Geographic position of the Caucasus Mountains: description, photo

On our planet there is a beautiful mountain system. It is located on the continent of Eurasia, and to be more precise, between the two seas - the Caspian and the Black. It wears a proud name - the Caucasus Mountains. It has coordinates: 42 ° 30 'N and 45 ° 00' E. The length of the mountain system is more than one thousand kilometers. It is territorially relevant to six countries: Russia and the states of the Caucasus region: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, etc.

Until now, it is not clearly stipulated which part of the continent the Caucasian mountains belong to. For the title of the highest peak in Europe, Elbrus and Mont Blanc are fighting. The latter is in the Alps. The geographical position of the Caucasian mountains is easy to describe according to plan. And this article will help in this.

Borders

In the days of Ancient Greece, it was the Caucasus and the Bosphorus that divided the two continents. But the world map was constantly changing, the peoples migrated. In the Middle Ages, the Don River was considered a boundary. Much later, in the XVII century, the Swedish geographer conducted it across the Urals, down the river. Embe to the Caspian Sea. His idea was supported by scientists of that time and the Russian Tsar. According to this definition, the mountains belong to Asia. On the other hand, in the Great Encyclopedia of Larousse, the border that runs south of Kazbek and Elbrus is designated. Thus, both mountains are in Europe.

To describe the geographical position of the Caucasian mountains as accurately as possible is somewhat difficult. The opinion on the territorial affiliation changed exclusively for political reasons. Europe was singled out as a special part of the world, linking it with the level of development of civilization. The boundary between the continents was gradually transferred to the east. It has become a moving line.

Some scientists, noting the differences in the geological structure of the massif, suggest conducting a border along the main ridge of the Greater Caucasus. And this is not surprising. The geographical position of the Caucasus Mountains allows this. The northern slope of it will refer to Europe, and the southern one to Asia. This issue is actively discussed by scientists of all six states. The geographers of Azerbaijan and Armenia believe that the Caucasus belongs to Asia, and the scientists of Georgia - that to Europe. Many well-known people believe that the whole array belongs to Asia, therefore Elbrus will not be considered the highest point of Europe for a long time.

Structure of the system

This array consists of 2 mountain systems: the Small and the Great Caucasus. Often the latter appears as a single ridge, but it is not. And if you study the geographical position of the Caucasus Mountains on the map, you can see that it does not apply to such. The Great Caucasus stretches more than a kilometer from Anapa and the Taman peninsula almost to Baku. Conditionally it consists of the following parts: Western, Eastern and Central Caucasus. The first zone extends from the Black Sea to Elbrus, the middle - from the highest peak to Kazbek, the latter from Kazbek to the Caspian Sea.

Western chains originate from the Taman Peninsula. And at first they look more like hills. However, the farther to the east, the higher they become. Their tops are covered with snow and glaciers. The ridges of Dagestan are in the east of the Greater Caucasus. These are complex systems with river valleys forming canyons. About 1,5 thousand square meters. Km of the Greater Caucasus is covered with glaciers. Most of them are in the central region. There are nine ridges in the Small Caucasus: Ajaro-Imereti, Karabakh, Bazum and others. The highest of them, located in the middle and eastern part - Murov-Dag, Pambak, etc.

Climate

Analyzing the geographical position of the Caucasus Mountains, we see that they are located on the border of two climatic zones - subtropical and temperate. Transcaucasia belongs to the subtropics. The rest of the territory belongs to the temperate zone. The North Caucasus is a warm region. Summer there lasts almost 5 months, and in winter it does not happen less than -6 ° С. It is short - 2-3 months. In high-altitude areas, the climate is different. There it is under the influence of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, so the weather is more humid.

Due to the difficult terrain in the Caucasus, there are many zones that differ from each other. This climate allows you to grow citrus, tea, cotton and other exotic cultures that are suitable for moderate weather patterns. The geographical position of the Caucasus Mountains in many respects influences the formation of the temperature regime in the nearby territories.

The Himalayas and the Caucasus Mountains

Often at school pupils are asked to compare the geographical position of the Himalayas and the Caucasian mountains. From the similarity in only one: both systems are in Eurasia. But they have many differences:

• The Caucasian mountains are located on the border of Asia and Europe, while the Himalayas refer only to Asia.
• The average height of the Caucasian mountains is 4 thousand meters, the Himalayas - 5 thousand meters.
• Also these mountain systems are in different climatic zones. The Himalayas mostly in the subequatorial, the smaller - in the tropics, and the Caucasus - in the subtropical and temperate.

As you can see, these two systems are not identical. The geographical position of the Caucasus Mountains and the Himalayas is similar in some respects, in some - not. But both systems are large enough, beautiful, amazing.