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For the republic, see Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.
The borders o the umwhile Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast

Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlockit region in the Sooth Caucasus, lying between Lower Karabakh an Zangezur an coverin the sootheastren range o the Lesser Caucasus muntains. The region is maistly muntainous an forestit an haes an aurie o 4,400 square kilometres (1,700 sq mi).

Maist o the region is governed bi the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, an unrecognized, de facto independent state establisht on the basis o the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast athin the Azerbaijan SSR o the Soviet Union. The territory is internaitionally recognized as pairt o Azerbaijan, although it haes no exercised pouer ower maist o the region syne 1991. Syne the end o the Nagorno-Karabakh War in 1994, representatives o the governments o Armenie an Azerbaijan hae been hauldin peace tauks mediatit bi the OSCE Minsk Group on the region's status.

Name[eedit | eedit soorce]

The wird Nagorno- is a Roushie attributive adjective, derived frae the adjective nagorny (нагорный), which means "highland". The Azerbaijani name o the region includes similar adjectives "dağlıq" (muntainous) or "yuxarı" (upper). Such wirds are no uised in Armenian name, but appeared in the offeecial name o the region durin the Soviet era as Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. Ither leids apply their awn wirdin for muntainous, upper, or hieland; for example, the offeecial name uised bi the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in Fraunce is Haut-Karabakh, meanin "Upper Karabakh".

The wird Karabakh is generally held tae oreeginate frae Turkic an Persian, an literally means "black garden".[1][2] The name first appears in Georgian an Persian sources o the 13t an 14t centuries.[2] Karabagh is an acceptable alternate spelling of Karabakh, and also denotes a kind of patterned rug originally produced in the area.[3]

In an alternative theory proposed bi Bagrat Ulubabyan the name Karabakh haes a Turkic-Armenian oreegin, meanin "Greater Baghk" (Armenie: Մեծ Բաղք), a reference tae Ktish-Baghk (later: Dizak), ane o the principalities o Artsakh unner the rule o the Aranshahik dynasty, which held the throne o the Kinrick o Syunik in the 11t–13t centuries an crieed itsel the "Kinrick o Baghk".[4]

The names for the region in the various local leids aw translate tae "muntainous Karabakh", or "muntainous black garden":

Nagorno-Karabakh is aften referred tae bi the Armenians livin in the aurie as Artsakh (Armenian: Արցախ), designatin the 10t province o the auncient Kinrick o Armenie. In Urartian inscriptions (9t–7t centuries BC), the name Urtekhini is uised for the region.[5] Auncient Greek sources cawed the aurie Orkhistene.[6]

References[eedit | eedit soorce]

  2. 2.0 2.1 (Armenie) Ulubabyan, Bagrat. Karabagh (Ղարաբաղ). The Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia, vol. vii, Yerevan, Armenian SSR, 1981 p. 26
  3. C. G. Ellis, "Oriental Carpets", 1988. p133.