Editing Colchis (section)

== Physical-geographic characteristics ==
[[File:Georgian States Colchis and Iberia (600-150BC)-en.svg|thumb|Colchis and its eastern neighbor Iberia.]] 
[[File:Colchis and Iberia, 1706.jpg|right|thumb|Map of Colchis and Iberia by [[Christoph Cellarius]] printed in Leipzig in 1706]]

In [[physical geography]], Colchis is usually defined as the area east of the [[Black Sea]] coast, restricted from the north by the southwestern slopes of the [[Greater Caucasus]], from the south by the northern slopes of the [[Lesser Caucasus]] in Georgia and Eastern Black Sea (Karadeniz) Mountains in Turkey, and from the east by [[Likhi Range]], connecting the Greater and the Lesser Caucasus. The central part of the region is Colchis Plain, stretching between [[Sukhumi]] and [[Kobuleti]]; most of that lies on the elevation below {{cvt|20|m}} above sea level. Marginal parts of the region are mountains of the Great and the Lesser Caucasus and Likhi Range.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

Its territory mostly corresponds to what is now the western part of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and encompasses the present-day Georgian provinces of [[Samegrelo]], [[Imereti]], [[Guria]], [[Adjara]], [[Abkhazia]], [[Svaneti]], [[Racha]]; the modern [[Turkey]]’s [[Rize]], [[Trabzon]] and [[Artvin]] provinces ([[Lazistan]], [[Tao-Klarjeti]]); and the modern [[Russia]]’s [[Sochi]] and [[Tuapse]] districts.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}

The climate is mild humid; near [[Batumi]], annual rainfall level reaches {{cvt|4,000|mm}}, which is the absolute maximum for continental western Eurasia. The dominating natural landscapes of Colchis are [[temperate rainforest]]s, yet degraded in the plain part of the region; wetlands (along the coastal parts of Colchis Plain); subalpine and [[alpine meadows]].{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

Colchis has a high proportion of [[Neogene]] and [[Palaeogene]] [[relict (biology)|relict]] plants and animals, with the closest relatives in distant parts of the world: five species of [[Rhododendron]]s and other evergreen shrubs, [[Wingnut (plant)|wingnuts]], [[Caucasian salamander]], [[Caucasian parsley frog]], eight endemic species of lizards from the genus ''[[Darevskia]]'', the Caucasus adder (''[[Vipera kaznakovi]]''), [[Robert's snow vole]], and endemic [[Troglocaris|cave shrimp]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Denk |first1=Thomas |last2=Frotzler |first2=Norbert |last3=Davitashvili |first3=Nino |date=2001-02-01 |title=Vegetational patterns and distribution of relict taxa in humid temperate forests and wetlands of Georgia (Transcaucasia) |journal=[[Biological Journal of the Linnean Society]] |volume=72 |issue=2 |pages=287–332 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.2001.tb01318.x |issn=0024-4066 |doi-access=free}}</ref>