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See also:CAUCASIA, or See also:CAUCASUS , a See also:governor-generalship of See also:Russia, occupying the See also:isthmus between the See also:Black See also:Sea and the Sea of See also:Azov on the See also:west and the See also:Caspian Sea on the See also:east, as well as portions of the Armenian See also:highlands. Its See also:northern boundary is the Kuma-See also:Manych depression, a See also:succession of narrow, See also:half-desiccated lakes and See also:river-beds, only temporarily filled with See also:water and connecting the Manych, a tributary of the See also:Don, with the Kuma, which flows into the Caspian. This depression is supposed to be a relic of the former See also:post-See also:Pliocene connexion between the Black Sea and the Caspian, and is accepted by most geographers as the natural frontier between See also:Europe and See also:Asia, while others make the dividing-See also:line coincide with the See also:principal water-parting of the Caucasus See also:mountain See also:system. The See also:southern boundary of Caucasia is in See also:part coincident with the river See also:Aras (Araxes), in part purely conventional and See also:political. It was shifted several times during the 19th See also:century, but now runs from a point on the Black Sea, some 20 M. See also:south of See also:Batum, in a south-easterly and easterly direction to Mt. See also:Ararat, and thence along the Aras to within 30 M. of its confluence with the Kura, where it once more turns south-east, and eventually strikes the Caspian at See also:Astara (300 35' N.). This large territory, covering an See also:area of 180,843 sq. m., and having in 1897 9,248,695 inhabitants (51 per sq. m.) , maybe divided into four natural zones or sections: —(i.) the plains See also:north of the Caucasus mountains, comprising the administrative See also:division of Northern Caucasia; (ii.) the Caucasus range and the highlands of See also:Daghestan; (iii.) the valleys of the Rion and the Kura, between the Caucasus range and the highlands of See also:Armenia; and (iv.) the highlands of Armenia. (i.) The plains of Northern Caucasia, which include most of the provinces of See also:Kuban and See also:Terek and of the See also:government of See also:Stavropol, slope gently downwards from the See also:foot of the Caucasus range towards the Kuma-Manych depression. It is only in their centre that they reach altitudes of as much as 2000-2500 ft. e.g. in the Stavropol " See also:plateau," which stretches northwards, separating the tributaries of the Kuban from those of the Terek and the Kuma. Towards the foothills of the Caucasus they are clothed' with thick forests, while in the west they See also:merge into the See also:steppes of south Russia or end in marshy ground, choked with reeds and rushes, in the See also:delta of the Kuban. In the north and east they give See also:place, as the Manych and the coasts of the Caspian are approached, to arid, sandy, stony steppes. The See also:soil of these plains is generally very fertile and they support a See also:population of nearly 2,800,000 Russians, composed of See also:Cossacks and See also:peasant immigrants, settled chiefly along the See also:rivers and grouped in large, wealthy villages. They carry on agriculturewheat-growing on a large scale—with the aid of See also:modern agricultural See also:machines, and breed See also:cattle and horses. Vines are extensively cultivated on the See also:low levels, and a variety of domestic trades are prosecuted in the villages. The higher parts of the plains, which are deeply trenched by the upper tributaries of the rivers, are inhabited by various Caucasian races—Kabardians and Cherkesses (Circassians) in the west, Ossetes in the See also:middle, and several tribal elements from Daghestan, described under the See also:general name of Chechens, in the east; while nomadic Nogai See also:Tatars and Turkomans occupy the steppes. (ii.) The Caucasus range runs from north-west to south-east from the Strait of See also:Kerch to the Caspian Sea for a length of 900 M., with a varying breadth of 30 to 140 m., and covers a See also:surface of 12,000 sq. m. The orographical characteristics of the Caucasus are described in detail under that heading. (iii.) The combined valleys of the Rion and the Kura, which intervene between the Caucasus and the Armenian highlands, and stretch their axes north-west and south-east respectively, embrace the most populous and most fertile parts of Caucasia. They correspond roughly with the governments of See also:Kutais, See also:Tiflis, See also:Elisavetpol and See also:Baku, and have a population of nearly 3,650,000. The two valleys are separated by the low See also:ridge of the Suram or Meskes mountains. Spurs from the Caucasus and from the Armenian highlands fill up the broad latitudinal depression between them. Above (i.e. west of) Tiflis those spurs so far intrude into the valley that it is reduced to a narrow 'See also:strip in breadth. But below that See also:city it suddenly widens out, and the width gradually increases through the stretch of 350 M. to the Caspian, until in the Mugan See also:steppe along that sea it See also:measures See also:loo m. in width. The See also:snow-clad peaks of the See also:main Caucasus, descending by See also:short, steep slopes, fringe the valley on the north, while an abrupt escarpment, having the characteristics of a border ridge of the Armenian highlands, fronts it on the south. The See also:floor of the valley slopes gently eastwards, from 1200 ft. at Tiflis to 500 ft. in the middle, and to 85 ft. below normal sea-level beside the Caspian. But the uniformity of the slope is interrupted by a plateau (2000-3000 ft. in See also:altitude) along the southern foothills of the east central Caucasus, in the region known as Kakhetia, drained by the Alazan, a See also:left-See also:hand tributary of the Kura. The deep, short See also:gorges and glens which seam the southern slopes of the Caucasus are inhabited by Ossetes, Tushes, Pshays and See also:Khevsurs in the west, and by various tribes of See also:Lesghians in the east. In these high and stony valleys every available patch of ground is utilized for the cultivation of See also:barley, even up to altitudes of 7000 and 8000 ft. above the level of the sea; but cattle-breeding is the principal resource of the mountaineers, whose little communities are often separated from one another by passes, few of which are See also:lower than mono ft. The steppes along the bottom of the principal valley are for the most part too dry to be cultivated without See also:irrigation. It is only in Kakhetia, where numerous mountain streams See also:supply the See also:fields and gardens of the plateau of Alazan, that See also:wheat, See also:millet and See also:maize are grown, and orchards, vineyards and mulberry plantations are possible. Lower down the valley cattle-breeding is the See also:chief source of See also:wealth, while in the small towns and villages of the former Georgian See also:kingdom various See also:petty trades, exhibiting a high development of See also:artistic See also:taste and technical skill, are widely diffused. The slopes of the Armenian highlands are clothed with See also:fine forests, and the See also:vine is grown at their See also:base, while on the wide-stretching steppes the Turko-Tatars pasture cattle, horses and See also:sheep, The lower part of the Kura valley assumes the See also:character of a dry steppe, the rainfall not reaching 14 in. annually at Baku, and it is still less in the Mugan steppe, though quite abundant in the adjacent region of See also:Lenkoran. The vegetation of the steppe is on the whole scanty. Trees are generally absent, except for thickets of poplars, See also:dwarf oaks and tamarisks along the course of the Kura, the delta of which is smothered under a See also:jungle of reeds and rushes. The Mugan steppe is, however, in spite of its dryness, a more fertile region in virtue of the irrigation practised ; but the Kura has excavated its See also:bed too deeply to admit of that being done along its course. The Lenkoran See also:district, sometimes called Talysh, on the western See also:side of the Kizil-Agach See also:bay, is blessed with a See also:rich vegetation, a fertile soil, and a moist See also:climate. The inhabitants of the Kura valley consist principally of Iranian "fates and Talyshes, of Armenians and Lesghians, with Russians, See also:Jews and See also:Arabs., This conjoint valley of the Rion-Kura was in remote antiquity the site of several See also:Greek colonial settlements, later the seat of successive kingdoms of the Georgians, and for centuries it has formed a See also:bulwark against hostile invasions from the south and east. It is still inhabited chiefly by Georgian tribes—Gurians, Imeretians, Mingrelians, Svanetians—in the See also:basin of the Rion, and by Georgians intermingled with Armenians in the valley of the Kura, while the steppes that stretch away from the lower course of the latter river are ranged over by Turko-Tatars. See also:Mingrelia and See also:Imeretia (valley of Rion) are the gardens of Caucasia, but the high valleys of See also:Svanetia, farther north on the south slopes of the Caucasus mountains, are See also:wild and difficult of See also:access. In the cultivated parts the See also:land is so exceedingly fertile and productive that it sells for almost fabulous prices, and its val,ue is still further enhanced by the See also:discovery of See also:manganese and See also:copper mines in the basin of the Rion, and of the almost inexhaustible supplies of See also:naphtha and See also:petroleum at Baku in the Apsheron See also:peninsula. The principal products of the soil are mentioned lower down, while the general character of the vegetation is indicated under CAUCASUS: Western Caucasus. In the basin of the Rion, in that of the Chorokh (which runs off the Pontic highlands into the Black Sea south of Batum), and on the Black Sea littoral from Batum northwards to Sukhum-kaleh, and beyond, the climate is extremely hot and the rainfall heavy (see under Climate below). It is in this valley that the principal towns (except See also:Vladikavkaz at the north foot of the Caucasus) of Caucasia are situated, namely, Baku (179,133 inhabitants in 1900), Tiflis (160,649 in 1897), Kutais (32,492), and the two Black Sea ports of Batum (28,512) and See also:Poti (7666). (iv.) The highlands of Armenia are sometimes designated the See also:Minor Caucasus, Little Caucasus and See also:Anti-Caucasus. But to use such terms for what is not only an See also:independent, but also an older, orographical formation than the Caucasus tends to perpetuate confusion in See also:geographical nomenclature. The Armenian highlands, which run generally parallel to the Caucasus, though at much lower elevations (5000-6000 ft.), are a plateau region, sometimes quite See also:flat, sometimes gently undulating, clothed with luxuriant meadows and mostly cultivable. From it rise See also:double or triple ranges connected by See also:cross-ridges and spined with See also:outer spurs. These double and triple ranges, which have a general See also:elevation of 8500-10,000 ft., stretch from the south-east See also:angle of the Black Sea, 400 M. south-eastwards to the Kara-dagh and Salavat mountains in north See also:Persia, and the latter See also:link them on to the See also:Elburz mountains that skirt the southern end of the Caspian Sea. Various names are given to the different parts of the constituent ranges, or, perhaps more correctly, elongated See also:groups of mountains. The Ajar, Akhalt-See also:sikh and Meskes or Trialety groups in the west are succeeded farther east by the Somkhet, Murguz, Ganji and Karabakh sections, forming the southern rim of the Kura basin, while parallel with them, but farther south, run the Mokry, Miskhan, Akmangan and Paltapin ranges, marking the northern edge of the Aras drainage area. These two sets of parallel ranges are linked together transversely by the cross-ridges of Bezobdal, Pambak, Shah-dagh and Gok-cha. From this last branches off the highest range in the entire See also:series, namely, the Zangezur, which soars up to 10,000 ft. above the left See also:bank of the Aras. From it again there shoot away at right angles, one on each side, the ranges of the See also:Dar-alagoz and Bergushet. These highlands exhibit very considerable evidences of volcanic activity both in remote See also:geological periods and also since the See also:Tertiary See also:epoch. Large areas are overlain with See also:trachyte, See also:basalt, See also:obsidian, See also:tuff and See also:pumice. The most conspicuous features of the entire region, See also:Mount Ararat (16,930 ft.) and Mount Alagoz (13,440 ft.), are both solid masses of trachyte; and both rise above the limits of perpetual snow. See also:Extinct volcanoes are numerous in several of the ranges, e.g. Akmangan, Mokry, Karabakh and Egri-dagh (see below). It is in this region of the Armenian highlands that the largest lakes of Caucasia are situated, namely, the Gok-cha or Sevanga (540 sq. m. in area) at an altitude of 6340 ft., the Chaldir-gol (33 sq. m.) at 6520 ft., and several smaller ones, such as the gols of Khozapin, Khopchalu, Arpa, Toporavan and Tabiztskhur, all situated between 6500 and 7000 ft. above sea-level. The principal water-See also:divide in this highland region is, however, the range of Egri-dagh (Ararat), which just south of 4o° S. forms for too m. the boundary between See also:Russian and See also:Turkish Armenia, having Ararat at its eastern extremity and the extinct See also:volcano of Kessa-dagh (11,26o ft.) at its western. Its importance lies in the fact that it divides the streams which flow into the Black Sea and Caspian from those which make their way into the See also:Persian Gulf. The Egri-dagh possesses a sharply defined See also:crest, ranges at a general elevation of 8000 ft., is See also:bare of See also:timber, scantily supplied with water, and rugged and deeply fissured. The transverse water-parting between the Black Sea and the Caspian begins on the south side of the main range of the Caucasus, at Mount Zikara (12,56o ft.), a little south-west of See also:Kasbek, and runs south-west along the sinuous crests of the Racha, Suram or Meskes (3000-5000 ft.), Vakhan (1o,000-11,000 ft.), Arzyan (7000-10,000 ft.), and its continuation the Soganluk, thus linking the Caucasus ranges with those of the Armenian highlands. This line of heights separates the basins of the Chorokh and the Rion (Black Sea) from those of-the Aras and the Kura (Caspian Sea). North of the Caucasus ranges the water-divide between these two seas descends from Mount Elbruz along the Sadyrlar Mountains (t 1,000 ft.), and finally sinks into the Stavropol " plateau " (1600 ft.). But the main See also:axis of the transverse upheavals would appear to be continued in a north-eastern direction in the Andi and other parallel ranges of Daghestan, as stated under CAUCASUS. The population in this region consists principally of Armenians, Tatars, See also:Turks, Kurds, Ossetes, Greeks, with Persians, Tates and a few Russians (see particulars below). Climate.—Owing in part to the See also:great See also:differences in altitude in different regions of Caucasia and in part to the directions in which the mountain ranges run, and consequently the quarters towards which their slopes See also:face, the climate varies very greatly according to locality. Generally speaking, it may be characterized as a climate of extremes on the Armenian highlands, in the Kura valley and in northern Caucasia, and as maritime and genial in Lenkoran, on the Black Sea coastlands, and in thevalley of the Rion. The greatest recorded range of temperature is at See also:Erivan (altitude 3230 ft.), namely, of 64° between a See also:January See also:average of 14.9° and an See also:August average of 78.8° F. At Sukhumkaleh, on the Black Sea, the corresponding range is only 27.3°, between a January average of 48.8° and an August average of 76.1°. The highest mean temperatures for the whole See also:year are those of Lenkoran (60.3°) and of Sukhum-kaleh and Poti (about 58°), and the lowest at Ardahan (5840 ft.), in the See also:province of See also:Kars, namely, 37'9°, and at Gudaur (7245 ft.), a few See also:miles south of Kasbek, namely, 38.6°. The following table gives particulars of temperature averages at a few typical places: Place. Altitude. See also:Annual January See also:July Mean. Mean. Mean. Stavropol 2030 47.00 24.00 70.0° Vladikavkaz 2345 47'3° 23'4° 68.o° Gudaur 7245 38.6° 20.3° 57.2° Baku on Caspian 58.o° 38.0° 80•o° Tiflis 1490 55 0° 32'0° 76'5° Batum on Black Sea 59.0° 42.0° 75.0° Sochi on Black Sea 56.3° 40.3° 76.1° Lenkoran on Caspian 60.3° 39.0° 8o•6° Erivan 3170 51•o° 15•o° 75.0° In respect of precipitation the entire region of Caucasia may be divided into two strikingly contrasted regions, a wet and a dry. To the former belong the Black Sea littoral, where the rainfall averages 59 to 93 in. annually, and the valleys that open upon it or are exposed to winds blowing off it, in which the rainfall varies, however, from 20 in. (Abbas-tuman, See also:Borzhom) to 6o (Kutais). In Lenkoran also the rainfall averages 40 to 50 in. in the year. Between 16 and 4o in. fall as a See also:rule at the northern foot of the Caucasus (1blozdok, See also:Pyatigorsk) and in the Kura valley (Tiflis, Novo-bayazet). On the Armenian highlands and on the steppes north of Pyatigorsk the rainfall is less than 12 in. annually, and even in some places less than 8 in., e.g. at the foot of Ararat. Most See also:rain falls at Batum and at Lenkoran in the autumn, in northern Caucasia and in See also:Transcaucasia in See also:spring and summer, but in the vicinity of the Sea of Azov in See also:winter. See also:Flora and See also:Fauna.—Plant-See also:life, in such a mountainous See also:country as Caucasia, being intimately dependent upon aspect and altitude, is treated under CAUCASUS. The wild animals of Caucasia are for the most part the same as those which frequent the mountainous parts of central Europe, though there is also an irruption of See also:Asiatic forms, e.g. the See also:tiger (in Lenkoran only), See also:panther, hyaena and See also:jackal. The more important of the carnivores which haunt the forests, valleys and mountain slopes are the See also:bear (Ursus arcios), See also:wolf, See also:lynx, wild See also:cat and See also:fox (Vulpes melanotus). The wild See also:boar occurs around Borzhom. The See also:aurochs (See also:Bos urns) appears to exist still in the forests of the western Caucasus. Of See also:interest for sportsmen, as well as serving as See also:prey for the carnivores, are red See also:deer, goats (Capra pallasit and C. aegagrus), See also:chamois, See also:roebuck, moufflon (Ovis musimon), See also:argali or Asiatic wild sheep (O. See also:Ammon), another See also:species of sheep in O. gmelini, and See also:fallow deer (Capreolus pigargus) in northern Caucasus only. Rodents are numerous, the See also:mouse (See also:Mus sylvaticus) is very destructive, and beavers are met with in places. The birds of prey are the same as these of central Europe, and include the sea See also:eagle, alpine See also:vulture (Gyps fulvus), See also:buzzard, kites (Gypaelus barbalus and Milvus ater), See also:hawks (e.g. Astur See also:nisus) , goshawk (A. palumbarius), See also:fish-See also:hawk (Pandion haliaetus) and owls. Among the smaller birds may be enumerated finches, the See also:siskin, See also:bullfinch, See also:pipit, titmcuse, See also:wagtail, See also:lark, fine-crested See also:wren, hedge-See also:sparrow, See also:corn-wren, See also:nut-See also:hatch, See also:starling, See also:swallow, See also: The See also:pheasant derives its name from the See also:ancient name (Phasis) of the Rion. In the seas and rivers about 190 species of fishes have been enumerated. Of these, 115 species are Mediterranean, 30 are See also:common to the Caspian Sea, and the remaining species are See also:peculiar to the Black Sea. The most useful economically are several species of See also:sturgeon and of See also:herring, See also:trout, See also:barbel, See also:chubb, See also:bream, See also:ray,sea-See also:dace, See also:carp, See also:anchovy. See also:Insects abound, especially See also:Coleoptera. Flies, lice, gadflies and mosquitoes are the worst of the See also:insect plagues. There are several See also:snakes, including the See also:viper (See also:Pelias berus). See also:Ethnology.—The population of Caucasia is increasing rapidly. In 1897 it numbered 9,291,090, of whom 4,886,230 were See also:males and 4,404,867 were See also:females. The most densely-peopled provinces were Kutais and Tiflis, each with 8o inhabitants to the square mile; the thinnest the Black Sea government (2o2 per sq. m.), Terek (31), and Kars (39). Of the See also:total population 3,725,543 lived in northern Caucasia and 5,564,547 m Transcaucasia (including Daghestan). In the latter territorial division there exists a great disproportion between the sexes, namely, to every zoo males only 86 females; indeed in the Black Sea government there are only 65•.5 females to every loo males. Ethnologically the population belongs to a great variety of races. The older authorities asserted that these numbered as many as 'so, or even 300; the more See also:recent researches of See also:Baron P. V. Uslar, F. Anton, von See also:Schiefner, Zagursky, and others have greatly reduced this number; but even then there are not less than fifty represented.
According to the See also:languages spoken the populations of Caucasia admit of being classified as follows,1 according to Senator N. Trointsky, See also:president of the Russian See also:Census See also:Committee for 1897.
See also:ARYANS 4,901,412
Slays 3,183,870
Great Russians . 1,829,793
Little Russians . . 1,305,463
See also: 1,511
Iranians 315,695
Persians 13,929
Talyshes 34,994
Tates . 95,056
Ossetes 171,716
Kurds 99,836
Armenians 1,116,461
Gypsies . 3,041
SEMITES 46,739
Jews 40,498
Chaldaeans (Aisors) 5,353
URAL-ALTAIANS I,902,142
Finns . 7,432
Esthonians . 4,281
Turko-Tatars 1,879,908
Tatars • 1,509,785
Osmanli Turks . 139,419
Nogai Tatars 64,048
Turkomans 24,522
See also:Bashkirs 953
See also:Chuvashes 411
See also:Kirghiz 98
Sarts 158
Karachais 27,222
See also:Kumyks 83,408
Kara-papaks 29,902
Kalmucks 14,409
CAUCASIANS 2,439,071
Georgians (including Imeretians, Gur-
ians, Svanetians, Lazes, Mingrel-
ians, &c.) 1,352,455
Circassians
Cherkesses (Adigheh) and Kabardians .
Abkhasians . . 72,103
Chechens 274,318
Chechens proper 226,496
Ingushes2 47,409
Kistines 413
1 Premier Recensement general de la population de l'See also:empire de Russie, ed. N. Trointsky (St See also:Petersburg, 1905, 2 vols.), in Russian and French.
2 Although the Ingushes speak a Chechen See also:dialect, they have recently been proved to be, anthropologically, quite a distinct See also:race.
See also:Religion.—Most of the Russians and the Georgians belong to the Orthodox Greek See also: The Georgian Lazes are, however, Mussulmans. The Armenians are Christians, mostly of the See also:national Gregorian Church (979,566), though 34,000 are See also:Roman Catholics. The Caucasian races (except the Gregorians), together with the Turks and Tatars, are Mussulmans of the Sunnite See also:sect (2,021,300), and the Iranian races mostly Mussulmans of the Shiite sect (884,100). The Kalmucks and other Mongolic tribes are Lamaists (20,300), and some of the Kurds profess the. peculiar tenets of the Yezids. See also:Industries.—The principal occupation of the settled inhabitants is See also:agriculture and of the nomadic the breeding of live stock, including camels. The cultivation of the soil is, however, attended in many parts with great difficulties owing to the scanty rainfall and the very See also:primitive implements still in use, and in the valley of the Kura heavy losses are frequently incurred from depredations by locusts. But where irrigation is employed the yield of crops is excellent. See also:Rye and wheat are the most important crops harvested in northern Caucasia, but oats, barley and maize are also cultivated, whereas in Transcaucasia the principal crops are maize, See also:rice See also:tobacco and See also:cotton. The rice is grown chiefly in the valley of the Kura and in Lenkoran; the tobacco in the Rion valley and on the Black Sea coastlands, also to some extent in Kuban; and the cotton in the eastern provinces. Various kinds of See also:fodder crops are grown in Transcaucasia, such as See also:hay, rye-grass and See also:lucerne. It is estimated that nearly 54,000 acres are under vineyards in northern Caucasia and some 278,000 acres in Transcaucasia, the aggregate yield of See also:wine being 30 million gallons annually. The best wine grows in Kakhetia, a district lying north-east and east of Tiflis; this district alone yields nearly 8 million gallons annually. Large numbers of mulberry trees are planted for rearing silkworms, especially in Kutais, Erivan, Elisavetpol (See also:Nukha) and Baku (See also:Shemakha); the groves occupy nearly 150,000 acres, and the winding of the See also:silk gives employment to large numbers of the population. Melons and water-melons are also important See also:objects of cultivation. Sunflowers are very extensively grown for oil in the government of Kuban and elsewhere, and also some See also:flax. See also:Liquorice is an See also:article of export. Many varieties of See also:fruit are grown, especially good being the apricots, peaches, walnuts and See also:hazel nuts. A limited area (not more than 115o acres) of the Black Sea See also:coast between Sukhum-kaleh and Batum is planted with the See also:tea-See also:shrub, which succeeds very well. In the same district bamboos, See also:ramie-fibre and See also:attar (See also:otto) of See also:roses are cultivated. The See also:mining See also:industry is growing rapidly in importance in spite of costly and deficient means of communication, want of See also:capital, and lack of general initiative. So far the principal developments of the industry have been in the governments of Kutais, Batum, Elisavetpol and Kuban. Copper ore is extracted above the Murgul river (some 30 M. south of Batum), at Akhtala south of Tiflis, and at Kedabek in Elisavetpol; manganese to a consider-ably greater extent (over 400,000 tons annually) at Chiaturi in the Kvirila valley in Kutais. See also:Steam See also:coal of good quality is reported to exist about 30 M. inland from the open roadstead of Ochemchiri in Kutais, but it is not See also:mined. About 50,000 tons of coal of very poor quality are, however, extracted annually, and the same quantity of See also:salt in the Armenian highlands and in Kuban. Small quantities of quicksilver, See also:sulphur and See also:iron are obtained. But all these are insignificant in comparison with the See also:mineral oil industry of Baku, which in normal times yields annually between ten and eleven million tons of crude oil (naphtha). A good See also:deal of this is transported by See also:gravitation from Baku to Batum on the Black Sea by means of a See also:pipe laid overland. The refined oil is exported as kerosene or petroleum, the heavier refuse (mazut) is used as See also:fuel. Naphtha is also obtained, though in much smaller quantities, in Terek and Kuban, in Tiflis and Daghestan. Numerous mineral springs (chalybeate and sulphurous) exist both north and south of the Caucasus ranges, e.g. at Pyatigorsk, 144,847 Lesghians Avaro-Andians 212,692 Darghis 130,209 Kurins 159,213 IJdins 7,100 Others 91,300 600,514 See also:Zhelesnovodsk, See also:Essentuki, and See also:Kislovodsk in Terek, and at Tiflis, Abbastuman and Borzhom in the government of Tiflis. Manufacturing industry is confined to a few articles and commodities, such as See also:cement, tea, See also:tin cans (for oil), cotton goods, oil refineries, tobacco factories, See also:flour-See also:mills, silk-winding mills (especially at See also:Shusha and Jebrail in the south of Elisavetpol), distilleries and breweries. On the other hand. the domestic industries are extensively carried on and exhibit a high degree of technical skill and artistic taste. Carpets (especially at Shusha), silk, cotton and woollen goods, felts and See also:fur cloaks are made, and small arms in Daghestan and at Tiflis, Nukha and Sukhumkaleh; silversmiths' See also:work at Tiflis, See also:Akhaltsikh and Kutais; pottery at Elisavetpol and Shusha; See also:leather See also:shoe-making at See also:Alexandropol, Nukha, Elisavetpol, Shusha and Tiflis; See also:saddlery at Sukhum-kaleh and Ochemchiri on the Black Sea and at Temirkhan-shura in Daghestan; and copper work at See also:Derbent and Alexandropol. But industries of every description were most seriously crippled by the spirit of turbulence and disorder which manifested itself throughout Transcaucasia in the years 1904-'906, accentuated as they were further by the outbreak of the See also:long-rooted racial enmities between the Armenians and the Tatars, especially at Baku in 1905. See also:Commerce.—The exports through the Black Sea ports of Batum, Poti and Novo-rossiysk average in value a little over £'o,000,000 annually, though showing a tendency to increase slightly. By far the most important commodity is petroleum, fully one-half of the total value. In addition large quantities are shipped at Baku See also:direct for the See also:Volga and the Transcaspian See also:port of See also:Krasnovodsk. The export that comes next in value is silk, and after it may be named wheat, barley, manganese ore, maize, See also:wool, oilcake, carpets, rye, oats, liquorice and timber. The import See also:trade reaches nothing like the same value, and what there is is confined almost entirely to Batum. The annual average value maybe put at not quite £2,000,000, machinery and tin-See also:plate being a long way the most important items. There is further a small transit trade through Transcaucasia from Persia to the value of less than half a million See also:sterling annually, and chiefly in carpets, cocoons and silk, wool, rice and See also:boxwood; and further a sea-See also:borne trade between Persia and Caucasian ports (Baku and See also:Petrovsk) to the value of over 11 millions sterling in all. The very extensive See also:internal trade with Russia can only be mentioned. See also:Railways.—The principal approach to Caucasia from Russia by See also:rail is the line that runs from Rostov-on-Don to Vladikavkaz at the foot of the central Caucasus range. Thence, or rather from the junction of Beslan, 14 M. north of Vladikavkaz, the main line proceeds east of Petrovsk on the Caspian, and from Petrovsk skirts the See also:shore southwards as far as Baku, the distance from Vladikavkaz to Baku being 414 M. This railway, together with the See also:driving roads over the Caucasus mountains via the Mamison pass (the Ossetic military road) and the See also:Darial pass (the Georgian military road), and the route across the Black Sea to Poti or Batum are the chief means of communication between southern Russia and Transcaucasia. Baku and Batum (also Poti) are connected by another main line, 56o m. long, which traverses the valleys of the Kura and the Rion, south of the Caucasus. From Tiflis, nearly midway on this last line, a railway proceeds south as far as Erivan (234 m.), with a See also:branch to Kars (48 m.), The Erivan line is being continued into Persia, namely, to See also:Tabriz via Julfa on the Aras. See also:History.—To the ancient Greeks Caucasia, and the mighty range which dominates it, were a region of See also:mystery and See also:romance. It was there that they placed the See also:scene of the sufferings of See also:Prometheus (vide See also:Aeschylus, Prometheus Vinctus), and there, in the land of See also:Colchis, which corresponds to the valley of the Rion, that they sent the See also:Argonauts to fetch the See also:golden fleece. Outside the domain of myth, the earliest connexion of the Greeks with that part of the See also:world would appear to have been through the maritime colonies, such as Dioscurias, which the Milesians founded on the Black Sea coast in the 7th century B.C. For more than two thousand years the most powerful See also:state in Caucasia was that
of See also:Georgia (q.v.), the See also:authentic history of which begins with its submission to See also: In 1770, during the course of a war between Russia and See also:Turkey, the Russians crossed over the Caucasus and assisted the Imeretians to resist the Turks, and from the See also:time of the ensuing See also:peace of Kuchuk-kainarji the Georgian principalities looked to their powerful northern See also:neighbour as their See also:protector against the southern aggressors the Turks. In x 783 See also:George XIIL, See also:prince of Georgia and Mingrelia, formally put himself under the See also:suzerainty of Russia, and after his death Georgia was converted (1801) into a Russian province. The same See also:fate overtook Irneretia nine years later. Meanwhile the Russians had also subdued the Ossetes (1802) and the Lesghian tribes (1803) of the middle Caucasus. By the peace of Gulistan in x8'3 Persia ceded to Russia several districts in eastern Caucasia, from Lenkoran northwards to "Derbent. Nevertheless the mountain tribes who inhabited the higher parts of the Caucasus were still independent, and their subjugation cost Russia a sustained effort of See also:thirty years, during the course of which her military commanders were more than once brought almost to the point of despair by the tenacity, the devotion and the adroitness and daring which the mountaineers displayed in a harassing guerilla warfare. The animating spirit of their resistance was See also:Shamyl (See also:Samuel), a chief and See also:priest of the Lesghians, who, a See also:Mahommedan, See also:pro-claimed a " See also:holy war " against the " infidel " aggressors. At first the Russians were able to continue their policy of See also:conquest and See also:annexation without serious check. After acquiring the northern edge of the Armenian plateau, partly from Persia in '828 and partly from Turkey in 1829, Russia crushed a rising which had broken out in the Caspian coast districts of Daghestan on the north of the Caucasus. This took place during the years 1831-1832. The next seven years were occupied with the subjugation of the Abkhasians along the Black Sea coast, and of other Circassian tribes in the west. Meanwhile Shamyl had roused the Lesghian tribes farther east and begun his twenty years' struggle for freedom, a struggle which called forth the sympathy and admiration of nearly the whole of Europe. More than once he escaped, in a manner that seemed little short of marvellous, out of the hands of the Russians when they held him closely invested in some mountain fastness, as at Himry in 1331, at Akhulgo in 1839, and again at the same stronghold in 1849. The general who at last See also:broke the back of the long opposition of the See also:prophet-chief of the Lesghians was Prince See also:Baryatinsky, who after three years of strenuous warfare succeeded in capturing Shamyl's stronghold of Weden, and then in surrounding that chieftain himself on the inaccessible rocky See also:platform of Gunib in the See also:heart of Daghestan. There the hitherto indomitable See also:champion of Caucasian See also:independence was forced to surrender to the Russians on the 6th of See also:September 1859. Nevertheless the spirit of resistance in these stubborn mountaineers was not finally broken until 1864, when the Russians eventually stifled all op-position in the difficult valleys and glens of the western Caucasus. But this was followed, during the next fourteen years, by the wholesale See also:emigration of thousands upon thousands of Circassians, who sought an See also:asylum in Turkish territory, leaving their native region almost uninhabited and desolate, a See also:condition from which it has not recovered even at the See also:present See also:day. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 the self-exiled Circassians and other Caucasian mountaineers, supported by a force of 14,000 Turks, made a determined See also:attempt to wrest their native glens from the power of Russia; but, after suffering a severe defeat at the hands of General Alkhazov, the Turks withdrew, and were accompanied by some 30,000 Abkhasians, who settled in Asia Minor. A few months later the Lesghians in Daghestan, who had risen in revolt, were defeated and their country once more reduced to obedience. By the ensuing peace of See also:Adrianople, Russia still further enlarged her Transcaucasian territories by the acquisition of the districts of Kars, Batum and Ardahan. After a peaceful period of a See also:quarter of a century the Armenian subjects of Russia in Transcaucasia were filled with bitterness and discontent by the See also:confiscation of the properties of their national (Gregorian) church by the Russian See also:treasury. Nor were their feelings more than half allayed by the arrangement which made their ecclesiastics salaried See also:officers of the Russian state. This ferment of unrest, which was provoked in the years 1903–1904, was exacerbated in the winters that followed by the renewed outbreak of the century-long racial See also:feud between the Tatars and the Armenians at Baku and other places. In fact, nearly the whole of the region between the Caucasus and the Perso-Turkish frontier on the south, from the Caspian Sea on the one side to the Black Sea on the other, was embroiled in a See also:civil war of the most sanguinary and ruthless character, the inveterate racial animosities of the combatants being in both cases inflamed by religious fanaticism. See also:Complete anarchy prevailed, at the worst centres of disorder, as Baku and Batum, the imperial authorities being more powerless to preserve even the semblance of See also:order than they were in the interior of Russia. Many of the oil See also:wells at Baku were burned, and massacres took place at that town, at Shusha, at Erivan, at Tiflis, at Batum, at Jebrail and at other places. An end was put to these disorders only by the mutual agreement of the two contestants, alike horrified and exhausted by the fierce outburst of See also:passion, in September 1905. (J. T. 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