The Caucasus, or Kavkaz, is the region between the Black and Caspian Seas, connecting Europe and Asia. http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Caucasus.aspx It consists of Georgia, Armenia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Azerbaijan and the Russian republics of Krasnodar, Adyghea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Stravopol, Daghestan and Kalmykia. http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Caucasus.aspx The Caucasus has a high level of ethnic and linguistic diversity. There are major language families in this area, such as Turkic, Indo-European and Semitic, as well as indigenous ones, like Kartvelian, Abkhaz-Adyghe and Nakh-Daghestani. http://anthropology.net/2008/07/08/the-diversity-of-languages-in-the-caucasus/The Caucasus is also diverse geographically, comprised of mountain ranges, swamps, forests and deserts. http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/caucasus/Pages/default.aspx

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the Caucasus has been filled with ethnic conflict. In 1993, the Georgian-Abkhazian war began, leading to the out flux of the Mingrelian population out of Abkhazia and culminating in the secession of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008. http://www.c-r.org/our-work/accord/georgia-abkhazia/displacement-return.phphttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3632274.stm Chechen insurgents, headed by Doku Umarov, have been at war with Russia. http://www.rferl.org/archive/Caucasus_Report/latest/963/963.html From April 2009 (when the Russian federation decided end counter-terror operations) to August 2010, there have been 207 attacks on Russian military with 111 military servicemen killed, 181 militants killed and 27 civilian deaths. http://www.peaceinthecaucasus.org/node/543 On October 19, 2010, a suicide bomber and possibly four gunmen tried to force their way into the parliament at Grozny, the capital of the Chechen republic. http://www.rferl.org/archive/Caucasus_Report/latest/963/963.html

The Caucasus has had a long intertwined history with both Western Civilization and the Middle East. The ancient Kingdom of Colchis, in modern day Georgia, features in many Greek myths and later became part of the Roman Empire. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gg.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Caucasus.aspx In the eastern part of the Caucasus, during the Achamenid Empire, the Persians controlled what is today Azerbaijan http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Azerbaijan-HISTORY.html. The Caucasus was always being invaded by nomadic tribes from the East and came under control of the Scythians, Huns, Khazars, Avars and Mongols. http://books.google.com/books?id=8QtNAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=conquests+of+the+caucasus&source=bl&ots=PtrntTfGG4&sig=osU9A-pkBjxA4OEEb9Bj6YsnGRA&hl=en&ei=VhnATMe9L8GC8gbJiIXvBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&sqi=2&ved=0CDsQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=conquests%20of%20the%20caucasus&f=falseIn the 19th Century, Russia annexed the Caucasus and after the Bolshevik Revolution it became part of the Soviet Union. http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Caucasus.aspx