Figure 5.22 Ethnic pluralities in the Caucasus. The Caucasus Mountains, located in Southwest Asia, are home to one of the world’s most ethnically diverse populations. They are also the site of much ethnically based conflict. Because ethnic territories often overlap, this map depicts pluralities. The populations shown comprise at least 40 percent of that place’s ethnic population and in most cases also constitute a majority population, although some of the more heterogeneous areas have no dominant ethnic population. The racialized term Caucasian is derived from this area’s name, although, in fact, it has little to do with the people actually living in the region. (Source: Adapted from O’Loughlin et al., 2007.)