The Caucasus region has been in constant turmoil throughout its history due to its Geography.

This region is a great lesson in Geography!

The bad news has been its Geography.

The good news for the region has been its Geography.

Trade routesInvasions

Because of its location, the region is a crossroads of trade and invasion for countless cultures and empires.

The Caucasus region is a trade and cultural crossroads.

Sitting in the mountain ranges between the Black and Caspian Sea, the land is fertile and rich.

The various mountains also serve to separate people. The region is made up of numerous ethnic groups that live on a area of land smaller than California.

Various languages and ethnicities inhabit the region.

There are also two strong religions in the area – Orthodox Christian and Islam.

Orthodox church

Muslim mosque

With the fall of the Soviet Union, many new countries gained their independence. Dozens of small regions with ethnic groups that were not Russian wanted independence. The Russians still control most of them.

They remain part of Russia due to:

The Russian Army

Grozny

The region that has seen the most fighting is Chechnya.

It is estimated that Russia has destroyed some 80% of the Chechnyan capital of Grozny

Because they have no chance to win a war with the Russians, many fundamentalist Muslim Chechnyans have been waging a war of terrorism against Russia and Russians.

Blew up a Russian airliner

Blew up an apartment building

Took over a Moscow theatre for several days. Hundreds were killed when Russian soldiers botched the rescue attempt.

But the most brazen terrorist attack came in Beslan, where Chechen terrorists captured an elementary school in 2005.

Over 1,000 people were taken hostage, mostly children.

When explosion sounded inside the school, the Russian troops rushed in. Over 350 people were killed.

The terrorists claimed revenge for the destruction of most Chechnyan cities.

While it is quiet in Chechnya today, the people still want to break away from Russia.

Terrorists before attacking Beslan. Streets of Grozny.

In 2008, the Georgians “invaded” South Osetia, a part of Georgia. The Osetians asked Russia for help. The Russian army rolled in and drove the Georgians back.

Russian troops now occupy South Osetia

Russians also invaded the Abkhazia region but eventually moved back into Russia.

This conflict had the potential to grow into a larger conflict because Georgia is linked with Western Europe and the USA.

Can you name a circumstance when a small conflict turned into a world war?

The region remains in turmoil with ethnic and religious strife still evident

In Geography, what do we call a region that has strong religious and/or ethnic groups living close together?

A SHATTERBELT!