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Why is the Caucasus called the Mountain of Languages?

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Snow-covered peaks and ridges of the Caucasus Mountains in Russia stretch across the landscape under a pale sky. — Caucasus Caucasus Mountains in Russia.

The Caucasus region has been known since antiquity for its remarkable concentration of distinct languages, leading Arab geographers to name it Jabal Al-Alsun, or the "Mountain of Languages".1

This linguistic diversity is largely a result of the region's complex history. Throughout centuries of successive invasions and regional conflicts, various ethnic groups sought refuge in the isolated ravines of the mountain ranges to preserve their cultures and identities. This process of seeking shelter in rugged, inaccessible terrain allowed a vast number of distinct language communities—ranging from large national groups to small populations of only a few hundred—to persist in a relatively small territory.213

Today, more than 50 different peoples inhabit the region, speaking languages that belong to several distinct families, including Indo-European, Turkic, and the indigenous Caucasian languages.213