Administrative-Territorial Organisation of the States in the Caucasus Region in the 20th Century and the Beginning of the 21st Century

Abstract

Eurasia comprises numerous self-sufficient and, in many ways, important regions. One of the most polyethnic, polyconfessional and, as a result, culturally varied Caucasus, on the border of Europe and Asia, is one such place. The region is divided into two political-geographic parts: “North Caucasus” and “South Caucasus”. These terms represent the modern geopolitical transformation of the Russian terms "кавказ" and "закавказье," which were formed in the 19th century. It is important that these two terms did not occupy the whole area of the Caucasus and separate about ¼ part of the territory from the region; according to modern political geography, this land is part of the Middle East. Though, according to the various physical-geographic, historical-geographic and ethno-geographic sources, this land is part of the Caucasus. Eldar Ismailov, an Azerbaijani scientist, and Vladimer Papava, a Georgian scientist, defined the Caucasus region and developed a theory that divides it into three parts. The determination of the internal political-geographic structure during the close past and the modern time is the main goal of this article.