page_title: Armenian Highlands
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Armenian Highlands / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The map of the Armenian plateau according to British traveler H. F. B. Lynch, 1901
context_page_description: The Armenian Highlands is the most central and the highest of the three plateaus that together form the northern sector of Western Asia. Clockwise starting from the west, the Armenian Highlands is bounded by the Anatolian plateau, the Caucasus, the Kura-Aras lowlands, the Iranian Plateau, and Mesopotamia. The highlands are divided into western and eastern regions, defined by the Ararat Valley where Mount Ararat is located. Western Armenia is nowadays referred to as eastern Anatolia, and Eastern Armenia as the Lesser Caucasus or Caucasus Minor, and historically Anti-Caucasus, meaning "opposite the Caucasus".
  During the Iron Age, the region was known by variations of the name Ararat. Later, the Highlands were known as Armenia Major, a central region to the history of Armenians, and one of the four geopolitical regions associated with Armenians, the other three being Armenia Minor, Sophene, and Commagene.
  The population of the region has been primarily Armenian for the majority of its known history.
caption: The natural borders of the Armenian plateau and its peripheral regions according to H. F. B. Lynch (1901).
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