Mount Elbrus

Mount Elbrus  is an inactive volcano located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, Russia, near the border of Georgia. Mt. Elbrus's highest peak is the highest mountain in the Caucasus, in Russia. While there are differing authorities on how the Caucasus are distributed between Europe and Asia, many sources agree that Elbrus is also the highest mountain in all of Europe. Mt. Elbrus (west summit) stands at 5,642 metres (18,510 ft); the east summit is slightly lower at 5,621 metres (18,442 ft).

Etymology

The name Elbrus is a metathesis of Alborz. The name Alborz is derived from that of Harā Bərəzaitī, a legendary mountain in Persian mythology. Harā Bərəzaitī reflects Proto-Iranian Harā Bṛzatī. Bṛzatī is the feminine form of the adjective bṛzant—"high", the reconstructed ancestor of modern Persian boland and Barz/Berazandeh. Harā may be interpreted as "watch" or "guard", from an Indo-European root ser—"protect". In Middle Persian, Harā Bərəzaitī became Harborz, Modern Persian Alborz, which is cognate with Elbrus.

Other names

• Mingi Taw  – a Karachay–Balkar (Turkic). Mingi Taw means an eternal mountain or Thousand Mountain.
• Jin-Padishah  – a Turkic name of Perso-Arabic origin
• Yalbuz  – ice mane (Turkic)
• Ialbuzi  – (Georgian)
• Oshkhamakhua  – the mount of happiness (Circassian)