Western Caucasus

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Western Caucasus

This article concerns the World Heritage Site. For other meanings, see Caucasus (disambiguation)
Caucasus (disambiguation)

Caucasus may refer to*Caucasus or Caucasia, a geographic region in Eurasia, divided into**North Caucasus, also Ciscaucasus or Ciscaucasia**South Caucasus, also Transcaucasus or Transcaucasia...
and Caucasia (disambiguation)
Caucasia (disambiguation)

Caucasia may refer to*Caucasus, geographic region of Eurasia*Caucasia, Antioquia, a municipality in Colombia*Caucasia, a book by Danzy Senna...
.

The Western Caucasus is a western region of Caucasus
Caucasus

The Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region located between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It is home to Europe's highest mountain ....
from the Black Sea
Black Sea

The Black Sea is an inland sea sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolia and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Seas and various straits....
to Mount Elbrus
Mount Elbrus

Mount Elbrus is a volcano located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia, near the border of Georgia , in the northern Iranian plateau....
. It includes a natural UNESCO
UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945....
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 Sovereign state which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term....
situated 50 km to the north from the Russian resort of Sochi
Sochi

Sochi is a Russian resort types of inhabited localities in Russia, situated in Krasnodar Krai just north of the southern Russian border. It sprawls along the shores of the Black Sea and against the background of the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains....
, comprising the extreme western edge of the Caucasus Mountains
Caucasus Mountains

The Caucasus Mountains is a Mountain range in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea sea in the Caucasus region.The Caucasus Mountains are made up of two separate mountain systems:...
. As stated by the UNESCO specialists, it is the only large mountain area in Europe that has not experienced significant human impact.

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Encyclopedia

This article concerns the World Heritage Site. For other meanings, see Caucasus (disambiguation)
Caucasus (disambiguation)

Caucasus may refer to*Caucasus or Caucasia, a geographic region in Eurasia, divided into**North Caucasus, also Ciscaucasus or Ciscaucasia**South Caucasus, also Transcaucasus or Transcaucasia...
and Caucasia (disambiguation)
Caucasia (disambiguation)

Caucasia may refer to*Caucasus, geographic region of Eurasia*Caucasia, Antioquia, a municipality in Colombia*Caucasia, a book by Danzy Senna...
.
The Western Caucasus is a western region of Caucasus
Caucasus

The Caucasus or Caucas is a geopolitical region located between Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. It is home to Europe's highest mountain ....
from the Black Sea
Black Sea

The Black Sea is an inland sea sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolia and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Seas and various straits....
to Mount Elbrus
Mount Elbrus

Mount Elbrus is a volcano located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia, near the border of Georgia , in the northern Iranian plateau....
. It includes a natural UNESCO
UNESCO

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on 16 November 1945....
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 Sovereign state which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term....
situated 50 km to the north from the Russian resort of Sochi
Sochi

Sochi is a Russian resort types of inhabited localities in Russia, situated in Krasnodar Krai just north of the southern Russian border. It sprawls along the shores of the Black Sea and against the background of the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains....
, comprising the extreme western edge of the Caucasus Mountains
Caucasus Mountains

The Caucasus Mountains is a Mountain range in Eurasia between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea sea in the Caucasus region.The Caucasus Mountains are made up of two separate mountain systems:...
. As stated by the UNESCO specialists, it is the only large mountain area in Europe that has not experienced significant human impact. Its habitats are exceptionally varied for such a small area, ranging from lowlands
Lowlands

Lowlands or The Lowlands can refer toGeographic regions* Scottish Lowlands, all of mainland Scotland that isn't the Highlands * Northern European Lowlands, a region of Europe between the Central Highlands and the North Sea...
to glacier
Glacier

A glacier is a large, slow-moving mass of ice, formed from compacted layers of snow, that slowly deforms and flows in response to gravity and high pressure....
s.

The area contains the Caucasian State Nature Biosphere Reserve , nature reserve
Nature reserves in Russia

Zapovedniks or scientific nature reserves, are protected areas in Russia which are kept "forever wild". The term was used in the former Soviet Union and still is in the Russian Federation as well as in some of the other 14 former Soviet republics....
(IUCN management category Ia ) set up by the Soviet government in Krasnodar Krai
Krasnodar Krai

Krasnodar Krai is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia , located in the Southern Federal District....
, Adygea
Adygea

The Republic of Adygea is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia enclaved within Krasnodar Krai. Its size is 7,600 km? with a population of almost 450,000....
and Karachay-Cherkessia
Karachay-Cherkessia

Karachay-Cherkess Republic , or Karachay-Cherkessia is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia . The direct romanization of Russian of the republic's Russian name is Karachayevo-Cherkesskaya Respublika or Karachayevo-Cherkessiya....
in 1924 to preserve some 85 m-high specimens of the Nordmann Fir
Nordmann Fir

Nordmann Fir is a fir native to the mountains south and east of the Black Sea, in Turkey, Georgia , Russian Caucasus and northern parts of Armenia....
(Abies nordmanniana), thought to be the tallest trees in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
, and a unique forest formed by English Yew (Taxus baccata) and European Box (Buxus sempervirens) within the city of Sochi
Sochi

Sochi is a Russian resort types of inhabited localities in Russia, situated in Krasnodar Krai just north of the southern Russian border. It sprawls along the shores of the Black Sea and against the background of the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains....
. About a third of its high mountain species of plants are recognized as endemic
Endemic (ecology)

Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a particular geographic location, such as a specific island, Habitat type, nation, or other defined zone....
. The area also includes the Sochi National Park
Sochi National Park

Sochi National Park is a national park in Western Caucasus, near of the city of Sochi, Russia. It is Russia's second oldest national park, established on May 5, 1983....
(IUCN management category II).

The Western Caucasus is also the place of origin and of reintroduction of the Caucasian Wisent
Caucasian Wisent

The Caucasian Wisent was a subspecies of Wisent that inhabited the Caucasus Mountains of Eastern Europe.It was hunted by the Caspian Tiger and the Asiatic Lion in the Caucasus, as well as other predators such as wolves and bears....
. The last wild wisent in the world was killed by poachers here in 1927. The wisents were reintroduced several decades later.

Further reading

??????? ?????? ?????????, ?????????? ???????? ???????????. ?????? ????????????? ???? ?? ??????-???????? ???????. Krasnodar: ????????????? ??????? ????????????, 1989.
?????????? ??????????. In ??????????? ????. ??????????? ???????. Moscow: ?????, 1990. P. 69-100. ISBN 5244004328

External links

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