Caucasian Union

 

Caucasian Union
Headquarters	Tbilisi, Georgia
Working languages	Georgian language, Armenian language, Azerbaijani language, Circassian language, Ossetian language, Waynakh language
Membership	11 member states
Leaders
Establishment
• Caucasian Union declared	1 November 2004
• Treaty in effect	10 March 2008
• Current constitution	1 August 2023
Website www.caucasus.gov

The Caucasian Union (CU) is an economic and political organisation in the Caucasus region with the goal of promoting economic growth, trade, development, and peace in the Caucasus. It has 11 sovereign member states and 6 autonomous republics, with a combined population of approximately 33,67 million people as of 2023. There are six official languages in the union - Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Circassian, Ossetian, and Waynakh.

The union was declared on 1 November 2004, following a historical summit between the leaders of six Caucasian states; it was founded on 10 March 2008, when the Caucasian Union Treaty came into effect. The organisation aimed to promote peace within the region, in the aftermath of a series of conflicts which affected the entire region, and to promote economic growth and trade between its members. One more country joined the union in 2010, with three more states in the region joining the union in 2014. Lazistan became the eleventh member state after joining in 2023. The Caucasian Union has also moved to separate itself from foreign spheres of influence, using international development funding to rebuild and diversify its own economies, and aiming to protect itself from falling into foreign spheres in the future, particularly to avoid Russian influence, due to historically and contemporary poor relations with Russia among the member states of the union; this is reflected in the "closed border" policy between many Caucasian Union member states and Russia, as well as the almost complete disappearance of the Russian language among its member states.

List of member states

Flag	State	Accession	Language(s)	Currency	Population (2020)
	Armenia	10 March 2008	Armenian	Armenian dram
	Awaristan	10 June 2010	14 languages
	Azerbaijan	10 March 2008	Azerbaijani	Azerbaijani manat
	Circassia	10 March 2008	Circassian	Circassian aĥş
	Dargistan	1 July 2014	Dargwa, Xaydak
	Georgia	10 March 2008	Georgian	Georgian lari
Template:Country data Kumukia	Kumukia	1 July 2014	Kumuk
Template:Country data Lazistan	Lazistan	1 August 2023	Laz
Template:Country data Lezgistan	Lezgistan	1 July 2014	10 languages
Template:Country data Ossetia	Ossetia	10 March 2008	Ossetian	Ossetian zærin
	Waynakhia	10 March 2008	Waynakh	Waynakh naxar

Autonomous republics

Autonomous republics within the Union are self-governing territories within sovereign member states, which represent themselves at the Caucasian Union.

Flag	State	Part of	Language(s)	Currency	Population (2020)
Template:Country data Abkhazia	Abkhazia	Georgia	Abkhaz	Georgian lari
Template:Country data Adjara	Adjara	Georgia	Georgian	Georgian lari
Template:Country data Artsakh	Artsakh	Azerbaijan	Armenian	Armenian dram
Template:Country data Karachay-Balkaria	Karachay-Balkaria	Circassia	Karachay-Balkar	Circassian aĥş
Template:Country data Nakhichevan	Nakhichevan	Armenia	Azerbaijani	Azerbaijani manat
Template:Country data South Ossetia	South Ossetia	Georgia	Ossetian	Georgian lari, Ossetian zærin

Proposed enlargements

As of 1 August 2023, the Caucasian Union has expanded three times since its creation in 2008 through the accession of new member states, and there are proposals for further expansion today. For a member state to be able to join, it must fulfil various conditions in three key areas - economic (stable economy, controlled low inflation, potential for growth), geographic (being in the Caucasus) and political (stable democracy, no border disputes), as well as being approved for membership by all existing union member states. As of 2023, no negotiations on membership are ongoing, due to the completion of negotiations with Lazistan in the summer of 2022 and its membership having commenced on 1 August 2022.

Several other nearby countries and regions within the Caucasus region have applied for membership to the union - of these, three (Crimea, Kubanodar, and Stavropol) were rejected - Crimea was not considered to be a part of the Caucasus region, and Kubanodar and Stavropol were non-autonomous regions within Russia. Nogaistan is an autonomous republic of Russia; due to this, membership is currently not possible, as territories within Russia or with Russian as an official language cannot join the union, though some member states have proposed an independent Nogaistan as a future member.

Flag	Applicant	Application date	Success / failure info	Notes
	Awaristan	15 March 2008	Joined 10 June 2010	border disputes with non-CU neighbours resolved in 2008, membership began in 2010
Template:Country data Crimea	Crimea	24 August 2017	Rejected	part of Ukraine; also not considered to be in the Caucasus region
	Dargistan	23 November 2009	Joined 1 July 2014	border disputes with non-CU neighbours resolved in 2013, membership began in 2014
Template:Country data Lazistan	Lazistan	28 November 2018	Joined 1 August 2023	Negotiations completed summer 2022, officially joined the union on 1 August 2023
Template:Country data Lezgistan	Lezgistan	23 November 2009	Joined 1 July 2014	border disputes with non-CU neighbours resolved in 2013, membership began in 2014
Template:Country data Kubanodar Governorate	Kubanodar Governorate	21 April 2016	Rejected	part of Russia
Template:Country data Kumukia	Kumukia	23 November 2009	Joined 1 July 2014	border disputes with non-CU neighbours resolved in 2013, membership began in 2014
Template:Country data Nogaistan	Nogaistan	3 December 2020	Applicant	part of Russia; considered by some members as a part of the Caucasus, an independent Nogaistan could be welcomed as a member if all existing member states were to agree, but its status as a republic of Russia prevents its membership at this time.
Template:Country data Stavropol Governorate	Stavropol Governorate	21 April 2016	Rejected	part of Russia

See also

• Conference of American States
• European Community