Lesser Caucasus


The Lesser Caucasus, also called Caucasus Minor, is the second of the two main mountain ranges of Caucasus mountains, of length about. The western portion of the Lesser Caucasus overlaps and converges with the high plateau of Eastern Anatolia, in the far northeast of Turkey.
It runs parallel to the Greater Caucasus, at a distance averaging about south from the Likhi Range and limits the Armenian Highland from the north and north-east.
It is connected to the Greater Caucasus by the Likhi Range and separated from it by the Kolkhida Lowland in the west and Kura-Aras Lowland in the east.
The highest peak is Aragats,.
The borders between Georgia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Iran run through the range, although its crest does not usually define the border.

Naming controversy

The range was historically called Anticaucasus or Anti-Caucasus. This usage is commonly found in older sources. Current usage tends towards using the name Lesser Caucasus, but Anticaucasus can still be found in modern texts.