Nagorno-Karabakh

Nagorno-Karabakh (so called in Azeri; in Armenian, called Artsakh; in English, "Mountain-Karabakh") is an autonomous enclave of Azerbaijan, occupied by Armenia. The majority of the population is ethnically Armenian.

The region's area is 1,699 square miles, and as of 1990 it had a population of 192,000. The population is currently mainly Armenian (76%) and Azeri (23%), with Russian and Kurdish minorities. The capital is Xankendi (in Armenian, called Stepanakert), and the only other major city is Shushi (in Armenian, called Shusha).

Nagorno-Karabakh comprises one of the historical parts of Alwania, or Caucasian Albania. In 95 BC it was conquered by Tigranes II, the king of Armenia. In the early 4th century AD Alwanians managed to regain Artsakh, and eventually in 387 AD it became a part of Alwania again. Since the 8th century Alwania diminished in size and came to exist only as a principality of Khachen in Artsakh.

In the early 17th century, control of the district passed to Persia, which allowed local autonomy; and in the mid-18th century the Karabakh khanate was formed. Karabakh passed to the Russians by the Treaty of Gulistan in 1813. In 1822 the Karabakh khanate was dissolved and the area became a Russian province. The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region was established as part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic in 1923. The autonomous status of the region was abolished by decision of the Parliament of Azerbaijan in 1989.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the region became the centre of a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as Armenian nationalists demanded the inclusion of the region in Armenia. An unofficial cease-fire was reached in 1994 through Russian negotiation. Nagorno-Karabakh's parliament declared the region independent in 1991, although this status is not recognized by any state in the world except Armenia.