In the southeast, the Aras River separates the Lesser Caucasus from the Talysh Mountains which runs through the Greater Azerbaijan region.

Geologically, the Caucasus Mountains belong to the Alpide belt system that extends from southeastern Europe into Asia[3] and is considered a border between the two continents.

As this happened, the rocks that had been deposited in this basin from the Jurassic to the Miocene were folded to form the Greater Caucasus Mountains.

This collision also caused the uplift and the Cenozoic volcanic activity in the Lesser Caucasus Mountains.

Mount Elbrus, at 5,642 m (18,510 ft), in the Caucasus Mountains, is sometimes cited as the highest peak in Europe.

The highlands of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are marked by sharp temperature contrasts between the summer and winter months due to a more continental climate.

Elevation plays an important role in the Caucasus and mountains generally receive higher amounts of precipitation than low-lying areas.

The north-eastern regions (Dagestan) and the southern portions of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains are the driest.

The Caucasus Mountains are known for the high amount of snowfall, although many regions which are not located along the windward slopes do not receive nearly as much snow.

The average winter snow cover of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains ranges from 10 to 30 cm (3.94–11.81 in).

The region contains biomes ranging from subtropical lowland marshes and forests to glaciers (Western and Central Caucasus), and highland semideserts, steppes, and alpine meadows in the south (mainly in Armenia and Azerbaijan).

The southeastern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains are covered by beech, oak, maple, hornbeam, and ash forests.

The south-western slopes of the Greater Caucasus are covered by Colchian forests (oak, buxus, beech, chestnut, hornbeam, elm) at lower elevations with coniferous and mixed forests (spruce, fir and beech) taking over at higher elevations.

The southern slopes of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains are largely covered by grasslands and steppes up to an elevation of 2,500 metres (8,200 ft).

The volcanic zone extends over a large area from southern Georgia into Armenia and southwestern Azerbaijan.

Crossing the Caucasus Mountain range was an important section of the northern arm of the Silk Route.

Tusheti shepherds of Georgia have been herding livestock to seasonal grazing grounds, a practice known as transhumance[9] for over 10,000 years.