Nagorno-Karabakh

A region of western Azerbaijan between the Caucasus and the Karabakh range. It was ceded to Russia by Persia in the early 19th century and organized as an autonomous region within Azerbaijan by the Soviets (1923). Conflict between Azeris and the majority ethnic-Armenian population in the 1980s resulted in Nagorno-Karabakh's unilateral declaration of independence in 1991. A ceasefire was declared in 1994.