The Central Caucasus between Mount Elbrus andMount Kazbek
The Eastern Caucasus between Mount Kazbek and theCaspian Sea
In the wetter Western Caucasus, the mountains are heavily forested (deciduous forest up to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft),coniferous forest up to 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) andalpine meadows above thetree line). In the drier Eastern Caucasus, the mountains are mostly treeless.
The watershed of the Caucasus was the border between theCaucasia province of theRussian Empire in the north and theOttoman Empire andPersia in the south (1801) until theRussian victory in 1813 and theTreaty of Gulistan which moved the border of the Russian Empire well within Transcaucasia.[2]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 northwesternKakheti and northernMtskheta-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, andSiazan).
^18th-century definitions drew the boundary north of the Caucasus, across theKuma–Manych Depression. This definition remained in use in the Soviet Union during the 20th century.In western literature, the continental boundary has been drawn along the Caucasus watershed since at least the mid-19th century.See e.g. Baron von Haxthausen, "Transcaucasia" (1854); reviewDublin university magazineDouglas W. Freshfield, "Journey in the Caucasus", Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, Volumes 13–14, 1869.
