| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Krasnodar Region, Russia |
| Criteria | Natural: (ix), (x) |
| Reference | 900 |
| Inscription | 1999 (23rd Session) |
| Area | 298,903 ha (738,610 acres) |
| Coordinates | 44°N40°E / 44°N 40°E |
  Western Caucasus within Russia  Western Caucasus (European Russia) | |
The Western Caucasus is a western region of the North Caucasus in Southern Russia, extending from the Black Sea to Mount Elbrus.[ citation needed ]
The Western Caucasus includes a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site (named Western Caucasus), comprising the extreme western edge of the Caucasus Mountains. UNESCO specialists say that it is the only large mountain area in Europe that has not experienced significant human impact and has large areas of undisturbed mountain forest. Its habitats are exceptionally varied for such a small area, ranging from lowlands to glaciers. It is situated 50 km north of the resort of Sochi. The site includes the whole Caucasus Nature Reserve with the exception of the Khosta Yew-Box Grove and includin the whole Lago-Naki plateau. [1]
The Western Caucasus also contains the Caucasus Nature Reserve (IUCN management category Ia [2] ) set up by the Soviet government in Krasnodar Krai, Adygea and Karachay–Cherkessia in 1924 to preserve some 85 m-high specimens of the Nordmann fir (Abies nordmanniana), thought to be the tallest trees in Europe, and a unique forest formed by English yew (Taxus baccata) and European box (Buxus sempervirens) within the city of Sochi.
About a third of its high mountain species of plants are recognized as endemic. The area also includes the Sochi National Park (IUCN management category II) with a Persian leopard reintroduction centre.
The Western Caucasus is also the place of origin and of reintroduction of the Caucasian wisent. The last wild wisent in the world was killed by poachers here in 1927. Wisents partly interbred with American bison were reintroduced several decades later.
The European bison or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent, the zubr, or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bison, alongside the American bison. The European bison is the heaviest wild land animal in Europe, and individuals in the past may have been even larger than their modern-day descendants. During late antiquity and the Middle Ages, bison became extinct in much of Europe and Asia, surviving into the 20th century only in northern-central Europe and the northern Caucasus Mountains. During the early years of the 20th century, bison were hunted to extinction in the wild.
Sochi is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, and up to 600,000 residents in the urban area. The city covers an area of 176.77 square kilometers (68.25 sq mi), while the Greater Sochi Area covers over 3,502 square kilometers (1,352 sq mi). Sochi stretches across 145 kilometers (90 mi), and is the longest city in Europe, the fifth-largest city in the Southern Federal District, the second-largest city in Krasnodar Krai, and the sixth-largest city on the Black Sea.
Tourism in Russia plummeted in 2022. Only 200,100 foreigners visited Russia in 2022, a drop of 96.1% from pre-pandemic/pre-Russian invasion of Ukraine years. Earlier, Russia had seen rapid growth since the late Soviet times, first domestic tourism and then international tourism as well. Russia had formerly been among the most popular tourist destinations in the world, though it fell off that list in 2022. Not including Crimea, the country contains 23 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, while more are on UNESCO's tentative lists.
The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and Black Sea to the west, the Caspian Sea to the east, and the Caucasus Mountains to the south. The region shares land borders with the countries of Georgia and Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus. Located in the south of the region, Mount Elbrus is the tallest peak in Europe. Krasnodar is the most populous among the urban centres in the region.
North Caucasus Economic Region is one of 12 economic regions of Russia. It comprises the whole of the North Caucasian Federal District and the western federal subjects of the Southern Federal District.
The Caucasian wisent or dombay (домбай) was a subspecies of European bison that inhabited the Caucasus Mountains of Eastern Europe.
Hirkan National Park is a national park in Azerbaijan, in the Talysh region. It was established in an area in Lankaran Rayon and Astara Rayon administrative districts on February 9, 2004 on the basis of the former "Hirkan State Reserve" which it superseded, on a surface area of 29,760 hectares (297.6 km2). It was enlarged by presidential decree on April 23, 2008 from 29,760 hectares (297.6 km2) to 40,358 hectares (403.58 km2).
Shahdag National Park — is a national park of Azerbaijan. It was established on an area of 115,900 hectares (1,159 km2) in the Quba Rayon, Qusar Rayon, İsmayıllı Rayon, Qəbələ Rayon, Oğuz Rayon and Şamaxı Rayon administrative districts on December 8, 2006. It was enlarged by presidential decree on July 8, 2010 from 115,900 hectares (1,159 km2) to 130,508.1 hectares (1,305.081 km2).
Sochi National Park is Russia's oldest national park, established on May 5, 1983. It is located in the Western Caucasus, near the city of Sochi, in Southern Russia.
The Hyrcanian forests are a zone of lush lowland and montane forests covering about 55,000 square kilometres (21,000 sq mi) near the shores of the Caspian Sea in Iran and Azerbaijan. The forest is named after the ancient region of Hyrcania. The World Wide Fund for Nature refers to the ecoregion as the Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests. Since 5 July 2019, the Hyrcanian Forests have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In September 2023, the heritage site expanded to incorporate portions of the forest located in Azerbaijan.
The area of the Russian city of Sochi was populated more than 100,000 years by ancient people of Asia Minor migrating through Colchis. Ancient Greeks sailed to the region via the Black Sea in the 5th–6th centuries BC and encountered the Maeotae, Sindi, Cercetae, Zygii and other local tribes. They were the ancestors of the Abkhaz, Ubykh and Adyghe people who lived here until 1864; many toponyms in Sochi, including the city itself, originate from their languages. The first Russian outpost was set up in central Sochi in 1838 as a part of the Russian expansion along the Black Sea coast. The local resistance to this process became a part of the Russo-Circassian War which ended in a Russian victory and the genocide of the local population. The Russian settlement built in the area was named Sochi in 1896 and received the status of a city (town) in 1917. The first tea plantations were established there in 1901–1905 and resulted in the production of the most prominent brand of Russian tea. From the end of the 19th century, the city has been developed as a dedicated area for sanatoriums and hospitals. It served as a rehabilitation center during World War II and, despite a decline following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, remains the major resort town of Russia. An important recent event was selection of Sochi as the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2014 Winter Paralympics.
The wildlife of Russia inhabits terrain that extends across 12 time zones and from the tundra region in the far north to the Caucasus Mountains and prairies in the south, including temperate forests which cover 70% of the country. Russia's forests comprise 22% of the forest in the world as well as 33% of all temperate forest.
Khostinsky City District is one of four city districts of the city of Sochi in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city district borders Maykopsky District of the Republic of Adygea in the northeast, Adlersky City District in the southeast, Tsentralny City District in the west, and Lazarevsky City District in the northwest. In the southwest, it is bordered by the Black Sea. Population: 65,229 (2010 Census); 62,515 (2002 Census); 65,713 (1989 Soviet census).
Mtirala National Park is a protected area in Adjara region, Western Georgia. Covering approximately 15,698 hectares in the municipalities of Kobuleti, Khelvachauri and Keda in the western Lesser Caucasus, it is situated between the Black Sea and the Adjara Mountains. It also adjoins the Kintrishi Protected Areas. Owing to its outstanding relict forests, diversity of wetland ecosystems, and biodiversity, the national park was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands in 2021.
Teberda Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' located on the northern slopes of the western section of the Caucasus Mountains. It is the most visited nature reserve in the Russian Federation, with over 200,000 recorded in 2010. Included in the reserve are a popular tourist complex ("Dombay") and resorts in the surrounding areas. The terrain show extremes in variation: 31.7% forests, 20% meadows, 8.5% glaciers, 38.4% rock and scree, 0.7% water. The reserve is divided into two sections - the Tebardinsky to the east, and the Arkhyz to the west. The two sections were connected in 2010 by a "biosphere polygon", the Caucasus State Nature Reserve. The two sectors are situated in the Karachayevsky District of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. It is part of a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. The reserve was created in 1936, and covers an area of 84,996 ha (328.17 sq mi).
Caucasus Nature Reserve is a Russian zapovednik covering a heavily mountainous section of the Northwest Caucasus Mountains. It is the largest and oldest in the territory of specially protected natural area in the Caucasus, having been created in 1924 as the Caucasian Bison Reserve. In 1979, the site was named a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and in 1999 included in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 2008 it was officially renamed after Khachatur (Christopher) G. Shaposhnikova the biologist who founded the reserve. The area is situated in the Mostovsky District of Krasnodar Krai, covering an area of 280,335 ha (1,082.38 sq mi).
Ritsa Strict Nature Reserve is a protected area in the Gudauta District of Abkhazia, in the country of Georgia. The reserve's main goal is to protect Lake Ritsa and conserve the ecosystems and species located in the surrounding mountain regions.
Liakhvi Strict Nature Reserve is a protected area in the historic region Shida Kartli on the southern slope of the Greater Caucasus range in the northeastern part of Tskhinvali District and in Akhalgori Municipality of Georgia. The reserve's main goal is protecting flora and fauna in surrounding mountainous region. In general Patara Liakhvi gorge has many tourist attractions : ethnological, bird-watching and botanical.
The Main Caucasian Range is a mountain range in the Russian Federation, Georgia and Azerbaijan. It is the dividing range of the Greater Caucasus.
