KaskiansThe Kaska (also Kaška, later Tabalian Kasku and Gasga) were a loosely affiliated Bronze Age non-Indo-European tribal people, who spoke the unclassified Kaskian language and lived in mountainous East Pontic Anatolia, known from Hittite sources. They lived in the mountainous region between the core Hittite region in eastern Anatolia and the Black Sea, and are cited as the reason that the later Hittite Empire never extended northward to that area. They are sometimes identified with the Caucones known from Greek records.
Lazic WarThe Lazic War, also known as the Colchidian War or in Georgian historiography as the Great War of Egrisi was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire for control of the ancient Georgian region of Lazica. The Lazic War lasted for twenty years, from 541 to 562, with varying success and ended in a victory for the Persians, who obtained an annual tribute in exchange for ending the war. The Lazic War is narrated in detail in the works of Procopius of Caesarea and Agathias.
GalatiaGalatia (gəˈleɪʃə; Γαλατία, Galatía, "Gaul") was an ancient area in the highlands of central Anatolia, roughly corresponding to the provinces of Ankara and Eskişehir, in modern Turkey. Galatia was named after the Gauls from Thrace (cf. Tylis), who settled here and became a small transient foreign tribe in the 3rd century BC, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans in 279 BC. It has been called the "Gallia" of the East. Galatia was bounded on the north by Bithynia and Paphlagonia, on the east by Pontus and Cappadocia, on the south by Cilicia and Lycaonia, and on the west by Phrygia.
RizeRize (Ρίζα; რიზინი; რიზე; ريزه) is a coastal city in the eastern part of the Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is the seat of Rize Province and Rize District. Its population is 119,828 (2021). Rize is a typically Turkish provincial capital with little in the way of nightlife or entertainment. However the border with Georgia has been open since the early 1990s, the Black Sea coast road has been widened and the town is much wealthier than it used to be.
AbkhaziansThe Abkhazians or Abkhazes are a Northwest Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. A large Abkhaz diaspora population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the population movements from the Caucasus in the late 19th century. Many Abkhaz also live in other parts of the former Soviet Union, particularly in Russia and Ukraine.
Abkhaz languageAbkhaz, also known as Abkhazian, is a Northwest Caucasian language most closely related to Abaza. It is spoken mostly by the Abkhaz people. It is one of the official languages of Abkhazia, where around 100,000 people speak it. Furthermore, it is spoken by thousands of members of the Abkhazian diaspora in Turkey, Georgia's autonomous republic of Adjara, Syria, Jordan, and several Western countries. 27 October is the day of the Abkhazian language in Georgia. Abkhaz is a Northwest Caucasian language and is thus related to Adyghe.
ScythiaScythia (ˈsɪðiə, ˈsɪθiə;) or Scythica (ˈsɪðikə, ˈsɪθikə) was the Graeco-Roman name for a region of Eastern Europe corresponding to the Pontic steppe, which in antiquity was inhabited by the Scythians, who were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people. The names and are themselves Latinisations of the Ancient Greek names (Σκυθια) and (Σκυθικη), which were themselves derived from the ancient Greek names for the Scythians, Skuthēs (Σκυθης) and Skuthoi (Σκυθοι), derived from the Scythian endonym Skuδatā.
GuriaGuria (გურია) is a region (mkhare) in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 113,000 (2016), with Ozurgeti as the regional capital. Odishi-Guria plain Guria is bordered by Samegrelo to the north-west, Imereti to the north, Samtskhe-Javakheti to the east, Ajaria to the south, and the Black Sea to the west. The province has an area of . Guria is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude.
TuapseTuapse (Туапсе́; Тӏуапсэ twʼapsə) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik and north of Sochi. Population: Tuapse is a sea port and the northern center of a resort zone which extends south to Sochi. Tuapse was a large center (native land) for the Shapsugs tribe along other areas in Circassia, with about 10,000 speakers of the language living in Tuapse currently.
ArtvinArtvin (Laz and tr; Արտուին) is a city in northeastern Turkey about inland from the Black Sea. It is the seat of Artvin Province and Artvin District. Its population is 25,841 (2021). It is located on a hill overlooking the Çoruh River near the Deriner Dam. It is a former bishopric and (vacant) Armenian Catholic titular see and the home of Artvin Çoruh University. Artifacts dating back to the Bronze Age and even earlier have been found.
