Mountainous region, between the Black and Caspian seas.

Occupying roughly 170,000 sq mi (440,000 sq km), it is divided among Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia and forms part of the traditional dividing line between Europe and Asia. It is bisected by the Caucasus Mountains; the area north of the Greater Caucasus range is called Ciscaucasia and the region to the south Transcaucasia. Inhabited from ancient times, it was under nominal Persian and Turkish suzerainty until conquered by Russia in the 18th & 19th centuries.