The Caucasus or Caucasia is a region situated at the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. It is home to the Caucasus Mountains, which contain Europe's highest mountain, Mount Elbrus, , located on the west of the Greater Caucasus mountain range. The Greater Caucasus acts as a natural barrier separating Europe from Southwest Asia, the latter including the Transcaucasus and Anatolia regions. 

The Caucasus region is separated between northern and southern partsthe North Caucasus and Transcaucasus, respectively. The Greater Caucasus range in the north is within the Russian Federation, while the Lesser Caucasus to the south is divided between several independent states, namely Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. The Transcaucasus extends eastwards to the Caspian Sea and northwestern Iran, and extends westwards into northeastern Turkey. 

The region is known for its linguistic diversity: aside from Indo-European and Turkic languages, the Kartvelian, Northwest Caucasian, and Northeast Caucasian families are indigenous to the area. 

Pliny the Elder's "Natural History" (77–79 AD) derives the name of the Caucasus from Scythian "kroy-khasis" ("ice-shining, white with snow"). German linguist Paul Kretschmer notes that the Latvian word "Kruvesis" also means "ice". 

In the "Tale of Past Years" (1113 AD), it is stated that Old East Slavic Кавкасийскыѣ горы ("Kavkasijskyě gory") came from Ancient Greek Καύκασος ("Kafkasos"), which, according to M. A. Yuyukin, is a compound word that can be interpreted as the "Seagull's Mountain" (καύ-: καύαξ, καύηξ, ηκος ο, κήξ, κηϋξ "a kind of seagull" + the reconstructed *κάσος η "mountain" or "rock" richly attested both in place and personal names.)
What year was Tale of past years written?
1113 AD