View source for Lesser Caucasus

{{Short description|Range within the Caucasus Mountains}}
{{Infobox mountain
| photo = Arakatz001.jpg
| photo_caption = Aragats mount
| country = {{hlist
|[[Azerbaijan]]
|[[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] 
| [[Armenia]]
| [[Iran]]}}
| parent = [[Caucasus Mountains|Caucasian]] / [[Armenian Highlands]]
| borders_on = [[Greater Caucasus]]
| length_km = 600
| length_orientation = NW-SE
| width_km = 
| width_orientation = 
| highest = [[Aragats]]<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Mount Aragats {{!}} mountain, Armenia |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=2016-05-07 |url=http://www.britannica.com/place/Mount-Aragats |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308061101/http://www.britannica.com/place/Mount-Aragats |archive-date=2016-03-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| elevation_m = 4090
| coordinates = 
| range_coordinates = {{coord|41|N|44|E|type:mountain|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| geology = 
| orogeny = 
| map_image = Kaukasus.jpg
| map_caption = Satellite image; the snowy mountains to the south are the Lesser Caucasus.
| name = 
}}

The '''Lesser Caucasus''' or '''Lesser Caucasus Mountains''', also called '''Caucasus Minor''', is the second of the two main [[mountain range|ranges]] of the [[Caucasus Mountains]], of length about {{convert|600|km|mi|abbr=on}}. The western portion of the Lesser Caucasus overlaps and converges with east [[Turkey]] and northwest [[Iran]]. It runs parallel to the [[Greater Caucasus]], at a distance averaging about {{convert|100|km|mi|abbr=on}} south from the [[Likhi Range]] ([[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]), and limits east Turkey from the north and north-east. It is connected with the [[Pontic Mountains|Pontic range]]<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Mosar |first1=Jon |last2=Mauvilly |first2=Jérémiah |last3=Koiava |first3=Kakhaber |last4=Gamkrelidze |first4=Irakli |last5=Enna |first5=Nikolay |last6=Lavrishev |first6=Vladimir |last7=Kalberguenova |first7=Vera |title=Tectonics in the Greater Caucasus (Georgia – Russia): From an intracontinental rifted basin to a doubly verging fold-and-thrust belt |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264817222001088}}</ref> and separated from it by the [[Kolkhida Lowland]] (Georgia) in the west and [[Kura-Aras Lowland]] ([[Azerbaijan]]) (by the [[Kura (Caspian Sea)|Kura River]]) in the east.

==Description==
The highest peak is [[Aragats]] in Armenia, {{convert|4090|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Encyclopædia Britannica" />

The borders between Georgia, Turkey, [[Armenia]], Azerbaijan and Iran run through the range, although its crest does not usually define the border. The range was historically called ''Anticaucasus'' or ''Anti-Caucasus'' [[Greek language|(Greek]]: Αντι-Καύκασος, [[Russian language|Russian]]: Антикавка́з, Анти-Кавка́з).  This usage is commonly found in older sources.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Caucasus |volume= 05 |last1= Bealby |first1= John Thomas |last2= Kropotkin |first2= Peter Alexeivitch | pages = 550&ndash;555 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/abirdseyeviewwo00clargoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/abirdseyeviewwo00clargoog/page/n288 264]|quote=anti caucasus.|title=A Bird's-eye View of the World|last=Reclus|first=Onésime|date=1892|publisher=Ticknor|language=en}}</ref> Current usage tends towards using the name Lesser Caucasus, but Anti-caucasus can still be found in modern texts.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.119845|title=Perspective in Geomorphology Volume I|last=Sharma|first=h s|date=1981}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Maisuradze|first=G.M.|date=1989-08-15|title=Anthropogene of the anticaucasus|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/248289074|journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology - PALAEOGEOGR PALAEOCLIMATOL|volume=72|pages=53–62|doi=10.1016/0031-0182(89)90131-4}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Noah's Ark|Ark]] of [[Noah in Islam|Nuh]] or [[Noah]]
* [[İlandağ]] in [[Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic|Nakhchivan]], Azerbaijan

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Georgia (country) topics}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Mountain ranges of the Caucasus|+]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Armenia]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Turkey]]
[[Category:Mountain ranges of Iran]]
[[Category:Physiographic sections]]


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