Talysh Mountains (Tolyšə Bandon|script=Latn, Persian: کوههای تالش|Kuhhâye Tâleš; Azerbaijani: Talış dağları) is a mountain range in far southeastern Azerbaijan and far northwestern Iran within Ardabil Province and Gilan Province.[1]
The Talysh are a northwestern subrange of the Alborz Mountains that run along the southern Caspian Sea on the Iranian Plateau.
The Talysh Mountains extend southeastward from the Lankaran Lowland in southeastern Azerbaijan to the lower part of the Sefid Rud (White River) in northwestern Iran.
A few peaks rise above 10,000 ft (3,000 m).
Geologically, the Talish Mountain Range is made mainly of the Late Cretaceous volcano-sedimentary deposits with a strip of Paleozoic rocks and a band of Triassic and Jurassic rocks in the southern parts, both in a north-west-southeast direction.[2]
The maximum annual precipitation in the Talysh Mountains is between 1,600 mm to 1,800 mm, which along the Lankaran Lowland is the highest precipitation in both Azerbaijan and Iran. The humid semi-subtropical coastal lowlands along the Caspian Sea, including the Lankaran Lowland, lie at the eastern base of the mountains.[3]
The Talysh Mountains are covered by lowland and montane forests. The area is part of the Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests ecoregion.
The Caspian tiger used to occur in the Talysh Mountains.[4]