What is 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 [[Caucasus (mountains)|Greater Caucasus]] to the [[Turkey|Turkish]] and [[Iran]]ian borders, between the [[Black Sea|Black]] and [[Caspian Sea]]s. [[File:Caucasiamapussr.gif|thumb|250px|Administrative map of [[Caucasus]] in [[USSR]], 1952-1991.]] All of [[Armenia]] is in the South Caucasus; the majority of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and [[Azerbaijan]], including the [[exclave]] of [[Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic|Naxçıvan]], fall within this area. The countries in the region produce [[Petroleum|oil]], [[manganese|manganese ore]], [[tea]], [[citrus fruits]], and [[wine]]. The region is one the most complicated in the post-[[Soviet Union|Soviet]] area, and has three heavily disputed areas – [[Abkhazia]] and [[South Ossetia]] in [[Georgia (country)|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 Union|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. <ref> Hugh Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'' pg 15 Simon & Schuster 1989 </ref> Archeological excavation and carbon dating of [[grape pips]] from the area have dated back to 7000-5000BC. <ref> Ibid. pg 17 </ref> ==Related pages== * [[Caucasus]] * [[North Caucasus]] (Ciscaucasia) * [[Ibero-Caucasian languages]] * [[Peoples of the Caucasus]] == Footnotes == <references/> == Sources and references == (incomplete) * [http://www.bartleby.com/65/tr/Transcau.html Transcaucasia (The Columbia Encyclopedia article)] {