14/11/2013
Nagorno-Karabakh or Mountainous Karabagh is a landlocked Armenian region in the South Caucasus, covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains. The region is mostly mountainous and forested.
Historically Karabagh is the north-eastern province of Armenia. The spreading of the same forms of economical activity, customs and creeds, as well the common mentality of its inhabitants laid the basis for the Artsakh (Mountainous Karabagh) to integrate today, as in the ancient times, with other regions of Armenia in cultural, economical and linguistic terms. Numerous archaeological data of the Late Stone Age, epoch of Bronze and Iron are the evidence of the fact that the culture of the Mountainous Karabagh in essence is a branch of the common Armenian culture and has many parallels with the monuments of the Armenian plateau of the same period.
The ancestors of today's Karabakhian Armenians, in spite of continuous wars in past, has left surprisingly rich cultural heritage.
The major cities of the region are Stepanakert, the capital and the largest city, which serves as the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, and Shusha, which lies partially in ruins. The city population comprises about 53,000 ethnic Armenians.
