The region of present-day Georgia contained the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Kartli-Iberia. The area came under Roman influence in the first centuries A.D. and Christianity became the state religion in the 330s. Domination by Persians, Arabs, and Turks was followed by a Georgian golden age (11th-13th centuries) that was cut short by the Mongol invasion of 1236. Subsequently, the Ottoman and Persian empires competed for influence in the region. Georgia was absorbed into the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Independent for three years (1918-1921) following the Russian revolution, it was forcibly incorporated into the USSR until the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. An attempt by the incumbent Georgian government to manipulate national legislative elections in November 2003 touched off widespread protests that led to the resignation of Eduard SHEVARDNADZE, president since 1995. New elections in early 2004 swept Mikheil SAAKASHVILI into power along with his National Movement Party. Progress on market reforms and democratization has been made in the years since independence, but this progress has been complicated by two civil conflicts in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. These two territories remain outside the control of the central government and are ruled by de facto, unrecognized governments, supported by Russia. Russian-led peacekeeping operations continue in both regions. The Georgian Government put forward a new peace initiative for the peaceful resolution of the status of South Ossetia in 2005.

Southwestern Asia, bordering the Black Sea, between Turkey and Russia

42 00 N, 43 30 E

total: 69,700 sq km
land: 69,700 sq km
water: 0 sq km

total: 1,461 km
border countries: Armenia 164 km, Azerbaijan 322 km, Russia 723 km, Turkey 252 km

310 km

warm and pleasant; Mediterranean-like on Black Sea coast

largely mountainous with Great Caucasus Mountains in the north and Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the south; Kolkhet'is Dablobi (Kolkhida Lowland) opens to the Black Sea in the west; Mtkvari River Basin in the east; good soils in river valley flood plains, foothills of Kolkhida Lowland

lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Mt'a Shkhara 5,201 m

forests, hydropower, manganese deposits, iron ore, copper, minor coal and oil deposits; coastal climate and soils allow for important tea and citrus growth

arable land: 11.51%
permanent crops: 3.79%
other: 84.7% (2005)

4,690 sq km (2003)

earthquakes

air pollution, particularly in Rust'avi; heavy pollution of Mtkvari River and the Black Sea; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil pollution from toxic chemicals

strategically located east of the Black Sea; Georgia controls much of the Caucasus Mountains and the routes through them

4,661,473 (July 2006 est.)

0-14 years: 17.3% (male 428,056/female 380,193)
15-64 years: 66.2% (male 1,482,908/female 1,602,064)
65 years and over: 16.5% (male 308,905/female 459,347) (2006 est.)

total: 37.7 years
male: 35.3 years
female: 40.1 years (2006 est.)

-0.34% (2006 est.)

10.41 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

9.23 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

-4.54 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

at birth: 1.15 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.13 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.67 male(s)/female
total population: 0.91 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

total: 17.97 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 20.06 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 15.56 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

total population: 76.09 years
male: 72.8 years
female: 79.87 years (2006 est.)

1.42 children born/woman (2006 est.)

less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

3,000 (2003 est.)

less than 200 (2003 est.)

noun: Georgian(s)
adjective: Georgian

Georgian 83.8%, Azeri 6.5%, Armenian 5.7%, Russian 1.5%, other 2.5% (2002 census)

Orthodox Christian 83.9%, Muslim 9.9%, Armenian-Gregorian 3.9%, Catholic 0.8%, other 0.8%, none 0.7% (2002 census)

Georgian 71% (official), Russian 9%, Armenian 7%, Azeri 6%, other 7%
note: Abkhaz is the official language in Abkhazia

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 100%
male: 100%
female: 100% (2004 est.)

conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Georgia
local long form: none
local short form: Sak'art'velo
former: Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic

republic

T'bilisi

9 regions (mkharebi, singular - mkhare), 9 cities (k'alak'ebi, singular - k'alak'i), and 2 autonomous republics (avtomnoy respubliki, singular - avtom respublika)
regions: Guria, Imereti, Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Samegrelo and Zemo Svaneti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Shida Kartli
cities: Chiat'ura, Gori, K'ut'aisi, P'ot'i, Rust'avi, T'bilisi, Tqibuli, Tsqaltubo, Zugdidi
autonomous republics: Abkhazia or Ap'khazet'is Avtonomiuri Respublika (Sokhumi), Ajaria or Acharis Avtonomiuri Respublika (Bat'umi)
note: the administrative centers of the two autonomous republics are shown in parentheses

9 April 1991 (from Soviet Union)

Independence Day, 26 May (1918); note - 26 May 1918 is the date of independence from Soviet Russia, 9 April 1991 is the date of independence from the Soviet Union

adopted 24 August 1995

based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

unicameral Supreme Council (commonly referred to as Parliament) or Umaghiesi Sabcho (235 seats - 150 elected by party lists); members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held spring 2008)
election results: percent of vote by party - National Movement-Democratic Front 67.6%, Rightist Opposition 7.6%, all other parties received less than 7% each; seats by party - National Movement-Democratic Front 135, Rightist Opposition 15

Supreme Court (judges elected by the Supreme Council on the president's or chairman of the Supreme Court's recommendation); Constitutional Court; first and second instance courts

Georgia's main economic activities include the cultivation of agricultural products such as grapes, citrus fruits, and hazelnuts; mining of manganese and copper; and output of a small industrial sector producing alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, metals, machinery, and chemicals. The country imports the bulk of its energy needs, including natural gas and oil products. It has sizeable but underdeveloped hydropower capacity. Despite the severe damage the economy has suffered due to civil strife, Georgia, with the help of the IMF and World Bank, has made substantial economic gains since 2000, achieving positive GDP growth and curtailing inflation. Georgia had suffered from a chronic failure to collect tax revenues; however, the new government is making progress and has reformed the tax code, improved tax administration, increased tax enforcement, and cracked down on corruption. In addition, the reinvigorated privatization process has met with success, supplementing government expenditures on infrastructure, defense, and poverty reduction. Despite customs and financial (tax) enforcement improvements, smuggling is a drain on the economy. Georgia also suffers from energy shortages due to aging and badly maintained infrastructure, as well as poor management. Due to concerted reform efforts, collection rates have improved considerably to roughly 60%, both in T'bilisi and throughout the regions. Continued reform in the management of state-owned power entities is essential to successful privatization and onward sustainability in this sector. The country is pinning its hopes for long-term growth on its role as a transit state for pipelines and trade. The construction on the Baku-T'bilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-T'bilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline have brought much-needed investment and job opportunities. Nevertheless, high energy prices in 2006 will compound the pressure on the country's inefficient energy sector. Restructuring the sector and finding energy supply alternatives to Russia remain major challenges.

$15.55 billion (2005 est.)

$6.4 billion (2005 est.)

7% (2005 est.)

$3,300 (2005 est.)

agriculture: 16%
industry: 26.8%
services: 57.2% (2005 est.)

2.04 million (2004 est.)

agriculture: 40%
industry: 20%
services: 40% (1999 est.)

12.6% (2004 est.)

54% (2001 est.)

lowest 10%: 2.3%
highest 10%: 27.9% (1996)

38 (2003)

8% (2005 est.)

26.6% of GDP (2005 est.)

revenues: $1.43 billion
expenditures: $1.56 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2005 est.)

citrus, grapes, tea, hazelnuts, vegetables; livestock

steel, aircraft, machine tools, electrical appliances, mining (manganese and copper), chemicals, wood products, wine

3% (2000)

8.634 billion kWh (2003)

9.8 billion kWh (2005)

71 million kWh (2004)

1.2 billion kWh (2004)

1,982 bbl/day (2003)

13,000 bbl/day (2003 est.)

20 million cu m (2003 est.)

1.5 billion cu m (2005 est.)

1.5 billion cu m (2005 est.)

-$439.3 million (2005 est.)

$1.4 billion (2005 est.)

scrap metal, machinery, chemicals; fuel reexports; citrus fruits, tea, wine

Turkey 18.3%, Turkmenistan 17.8%, Russia 16.2%, Armenia 8.4%, UK 4.9% (2004)

$2.5 billion (2005 est.)

fuels, machinery and parts, transport equipment, grain and other foods, pharmaceuticals

Russia 14%, Turkey 10.9%, UK 9.3%, Azerbaijan 8.5%, Germany 8.2%, Ukraine 7.7%, US 6% (2004)

$350.1 million (2005 est.)

$2.04 billion (2004)

ODA, $150 million (2000 est.)

lari (GEL)

calendar year

683,200 (2004)

840,600 (2004)

general assessment: NA
domestic: local - T'bilisi and K'ut'aisi have cellular telephone networks; urban telephone density is about 20 per 100 people; rural telephone density is about 4 per 100 people; intercity facilities include a fiber-optic line between T'bilisi and K'ut'aisi; nationwide pager service is available
international: country code - 995; Georgia and Russia are working on a fiber-optic line between P'ot'i and Sochi (Russia); present international service is available by microwave, landline, and satellite through the Moscow switch; international electronic mail and telex service are available

AM 7, FM 12, shortwave 4 (1998)

12 (plus repeaters) (1998)

.ge

8,942 (2005)

175,600 (2005)

25 (2005)

total: 19
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 7
1,524 to 2,437 m: 5
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 2 (2005)

total: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 1 (2005)

3 (2005)

gas 1,697 km; oil 1,027 km; refined products 232 km (2004)

total: 1,612 km (1,612 km electrified)
broad gauge: 1,575 km 1.520-m gauge (1,575 electrified)
narrow gauge: 37 km 0.912-m gauge (37 electrified) (2004)

total: 20,247 km
paved: 7,973 km
unpaved: 12,274 km (2003)

total: 192 ships (1000 GRT or over) 936,396 GRT/1,373,814 DWT
by type: barge carrier 1, bulk carrier 23, cargo 150, container 4, liquefied gas 1, passenger 1, passenger/cargo 3, petroleum tanker 4, refrigerated cargo 3, roll on/roll off 1, specialized tanker 1
foreign-owned: 157 (Albania 1, Azerbaijan 2, Belgium 1, Cyprus 1, Ecuador 1, Egypt 6, Estonia 1, Germany 1, Greece 5, Indonesia 1, South Korea 1, Lebanon 5, Monaco 12, Romania 8, Russia 20, Slovenia 1, Syria 37, Turkey 24, Ukraine 23, UAE 1, UK 5) (2005)

Bat'umi, P'ot'i

transportation network is in poor condition resulting from ethnic conflict, criminal activities, and fuel shortages; network lacks maintenance and repair

Ground Forces (includes National Guard), Air and Air Defense Forces, Navy (2006)

a CIS peacekeeping force of Russian troops is deployed in the Abkhazia region of Georgia together with a UN military observer group; a Russian peacekeeping battalion is deployed in South Ossetia

Russia and Georgia agree on delimiting 80% of their common border, leaving certain small, strategic segments and the maritime boundary unresolved; OSCE observers monitor volatile areas such as the Pankisi Gorge in the Akhmeti region and the Argun Gorge in Abkhazia; UN Observer Mission in Georgia has maintained a peacekeeping force in Georgia since 1993; Meshkheti Turks scattered throughout the former Soviet Union seek to return to Georgia; boundary with Armenia remains undemarcated; ethnic Armenian groups in Javakheti region of Georgia seek greater autonomy from the Georgian government; Azerbaijan and Georgia continue to discuss the alignment of their boundary at certain crossing areas

IDPs: 260,000 (displaced from Abkhazia and South Ossetia) (2005)

limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy, mostly for domestic consumption; used as transshipment point for opiates via Central Asia to Western Europe and Russia