The Caucasus is a region in Eastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea which includes the Caucasus mountains and surrounding lowlands.

The nations that comprise today's Caucasus include Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The northern slopes of the Caucasus are in the Russian Federation: Krasnodar Krai, Stavropol Krai and the autonomous republics Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan.

   Prometheus was chained there by Zeus. The Roman poet Ovid placed Caucasus in Scythia and depicted it as a cold and stony mountain which was the abode of personified hunger. Loreena McKennitt's song "Night Ride Across the Caucasus" vaguely describes this region. Cheese is a major product of this region.

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   Azerbaijan    (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan) is a country in the Caucasus, in the crossroads of Europe and Southwest Asia, with an east coast on the Caspian Sea. It borders Russia on the north, Georgia and Armenia on the west, and Iran on the south. The Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic (an exclave of Azerbaijan) borders Armenia on the north, Iran on the south, and Turkey on the west.

The country is formally named the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası). Azerbaijan is a secular state, and has been a member of the Council of Europe since 2001. The majority of the population are Shia Muslim and of Western Turkic descent, known as Azerbaijanis, or simply Azeris. The country is formally an emerging democracy, however with strong authoritarian rule.

    Politics

Azerbaijan is a presidential republic. The head of state and head of government are separate from the country's law-making body. The people elect the president for a five-year term of office. The president appoints all cabinet-level government administrators. A fifty-member national assembly makes the country's laws. The people of Azerbaijan elect the National Assembly. Azerbaijan has universal suffrage above the age of eighteen. However, the Azerbaijani government has been accused of widespread corruption (a kleptocracy, to some people).

Administrative divisions

Azerbaijan is divided into:
• 59 rayons (rayonlar; rayon – singular),
• 11 cities (şəhərlər; şəhər – singular),
• 1 autonomous republic (muxtar respublika);

Geography

Azerbaijan has an arid climate, except in the southeast near Gilan. Temperatures vary by season. In the southeast lowland, temperatures average 6°C (43°F) in the winter and 26°C (80°F) in the summer - though daily maxima typically reach 32°C (89°F). In the northern and western mountain ranges, temperatures average 12°C (55°F) in the summer and -9°C (20°F) in the winter.

Annual rainfall over most of the country varies from 200 to 400mm (8 to 16 inches) and is generally lowest in the northeast. In the far southeast, however, the climate is much moister and annual rainfall can be as high as 1300mm (51 inches). For most of the country, the wettest periods are in spring and autumn, with summers being the driest.

Economy

The economy is largely based on industry. Industries include machine building, Petroleum and other mining, petroleum refining, textile production, and chemical processing. Agriculture accounts for one-third of Azerbaijan's economy. Most of the nation's farms are irrigated. In the lowlands, farmers grow such crops as cotton, fruit, grain, tea, tobacco, and many types of vegetables. Silkworms are raised for the production of natural silk for the clothing industry. Azerbaijan's herders raise cattle, sheep and goats near the mountain ranges. Seafood and fish are caught in the nearby Caspian Sea. Azerbaijan has a highly dynamic economy, mainly because of oil, and has a GDP growth rate of up to 11% a year.

Demographics

According to the CIA World Factbook, about eighty-nine percent of Azerbaijan's population is ethnic Azerbaijani or Azeris. Other major ethnicities include local Talysh, Lezgi, Avar and Tat and numerous other minorities, as well as Russians. Some people argue that the number of Talysh is more than officially recorded as many of them are counted as Azerbaijanis. The country's large Armenian population mostly fled to Armenia and to other countries with the beginning of the Armenian-Azeri conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh. During the same period, Azerbaijan also received a large influx of Azerbaijanis fleeing Armenia and later Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent provinces occupied by the Armenians.
Most Azerbaijanis or Azeris are Shia Muslim. Other religions or philosophical beliefs that are followed by many in the country are the Sunni and Sufi sects of Islam, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, and various secular beliefs (many of these are left over from the Soviet era of less tolerance for spirituality).

Culture

The official language of Azerbaijan is Azerbaijani, a member of the Oguz subdivision of the Turkic language family, and is spoken by around 95% of the republic's population, as well as about a quarter of the population of Iran. Its closest relatives are Turkish and Turkmen. As a result of the language policy of the Soviet Union, Russian is also commonly spoken as a second language among the urbane.

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Armenia (Armenian: Հայաստան Hayastan, Hayq), is a landlocked country in southern Caucasus, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan in the east and Iran and the Naxçıvan exclave of Azerbaijan in the south. Armenia is a member of the Council of Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States and for centuries has been on the crossroads between West and East.

     Politics

The Government of Armenia's stated aim is to build a Western-style parliamentary democracy as the basis of its form of government. However, international observers have questioned the inherent fairness of Armenia's parliamentary and presidential elections and constitutional referenda since 1995, citing polling deficiencies, lack of cooperation by the electoral commission, and poor maintenance of electoral lists and polling places. For the most part however, Armenia is considered one of the most pro-democratic nations in the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The unicameral parliament (also called the National Assembly) is controlled by a coalition of three political parties: the conservative Republican party [1] (http://www.hhk.am), the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, and the Country of Law party. The main opposition is comprised by several smaller parties joined in the Justice Bloc.

Armenians voted overwhelmingly for independence in a September 1991 referendum. Levon Ter-Petrossian was president until January 1998, when public demonstrations against his increasingly authoritarian regime and his domestic and foreign policies forced his resignation. In 1999, the assassination of Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian, parliament Speaker Karen Demirchian, and six other officials led to a period of political instability. President Robert Kocharian was successful in riding out the unrest, and currently rules with the support of the parliamentary coalition.

Armenia is divided into 11 provinces.

Geography

Armenia is a landlocked country in Asia Minor, between the Black and the Caspian Seas, bordered on the north and east by Georgia and Azerbaijan and on the south and west by Iran and Turkey.

The terrain is mostly mountainous, with fast flowing rivers and few forests. The climate is highland continental: hot summers and cold winters. The land rises to 4,095 m above sea-level at Mount Aragats, and no point is below 400m.
Pollution from toxic chemicals such as DDT is not helping the already poor soil quality in many parts of the county. A Turkish communications blockade, due to the conflict with Azerbaijan, has led to deforestation.

Armenia is trying to address its environmental problems. It has established a Ministry of Nature Protection and introduced taxes for air and water pollution and solid waste disposal, whose revenues are used for environmental protection activities. Armenia is interested in cooperating with other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS, a group of 12 former Soviet republics) and with members of the international community on environmental issues. The Armenian Government is working toward closing the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant as soon as alternative energy sources are identified.

Economy

Until independence, Armenia's economy was largely industry-based — chemicals, electronics, machinery, processed food, synthetic rubber, and textile — and highly dependent on outside resources. Agriculture contributed only 20% of net material product and 10% of employment before the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Armenian mines produce copper, zinc, gold, and lead. The vast majority of energy is produced with fuel imported from Russia, including gas and nuclear fuel (for its one nuclear power plant); the main domestic energy source is hydroelectric. Small amounts of coal, gas, and petroleum have not yet been developed.

Like other New Independent States of the former Soviet Union, Armenia's economy suffers from the legacy of a centrally planned economy and the breakdown of former Soviet trading patterns. Soviet investment in and support of Armenian industry has virtually disappeared, so that few major enterprises are still able to function. In addition, the effects of the 1988 earthquake, which killed more than 25,000 people and made 500,000 homeless, are still being felt. The conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has not been resolved. The closure of Azerbaijani and Turkish borders has devastated the economy, because Armenia depends on outside supplies of energy and most raw materials. Land routes through Georgia and Iran are inadequate or unreliable. GDP fell nearly 60% from 1989 until 1992-1993. The national currency, the dram, suffered hyperinflation for the first years after its introduction in 1993.

Nevertheless, the Government was able to make wide-ranging economic reforms that paid off in dramatically lower inflation and steady growth. The 1994 cease-fire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has also helped the economy. Armenia has had strong economic growth since 1995, building on the turnaround that began the previous year, and inflation has been negligible for the past several years. New sectors, such as precious stone processing and jewelry making, information and communication technology, and even tourism are beginning to supplement more traditional sectors in the economy, such as agriculture.
This steady economic progress has earned Armenia increasing support from international institutions. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and other international financial institutions (IFIs) and foreign countries are extending considerable grants and loans. Loans to Armenia since 1993 exceed $1.1 billion. These loans are targeted at reducing the budget deficit, stabilizing the currency; developing private businesses; energy; the agriculture, food processing, transportation, and health and education sectors; and ongoing rehabilitation in the earthquake zone. The government joined the World Trade Organization on February 5, 2003.
A liberal foreign investment law was approved in June 1994, and a Law on Privatization was adopted in 1997, as well as a program on state property privatization. Continued progress will depend on the ability of the government to strengthen its macroeconomic management, including increasing revenue collection, improving the investment climate, and making strides against corruption.

Demographics

Armenia is the second most densely populated of the former Soviet republics.
Yet, it has a problem of population decline. Widespread emigration is one of the most serious problems Armenia has been facing since the break-up of the USSR. A drastically reduced birth rate is not nearly sufficient to keep the population from dropping in the long term. Some observers estimate that as many as one-third of Armenia's population lives in Russia illegally, and that Armenia has no more than about two million residents. This would appear to pose an existential threat to the Armenian nation, especially if Azerbaijan, which has had a much lesser problem with demographic decline, seeks to regain its lost territory.

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Georgia (Georgian: საქართველო Sakartvelo), known from 1990 to 1995 as the Republic of Georgia, is a country to the east of the Black Sea in the southern Caucasus. A former republic of the Soviet Union, it shares borders with Russia in the north and Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan in the south.

Politics

Following a crisis involving allegations of ballot fraud in the 2003 parliamentary elections, Eduard Shevardnadze resigned as president on November 23, 2003 in the bloodless Rose Revolution. The interim president was the speaker of the outgoing parliament (whose replacement was annulled), Nino Burjanadze. On January 4, 2004 Mikhail Saakashvili, leader of the National Movement - Democrats (NMD) (former United National Movement) won the country's presidential election and was inaugurated on January 25.

Fresh parliamentary elections were held on March 28 where NMD secured the vast majority of the seats (with ca. 75% of the votes) with only one other party reaching the 7% threshold (the Rightist Opposition with ca. 7.5%). The vote is believed to have been one of the freest ever held in independent Georgia although an upsurge of tension between the central government and the Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze affected the elections in this region.

The tension between the Georgian government and that of Ajaria grew increasingly after the elections until late April. Climaxing on May 1 when Abashidze responded to military maneuvers held by Georgia near the region with having the three bridges connecting Ajaria and the rest of Georgia over the Choloki River blown up. On May 5, Abashidze was forced to flee Georgia as mass demonstrations in Batumi called for his resignation and Russia increased their pressure by deploying Security Council secretary Igor Ivanov.

On February 3, 2005, Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania died of carbon monoxide poisoning in an apparent gas leak at the home of Raul Usupov, deputy governor of Kvemo Kartli region. At an emergency cabinet meeting the same day, Giorgi Baramidze was appointed acting prime minister. Finance Minister Zurab Nogaideli has been appointed for the post by President Saakashvili.
 

Subdivisions

Georgia is divided into 53 provinces, 11 cities, 2 autonomous republics and 1 former autonomous district.
Autonomous republics: Abkhazia, Ajaria. The status of the former autonomous administrative district, South Ossetia aka Samachablo, has being negotiated with the Russian supported separatist government there.
Cities: Batumi, Chiatura, Gagra, Gori, Kutaisi, Poti, Rustavi, Sokhumi, Tbilisi, Tkibuli, Tskaltubo, Tskhinvali

Geography

In the north, Georgia has a 723km common border with Russia, specifically with the Northern Caucasus federal district. The following Russian republics/subdivisions - from west to east - border Georgia: Krasnodar Krai, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia-Alania, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Dagestan.

Mountains are the dominant geographic feature of Georgia. The Likhi Range divides the country into eastern and western halves. Historically, the western portion was known as Colchis while the eastern plateau was called Iberia. Mountains also isolate the northern region of Svaneti from the rest of Georgia.
Major rivers in Georgia include the Rioni and the Mtkvari.

Main cities:
• Tbilisi 1,066,100 (metro area 1,270,800)
• Kutaisi 183,300
• Batumi 116,900

Economy

Georgia's economy has traditionally revolved around Black Sea tourism, cultivation of citrus fruits, tea and grapes; mining of manganese and copper; and output of a small industrial sector producing wine, metals, machinery, chemicals, and textiles. The country imports the bulk of its energy needs, including natural gas and oil products. Its only sizable internal energy resource is hydropower. Despite the severe damage the economy has suffered due to civil strife, Georgia, with the help of the IMF and World Bank, made substantial economic gains since 1995, increasing GDP growth and slashing inflation. The Georgian economy continues to experience large budget deficits due to a failure to collect tax revenues. Georgia also still suffers from energy shortages; it privatized the distribution network in 1998, and deliveries are steadily improving. Georgia is pinning its hopes for long-term recovery on the development of an international transportation corridor through the key Black Sea ports of P'ot'i and Batumi. The growing trade deficit, continuing problems with tax evasion and corruption, and political uncertainties cloud the short-term economic picture. However, revived investment could spur higher economic growth in 2000, perhaps up to 6%.

Demographics

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Georgia has suffered a serious population collapse as the rebellion in Abkhazia, the strife in Ajaria and South Ossetia, a fragile economy, and bad job opportunities led hundreds of thousands of Georgians to emigrate in search of work, especially to Russia. This is exacerbated by a very low birthrate among the people remaining; a similar problem exists in neighboring Armenia. The population is currently estimated to be a full million less than in was back in 1990, and some observers suggest the actual number is even lower.