NAGORNO KARABAKH 2 DRAM 2004 UNC JESUS CHRIST BEING BAPTIZED,National Coat of Arms of Nagorno-Karabakh,Bas-relief Christian cross,Gandzasar Cathedral of Saint of John the Baptist in Madakert district, and Saint Gregory the Illuminator,Printer;Oesterreichische Banknoten- und Sicherheitsdruck GmbH, Vienna,Austria (1816-date)
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A little history.When Stalin drew the map of the Caucasus,the predominantly Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh was formally integrated as an autonomous region inside the Azerbaijani SSR.The Lachin corridor,a thin strip of predominantly Azeri populated territory,stood between Karabakh and the Armenian SSR.Soviet ideology sought to erode the notion of an 'Armenian Nation' by formally disrupting its territorial contiguity. When the Soviet Union broke up in 1991 and former Soviet Socialist Republics transformed themselves into nation states,Karabakh found itself inside Azerbaijan.What the Armenians call self-determination and the Azeris call separatism eventually escalated into a full-scale war.During several years of bitter fighting,Karabakh was effectively cut off from Armenia until the Karabakhtsi guerrillas seized the Lachin corridor and the Azeri villages inside it.Territorial contiguity with Armenia proper was critical for Karabakh to win the war.Today,a brand new road winds through Eastern Armenia,the occupied territories of Lachin, and on to Stepanakert ­ capital of the de facto independent Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh.Dram is Armenian for Money,derived from the Greek word Drachma.