Background: Nagorno-Karabakh Dispute

• Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked, mountainous and forested region located in the South Caucasus region, which straddles the border between eastern Europe and western Asia and spans the southern part of the Caucasus mountains. 
• Modern-day Armenia and Azerbaijan became part of the Soviet Union when it formed in the 1920s.
• As the Soviet Union saw increasing tensions in its constituent republics in the 1980s, Nagorno-Karabakh voted to become part of Armenia, but the Soviets gave control over the area to Azerbaijani authorities. 
• Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a bloody war over Nagorno-Karabakh in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and it has been the trigger for further violence in the years since.

Why in News?

• Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to a peace agreement set to end nearly four decades of conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.