unrecognized states)
Administrative map of Caucasus in the USSR, 1957–1991.

Located on the peripheries of

Abbassid, Mongol, Ottoman, successive Iranian (Safavid, Afsharid, Qajar), and Russian Empires, all of which introduced their faiths and cultures.[6] Throughout history, most of the South Caucasus was usually under the direct rule of the various in-Iran based empires and part of the Iranian world.[7] In the course of the 19th century, Qajar Iran had to irrevocably cede the region (alongside its territories in Dagestan, North Caucasus) as a result of the two Russo-Persian Wars of that century to Imperial Russia.[8]

Ancient kingdoms of the region included

Sassanid Empire, during which Zoroastrianism became the dominant religion in the region. However, after the rise of Christianity and conversion of Caucasian kingdoms to the new religion, Zoroastrianism lost its prevalence and only survived because of Persian power and influence still lingering in the region. Thus, the South Caucasus became the area of not only military, but also religious convergence, which often led to bitter conflicts with successive Persian empires (and later Muslim-ruled empires) on the one side and the Roman Empire (and later the Byzantine Empire and Russian Empire
) on the other side.

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

Qajar
dynasties.

After two wars in the first half of the 19th century, namely the

Adjaria
, which was known as Sanjak of Batum), to the Russians.

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

Members of the Eastern Partnership

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

Historical population of the South Caucasus
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

grape seeds from the area have dated back to 8000–5000 BC.[29] Wine found in Iran has been dated to c. 7400 BC[27] and c. 5000 BC,[30] while wine found in Georgia has been dated to c. 8000BC.[31][32][33] The earliest winery, dated to c. 4000 BC, was found in Armenia.[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Caucasus". The World Factbook. Library of Congress. May 2006. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
  2. ^ 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..."
  3. ^ a b c Solomon Ilich Bruk. "Transcaucasia". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
  4. .
  5. ^ Albert Kirk Grayson (1972). Assyrian Royal Inscriptions: Volume I. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. p. 108. §716.
  6. .
  7. ^ a b "Caucasus and Iran" in Encyclopaedia Iranica, Multiple Authors
  8. .
  9. .
  10. ^ Allen F. Chew. An Atlas of Russian History: Eleven Centuries of Changing Borders. Yale University Press, 1967. pp 74
  11. ^ "European Commission Recommends EU Candidacy for Georgia". Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ a b c d e "Azərbaycanda dеmоqrаfik vəziyyət" (in Azerbaijani). State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan. 18 February 2019.
  14. ^ ჯაოშვილი, ვახტანგ. საქართველოს მოსახლეობა XVIII–XX საუკუნეებში./Jaoshvili, Vakhtang. Population of Georgia in the XVIII–XX centuries. Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 1984, pp. 92
  15. ^ a b ჯაოშვილი, ვახტანგ. საქართველოს მოსახლეობა XVIII–XX საუკუნეებში./Jaoshvili, Vakhtang. Population of Georgia in the XVIII–XX centuries. Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 1984, pp. 95
  16. ^
    JSTOR 4323084
    – via JSTOR.
  17. ^ "Приложение. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1926 г. СССР, республики и их основные регионы". Демоскоп Weekly. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  18. ^ "Приложение. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1939 года". Демоскоп Weekly. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  19. ^ "Приложение. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1959 г." Демоскоп Weekly. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  20. ^ "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.
  21. ^ "Приложение. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1979 г." Демоскоп Weekly.
  22. ^ "Приложение. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г." Демоскоп Weekly. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  23. ^ Information from the 2001 Armenian National Census
  24. ^ "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.
  25. ^ "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.
  26. ^ ჯაოშვილი, ვახტანგ. საქართველოს მოსახლეობა XVIII–XX საუკუნეებში./Jaoshvili, Vakhtang. Population of Georgia in the XVIII–XX centuries. Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 1984.
  27. ^
    Boston Globe
  28. ^ Hugh Johnson Vintage: The Story of Wine pg 15 Simon & Schuster 1989
  29. ^ Johnson pg 17
  30. ^ Ellsworth, Amy (18 July 2012). "7,000 Year-old Wine Jar". Penn Museum.
  31. ^ "'World's oldest wine' found in 8,000-year-old jars in Georgia". BBC. 13 November 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  32. ^ Berkowitz, Mark (1996). "World's Earliest Wine". Archaeology. 49 (5). Archaeological Institute of America. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  33. .

Further reading

External links