Greater Caucasus watershed

Greater Caucasus
Mountainous landscape of Arkhyz
Highest point
Peak	Mount Elbrus
Elevation	5,642 m (18,510 ft)
Coordinates	43°21′18″N 42°26′31″E / 43.35500°N 42.44194°E / 43.35500; 42.44194Coordinates: 43°21′18″N 42°26′31″E / 43.35500°N 42.44194°E / 43.35500; 42.44194
Dimensions
Length	1,200 km (750 mi) NW-SE
Geography
Satellite image
Countries	Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia
Parent range	Caucasus Mountains
Borders on	Lesser Caucasus

Greater Caucasus (Azerbaijani: Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; Georgian: დიდი კავკასიონი, Didi Ǩavǩasioni; Russian: Большой Кавказ, Bol’shoy Kavkaz, sometimes translated as "Caucasus Major", "Big Caucasus" or "Large Caucasus") is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains.

The range stretches for about 1,200 kilometres (750 mi) from west-northwest to east-southeast, between the Taman Peninsula of the Black Sea to the Absheron Peninsula of the Caspian Sea: from the Western Caucasus in the vicinity of Sochi on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea and reaching nearly to Baku on the Caspian.

The range is traditionally separated into three parts:

In the wetter Western Caucasus, the mountains are heavily forested (deciduous forest up to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft), coniferous forest up to 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) and alpine meadows above the tree line). In the drier Eastern Caucasus, the mountains are mostly treeless.

The watershed of the Caucasus is also considered the boundary between Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The European part north of the watershed is known as Ciscaucasia, the Asiatic part to the south as Transcaucasia, which is dominated by the Lesser Caucasus mountain range and whose western portion converges with Eastern Anatolia.