Armenian highlands

The Armenian Highlands got its name due to the fact that within the highlands there was a historical area of ​​the formation of the Armenian people ^[5] .

Most of the Armenian Highlands are located within modern Turkey and Armenia . The north-western part of Iran , the south of Georgia and the western part of Azerbaijan also belong to the Armenian plateau ^[4] . In the broad sense of the word, the Armenian Highlands include the Lesser Caucasus , the Eastern (Armenian) Taurus and the Kurdish Mountains ^[6] . It comprises the Javakheti, Kara, Geghama, Vardenis and Karabakh (Syunik) uplands, and the Agdag massif in the south ^[7] .

The highland consists of two climatic zones.

1. Inland - Armenian plateau, covered with mountain-steppe and semi-desert landscape with a dry sharply continental climate.
2. The outer zone is the Armenian Alps, consisting of the East Pontic Mountains , the East (Armenian) Taurus Mountains and the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, bordering the plateau on three sides, where its northern, southern and eastern spurs are characterized by a mild, humid, seaside or Mediterranean climate, with a massive or even full forest cover. ^[8] .

The central, axial chain of highland ridges passing from west to east through the whole of Western Armenia is called Anti-Taurus ^{[9] [10]} . In the west, the Anti-Taurus goes north from the Central Taurus , and, passing directly in the middle of the plateau, parallel to the Eastern Taurus , ends in the east with Ararat peaks.

In the west, the Armenian Highlands merges with the Asia Minor Plateau, in the south at its foot is the Mesopotamian Lowland , and in the southeast it gradually merges with the Iranian Highlands .

In the north-west, the Armenian Highlands are separated from the Caucasus Mountains by the Colchis Lowland , and in the north-east of the Kura-Araksinsky , connecting with them in the center by the Likh Range . The area of ​​the Armenian Highlands (in the broad sense) is about 400 thousand km². ^[6]

The Armenian plateau is a powerful mountain junction in which the northern and southern marginal chains of the Asia Minor and Iranian uplands merge, forming a complex system of ridges and troughs. At the end of the Neogene, the entire highland underwent splitting and was intersected by a system of cracks along which outflows of lavas occurred. Lavas covered almost the entire surface of the plateau with basalt strata, mainly smoothing out uneven terrain.

Currently, the Armenian Highlands are vast basalt-tuff plateaus (1,500-3,000 m high) with giant volcanic cones (formed in the later stages of volcanic activity and reaching several thousand meters high) and tectonic depressions separated by ridges. Depressions lying at altitudes from 700 to 2000 meters have dry bottoms or are occupied by lakes ( Van , Sevan , Urmia and others). They are centers of population and are often referred to by the cities located within them - Erzurum , Tabriz , Ararat , Mush and so on.

In total, on the Armenian Highlands there are 4 mountains with a height of 4,000 to 5,000 meters and 1 mountain with a height of over 5,000 meters.

Some famous peaks:

• Greater Ararat (5165 m) ^[11]
• Sebelan (4811 m) ^[11]
• Cilo (4168 m) ^[11]
• Aragats (4090 m) ^[11]
• Sipan (Syuphan) (4058 m) ^[11]
• Kachkar (3937 m)
• Small Ararat (3925 m) ^[12]
• Kaputjuh (3905 m) ^[13]
• Gazanasar (3841 m) ^[13]
• Siskatar (Sisakapar) (3826 m) ^[13]
• Paracan (3825 m) ^[13]
• Kapuyt (a separate peak on Paracan) (3751 m) ^[13]
• Gomshasar (Gyamysh) (3724 m) ^{[13] [14]}
• Sehend (3707 m)
• Alun (a separate peak on Paracan) (3703 m) ^[13]
• Azhdahak (3597 m) ^[13]
• Spitakasar (3560 m)
• Metz Ishkhanasar (3550 m) ^[13]
• Mrav (3340 m)
• Koshaty (3317 m)
• Abul (3300 m)
• Nemrut (2948 m).

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  I. Aivazovsky , Descent of Noah from Mount Ararat , 1889

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  volcano Nemrut Dag

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  Mount Mrav

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  Areni Caves

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  mountain ranges in Dilijan

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  Pushkin Pass

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  Syunik mountains

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  Volcano Sevkatar

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  Rock Gavazan

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The water network of the region belongs to the basins of the Caspian and Black Seas, the Persian Gulf . Within the highlands are the upper reaches of the Kura , Araks , Euphrates , Tigris , Chorokh rivers . The nature of the current is typical of the mountain. The origins are mainly in the mountains, and the food comes from melting snow and rainfall.

The largest rivers of the Armenian Highlands are:

• Euphrates (2736 km)
• Tiger (1850 km)
• Kura (1515 km)
• Araks (1072 km)
• Aratsani (722 km)
• Big Zab (473 km)
• Chorokh (438 km)
• Akhuryan (186 km)
• Debed (152 km)
• Hrazdan (141 km)
• Arpa (126 km)
• Vorotan (119 km)

In total, there are over 95,000 large and small rivers in the Armenian Highlands, of which over 4,000 are more than 10 kilometers long.

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  Akhuryan

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  Kura

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  Arax

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  Sarsang reservoir

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  Big Zab

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  Agstev

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  Azat River, the upper reaches of which are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List

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  Chorokh

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  waterfall in berkri

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  Jermuk Waterfall

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  Kasahsky waterfall

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  Shaki waterfall

Other. In total, there are over 1200 large and small lakes in the Armenian Highlands.

The Armenian Highlands occupies one of the first places in the world in the number of plant species per unit area - over 100 species per 1 km². ^[sixteen]

About 3,500 plant species from 150 families grow on the Armenian Highlands, of which about 108 species are found only in the Armenian Highlands .

The flora of the Armenian Highlands includes 4 taxonomic groups - algae , mushrooms , lichens and vascular plants .

The Armenian Highlands are distinguished by the species diversity and endemicity of their fauna, where about 17,500 species of vertebrates and invertebrates are found. Many animal species live on the border of their distribution zone or form separate populations.

Currently, most of the Armenian Highlands is deprived of forests, although in ancient times the area was rich in forests, partially preserved only in the Pontic Mountains, on the Eastern (Armenian) Taurus Mountains, in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains and in the Kurdish (Kurdistan) Mountains. Flat basins are covered with steppe or semi-desert vegetation. Along the rivers you can meet flood meadows and bushes. At the foot of the mountains bordering the basins, oases are located in which cotton , tobacco and other crops are grown. In the Srednearaksinsky depression near Yerevan , on the territory of the Erebuni reserve , areas of the growth of wild wheat and other wild relatives of cultivated plants are preserved. Forests with a predominance of pine and deciduous oak are characteristic of humidified windward mountain slopes at heights of up to 2000 m. Above them, thorny shrubs and juniper thickets alternate with stony exposed areas. On dry soils and salt marshes, dry subtropical woodlands from pistachios , skeleton , hold-tree, and other xerophytes are found ^[17] .

The Armenian Highlands have been inhabited since time immemorial. There is a version that it was here that iron melting technology was invented ( Metsamor , Chatal-Hyuk and others) and horse breeding ^{[18] [19] [20]} . According to some scholars (mainly T. Gamkrelidze , V. Ivanov , O. Shirokov and others), it is the Armenian Highlands and Asia Minor that are the birthplace of the Indo-European peoples (see: The Armenian Hypothesis ), and it was here that the process of separation of the Indo-European peoples from the general families ^{[21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]} . In the light of archaeological data and modern paleogenetics, the Armenian hypothesis has outlived itself in the light of evidence, and horse breeding was invented in the Eurasian steppes from Bashkortostan to Mongolia. The military-strategic and commercial significance of the Armenian Highlands was one of the important reasons for many wars between the powers of the Mediterranean and Western Asia, starting from the Roman era. The arena of these wars usually became Armenia and neighboring countries. The Mesopotamian Plain south of Armenia was the hub of the main highways of trade exchange between East and West; it connected the Steppe Route with a passage through Derbent and Caucasian Albania (Agvank) along the coast of the Black and Caspian Seas ^[27] .

Created on the Armenian Highlands

Partially Embracing the Armenian Highlands

• Armenia (historical region)
• Geography of Armenia
• Geography of turkey
• Geography of georgia
• Geography of iran
• Geography of Azerbaijan