TheSouth Caucasus, also known asTranscaucasia, or theTranscaucasus, is a geographical region on the border ofEastern Europe andWest Asia, straddling the southernCaucasus Mountains.[1][2] The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modernArmenia,Georgia, andAzerbaijan, which are sometimes collectively known as theCaucasian States. The total area of these countries measures about 186,100 square kilometres (71,850 square miles).[3] The South Caucasus and theNorth Caucasus together comprise the largerCaucasus geographical region that dividesEurasia.
All of present-dayArmenia is in the South Caucasus; the majority of present-dayGeorgia andAzerbaijan, including theexclave ofNakhchivan, also fall within the region.[citation needed] Parts of Iran and Turkey are also included within the region of the South Caucasus.[4][which?] Goods produced in the region includeoil,manganese ore,tea,citrus fruits, andwine. It remains one of the most politically tense regions in the post-Soviet area, and contains two heavily disputed areas:Abkhazia andSouth Ossetia. Between 1878 and 1917, the Russian-controlled province ofKars Oblast and the county ofSurmalu uezd (present-dayIğdır Province) were also incorporated into administrative regions of the South Caucasus.[citation needed]
Nowadays, the region is referred to as theSouth Caucasus orSouthern Caucasia (Armenian:Հարավային Կովկաս,romanized: Haravayin Kovkas;Azerbaijani:Cənubi Qafqaz;Abkhaz:Агырҭ Кавказ,romanized: Agyrt Kavkaz;Georgian:სამხრეთ კავკასია,romanized:samkhret k'avk'asia;Russian:Южный Кавказ,romanized: Yuzhnyy Kavkaz). The former name of the region,Transcaucasia, is a Latin rendering of theRussian-language wordZakavkazye (Закавказье), meaning "[the area] beyond the Caucasus".[3] This implies a Russian vantage point, and is analogous to similar terms such asTransnistria andTransleithania. Other, rarer forms of this word includeTrans-Caucasus andTranscaucasus (Russian:Транскавказ,romanized: Transkavkaz).
Herodotus, a Greek historian who is known as 'the Father of History' andStrabo, a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian, spoke about autochthonous peoples of the Caucasus in their books. In the Middle Ages, various people, includingScythians,Alani,Huns,Khazars,Arabs,SeljuqTurks, andMongols 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 andIslamic religion in Caucasus.[3]
Contemporary political map of the Caucasus (including unrecognized states)Administrative map ofCaucasus in theUSSR, 1957–1991.
Ancient kingdoms of the region includedColchis,Urartu,Iberia,Armenia andAlbania, among others. These kingdoms were later incorporated into various Iranian empires, including theAchaemenid Empire, theParthian Empire, and theSassanid Empire, during whichZoroastrianism became the dominant religion in the region. However, after the rise ofChristianity and conversion of Caucasian kingdoms tothe 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 tobitter conflicts with successive Persian empires (and later Muslim-ruled empires) on the one side and theRoman Empire (and later theByzantine Empire andRussian Empire) on the other side.
After two wars in the first half of the 19th century, namely theRusso-Persian War (1804-1813) and theRusso-Persian War (1826-1828), theRussian Empire conquered most of the South Caucasus (andDagestan in theNorth Caucasus) from the IranianQajar dynasty, severing historic regional ties with Iran.[7][10] By theTreaty of Gulistan that followed after the 1804-1813 war, Iran was forced to cede modern-dayDagestan, EasternGeorgia, and most of theAzerbaijan Republic to Russia. By theTreaty of Turkmenchay that followed after the 1826-1828 war, Iran lost all of what is modern-dayArmenia and the remainder of the contemporary Azerbaijani Republic that remained in Iranian hands. After the1828-1829 war, the Ottomans ceded Western Georgia (exceptAdjaria, which was known as Sanjak of Batum), to the Russians, who populated this new southern boundary mostly with undesirable citizens and tolerated heretics (sektanty).[11]
In 1844, what comprises present-dayGeorgia,Armenia, andAzerbaijan were combined into a single czarist government-general, which was termed a vice-royalty in 1844-1881 and 1905–1917. Following the1877-78 Russo-Turkish War, Russia annexedKars,Ardahan,Agri andBatumi from theOttomans, joined to this unit, and established the province ofKars Oblast as its most south-westerly territory in the South Caucasus.
Both times these Transcaucasian entities dissolved, although the region would remain politically bound together in theSoviet Union in the form of the three separate Soviet Socialist Republics ofArmenia,Azerbaijan andGeorgia.[13] When theSoviet Union dissolved in 1991, all three emerged as internationally recognized sovereign states. Transit through the South Caucasus has been hampered since 1989 due to the ongoingTurkish–Azeri blockade of Armenia.
TheRusso-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.
On 8 November 2023, theEuropean Commission issued an official recommendation to grant EUcandidate 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.[14] On 12 March 2024, theEuropean Parliament passed a resolution confirming Armenia meets Maastricht TreatyArticle 49 requirements and that the country may apply for EU membership.[15] On 12 February 2025, Armenia's parliament approved a bill officially endorsingArmenia's EU accession.[16]
Development oflife expectancy in the countries of the South CaucasusDevelopment of life expectancy in the countries of the South Caucasus and in the neighboring countries
The South Caucasus, in particular where modern-dayTurkey,Georgia,Armenia andIran are located, is one of the native areas of the wine-producing vineVitis vinifera.[32] Some experts speculate that the South Caucasus may be the birthplace of wine production.[33] Archaeological excavations and carbon dating ofgrape seeds from the area have dated back to 8000–5000 BC.[34] Wine found in Iran has been dated toc. 7400 BC[32] andc. 5000 BC,[35] while wine found in Georgia has been dated toc. 8000 BC.[36][37][38] The earliestwinery, dated toc. 4000 BC, was found in Armenia.[32]
^"Caucasus".The World Factbook. Library of Congress. May 2006. Retrieved7 July 2009.
^Mulvey, Stephen (16 June 2000)."The Caucasus: Troubled borderland".News. BBC. Retrieved1 July 2009."The Caucasus Mountains form the boundary between West and East, between Europe and Asia..."
^abcSolomon Ilich Bruk."Transcaucasia".Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved3 December 2014.
^ჯაოშვილი, ვახტანგ. საქართველოს მოსახლეობა XVIII–XX საუკუნეებში./Jaoshvili, Vakhtang. Population of Georgia in the XVIII–XX centuries. Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 1984, pp. 92
^abჯაოშვილი, ვახტანგ. საქართველოს მოსახლეობა XVIII–XX საუკუნეებში./Jaoshvili, Vakhtang. Population of Georgia in the XVIII–XX centuries. Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 1984, pp. 95
^ჯაოშვილი, ვახტანგ. საქართველოს მოსახლეობა XVIII–XX საუკუნეებში./Jaoshvili, Vakhtang. Population of Georgia in the XVIII–XX centuries. Metsniereba, Tbilisi, 1984.
