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Greater Caucasus | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Peak | Mount Elbrus |
Elevation | 5,642 m (18,510 ft) |
Coordinates | 43°21′18″N42°26′31″E / 43.35500°N 42.44194°E |
Dimensions | |
Length | 1,200 km (750 mi)NW-SE |
Geography | |
Countries | Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia |
Region | Caucasus |
Parent range | Caucasus Mountains |
Borders on | Lesser Caucasus |
The Greater Caucasus [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains.
The range stretches for about 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) from west-northwest to east-southeast, between the Taman Peninsula of the Black Sea to the Absheron Peninsula of the Caspian Sea: from the Western Caucasus in the vicinity of Sochi on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea and reaching nearly to Baku on the Caspian.
The range is traditionally separated into three parts:
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) and alpine meadows above the tree line). In the drier Eastern Caucasus, the mountains are mostly treeless.
The watershed of the Caucasus is also considered by some to be the boundary between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The European part to the north of the watershed is known as Ciscaucasia ; the Asiatic part to the south as Transcaucasia , which is dominated by the Lesser Caucasus mountain range and whose western portion converges with Eastern Anatolia. [1]
Most of the border of Russia with Georgia and Azerbaijan runs along most of the Caucasus' length. The Georgian Military Road (Darial Gorge) and Trans-Caucasus Highway traverse this mountain range at altitudes of up to 3,000 metres (9,800 ft).
The watershed of the Caucasus was the border between the Caucasia province of the Russian Empire in the north and the Ottoman Empire and Persia in the south (1801) until the Russian victory in 1813 and the Treaty 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 northwestern Kakheti and northern Mtskheta-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, and Siazan).
Armenia is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus region of the Caucasus. The country is geographically located in West Asia, within the Armenian plateau. Armenia is bordered on the north and east by Georgia and Azerbaijan and on the south and west by Iran, Azerbaijan's exclave Nakhchivan, and Turkey.
The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. On 30 April 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the summit of all seven.
Mount Elbrus is the highest mountain in Russia and Europe. It is situated in the western part of the North Caucasus and is the highest peak of the Caucasus Mountains. The dormant volcano rises 5,642 m (18,510 ft) above sea level; it is the highest stratovolcano in Eurasia and the 10th-most prominent peak in the world. The mountain stands in Southern Russia, in the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria.
The Caucasus Mountains is a mountain range at the intersection of Asia and Europe. Stretching between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, they are surrounded by the Caucasus region and are home to Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe at 5,642 metres (18,510 ft) above sea level.
Mount Kazbek or Mount Kazbegi is a dormant stratovolcano and one of the major mountains of the Caucasus, located in Georgia, just south of the border with Russia.
The Georgian Military Road or Georgian Military Highway also known as Ghalghaï Military Road, is the historic name for a major route through the Caucasus from Georgia to Russia. Alternative routes across the mountains include the Ossetian Military Road and the Transcaucasian Highway.
This is a list of the extreme points of Europe: the geographical points that are higher or farther north, south, east or west than any other location in Europe. Some of these positions are open to debate, as the definition of Europe is diverse.
The Ossetian Military Road was constructed between 1854 and 1889, by the Russian Empire in the Caucasus. The road runs through the Rioni and Ardon river valleys and links Kutaisi (Georgia) with Alagir (Russia), crossing the Greater Caucasus crest through the Mamison Pass at 2,911 metres (9,551 ft). The 270 kilometres (170 mi) long route is seldom used today, having been supplanted by the 1971-1981 construction of the Transcaucasian Highway, which crosses the Caucasus range via the Roki Tunnel. Alternative crossings include the Georgian Military Road, which crosses the Jvari Pass at 2,379 metres (7,805 ft).
The Battle of the Caucasus was a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus as part of the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, opening the Caucasus region of the southern Soviet Union to the Germans and threatening the oil fields beyond at Maikop, Grozny, and ultimately Baku. Two days prior, Adolf Hitler had issued a directive to launch an operation into the Caucasus named Operation Edelweiß. German units would reach their high water mark in the Caucasus in early November 1942, getting as far as the town of Alagir and city of Ordzhonikidze, some 610 km from their starting positions. Axis forces were compelled to withdraw from the area later that winter as Operation Little Saturn threatened to cut them off.
Shkhara is the highest point in the country of Georgia. It is located near the Russian-Georgian border, in Russia's Kabardino-Balkaria region on the northern side, and the Svaneti region of Georgia in the south. Shkhara lies 88 kilometres (55 mi) north of the city of Kutaisi, Georgia's second-largest city, and closer to the townlet of Mestia in Svaneti. The summit lies in the central part of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range, to the south-east of Mount Elbrus, Europe's highest mountain. Shkhara is the third-highest peak in the Caucasus, just behind Dykh-Tau.
Janga or Jangi-Tau or Dzhangi-Tau is a summit in the central part of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range. Mountain has three peaks - the main peak Jangi-Tau with elevation above sea level 5,085 m (16,683 ft), West Peak with elevation 5,059 m (16,598 ft) and East Peak with elevation 5,034 m (16,516 ft) Mountain lies on the border of Svaneti (Georgia) and Kabardino-Balkaria (Russia). The slopes of the mountain are heavily glaciated. They are most famous for the dormant volcanoes that are hidden under the ice caps.
Khevi is a small historical-geographic area in northeastern Georgia. It is included in the modern-day Kazbegi district, Mtskheta-Mtianeti region (mkhare). Located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus mountains, it comprises three gorges of the rivers Truso, Tergi (Terek) and Snostsq’ali.
Mount Khabarjina is a mountain and dormant volcano in the Caucasus of Georgia. It has an elevation of 3,142 metres. It is located near Mount Kazbek and is a part of its volcanic group. It is better known under the name Mount Kabardzhin.
The Seven Second Summits are the second-highest mountains of each of the seven continents. All of these mountains are separate peaks rather than a sub-peak of the continents' high point. The Seven Second Summits are considered a harder challenge than the traditional Seven Summits.
Dykh-Tau or Dykhtau, is the second-highest mountain in Russia and Europe, standing at 5,205 m above sea level. It is located in Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia; its peak standing about 5 km (3 mi) north of the border with Georgia.
Kazbegi is a district of Georgia, in the region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti in east-north Georgia.
Dzau is a volcanic centre in Georgia (country), Russian-occupied de facto South Ossetia. It is also known as Java volcanic centre. The field is close to the town of Dzau, in the Greater Liakhvi River valley.
The southernmost persistent glacial masses in Europe are mainly small glaciers, glacierets, and perennial firn fields and patches, located in the highest mountains of the three big southern European peninsulas - the Balkan, the Apennine, and the Iberian, the southernmost ranges of the Alps and the glaciers on the european northwestern slopes of the Greater Caucasus mountains in Russia. There are summer lasting snow patches in Sierra Nevada, in Mount Olympus (40°05′08″), in Mount Korab (41°47′28″), in Rila Mountain, in Picos de Europa (43°11′51″) in the Cantabrian Mountains, in Mount Maglić (43°16′52″) and others. However, none of them have both persistency and indications of dynamic motion. In southern direction, some 4000 km away, are the glaciers in Africa in Rwenzori Mountains (00°23′09″N), Mount Kenya (00°09′03″S) and Mount Kilimanjaro (03°04′33″S).