South Caucasus

South Caucasus, also referred to as Southern Caucasia, is the southern area of the Caucasus region spanning Europe and Asia, going from the Greater Caucasus to the Turkish and Iranian borders, between the Black and Caspian Seas.

Administrative map of Caucasus in USSR, 1952-1991.

All of Armenia is in the South Caucasus; the majority of Georgia and Azerbaijan, including the exclave of Naxçıvan, fall within this area. The countries in the region produce oil, manganese ore, tea, citrus fruits, and wine.

The region is one the most complicated in the post-Soviet area, and has three heavily disputed areas – Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, and Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan.

History

The region was combined togerther twice – during the Russian Civil War (Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic) from 9 April 1918 to 26 May 1918, and under the Soviet rule (Transcaucasian SFSR) from 12 March 1922 to 5 December 1936.

The area of Transcaucasia, which is where modern day Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia are located, is one of areas where the wine producing vines vitis vinifera grow. Some experts think that this may be where wine was produced for the first time. ^[1] Archeological excavation and carbon dating of grape pips from the area have dated back to 7000-5000BC. ^[2]