The Caucasus countries of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia serve as trade and transit corridors to and between neighboring Russia, Iran and Turkey and could eventually connect markets in Europe and China.
In terms of their overall population and economic size, the three Caucasus countries of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are relatively small. Fewer than 17 million people live in the South Caucasus: 3.9 million people in Georgia, 9.8 million in Azerbaijan and 2.9 million in Armenia. And the total gross domestic product of the region is just over $60 billion, with Armenia's economy producing a GDP of $11 billion, Azerbaijan's $38 billion and Georgia's $14 billion. The region's economic importance outweighs its small size, however, largely because of two factors. The first is location. The Caucasus serves as a strategic transcontinental land bridge that connects much larger markets, including Russia (144 million people) to the north, Iran (81 million people) to the south and Turkey (83 million people) to the west. The combined GDP of these three countries is nearly $3 trillion. The second factor is energy resources.
