Trialeti Range is an east-west mountain range of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains

Lesser Caucasus

Lesser Caucasus is one of the two main mountain ranges of Caucasus mountains, of length about 600 km....

 in the central part of Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

. The eastern edge of the Range runs along the western border of Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

, while the western edge lies along River Mtkvari

Kura

Kura may refer to:* Kura River in Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan* Kura River, Russia in Russia* Kura Test Range in Kamchatka Krai, Russia, a major ICBM testing site during the Cold War* Kura, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Kano State...

 to the southwest of Borjomi

Borjomi

Borjomi is a resort town in south-central Georgia with a population estimated at 14,445. It is one of the districts of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and is situated in the northwestern part of the region in the picturesque Borjomi Gorge on the eastern edge of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park...

. The length of the Trialeti Range is 144 kilometers and the maximum width is 30 kilometers. The mountain range was built up by volcanic activity during the Paleogene

Paleogene

The Paleogene is a geologic period and system that began 65.5 ± 0.3 and ended 23.03 ± 0.05 million years ago and comprises the first part of the Cenozoic Era...

 Era. Young, andesite

Andesite

Andesite is an extrusive igneous, volcanic rock, of intermediate composition, with aphanitic to porphyritic texture. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between basalt and dacite. The mineral assemblage is typically dominated by plagioclase plus pyroxene and/or hornblende. Magnetite,...

 lava flows are common in the western part of the Range. The highest point is Mount Shaviklde

Shaviklde

There are two mountains called Shaviklde in Georgia:*at an elevation of 3,578 m, at , at the border to Dagestan*at an elevation of 2,850 meters, the highest peak of the Trialeti Range....

 (meaning "Black Cliff" in Georgian

Georgian language

Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...

) at an elevation of 2,850 meters above sea level (9,348 ft.). The slopes of the Range are mainly covered by decidious forests made up of oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

, beech

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

, and hornbeam

Hornbeam

Hornbeams are relatively small hardwood trees in the genus Carpinus . Though some botanists grouped them with the hazels and hop-hornbeams in a segregate family, Corylaceae, modern botanists place the hornbeams in the birch subfamily Coryloideae...

. The western parts of Trialeti are covered by coniferous and mixed forests made up of fir

Fir

Firs are a genus of 48–55 species of evergreen conifers in the family Pinaceae. They are found through much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, occurring in mountains over most of the range...

, spruce

Spruce

A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...

, pine

Pine

Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...

, beech

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

, and oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

.

Trialeti is also a village situated in the range, between Tsalka

Tsalka

- Population :The district had a population of 22,000. According to the 2002 census 55% of its population is Armenian, 22% Greek, 12% Georgian, and 9.5% Azerbaijanis...

 and Dmanisi

Dmanisi

Dmanisi is a townlet and archaeological site in Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia approximately 93 km southwest of the nation’s capital Tbilisi in the river valley of Mashavera.- History :...

, at 41°30′N 44°10′E