The Line of Contact (, "shp’man gits", ) separated the Armenian forces (namely the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army) and the Azerbaijan Armed Forces since the First Nagorno-Karabakh war. It was formed in the aftermath of the May 1994 ceasefire that ended the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988–94). The mountain range of Murovdag is the northern part of the line of contact and is essentially a natural border between the two forces. The length of the line of contact was between and until 2020. It was slightly changed for the first time since the 1994 ceasefire during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict of 2016, and aspects of the current line of contact since the 2020 ceasefire following Second Nagorno-Karabakh War remain unclear.