Georgia

The region of present-day Georgia once contained the ancient kingdoms of Colchis (known as Egrisi locally) and Kartli-Iberia. The area came under Roman influence in the first centuries A.D., and Christianity became the state religion in the 330s. Persian, Arab, and Turk domination was followed by a Georgian golden age (11th-13th centuries) that was cut short when the Mongols invaded in 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 in 1921 and regained its independence when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. <br><br>In 2003, mounting public discontent over rampant corruption, ineffective government services, and a government attempt to manipulate parliamentary elections touched off widespread protests that led to the resignation of Eduard SHEVARDNADZE, who had been president since 1995. In the aftermath of this "Rose Revolution," new elections in 2004 swept Mikheil SAAKASHVILI and his United National Movement (UNM) party into power. SAAKASHVILI made progress on market reforms and governance, but he faced accusations of abuse of office. Progress was further complicated when Russian support for the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia led to a five-day conflict between Russia and Georgia in August 2008, which included Russia invading large portions of Georgian territory. Russia initially pledged to pull back from most Georgian territory but then unilaterally recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and Russian military forces have remained in those regions. <br><br>Billionaire Bidzina IVANISHVILI's unexpected entry into politics in 2011 brought the divided opposition together under his Georgian Dream coalition, which won a majority of seats in the 2012 parliamentary elections and removed UNM from power. Conceding defeat, SAAKASHVILI named IVANISHVILI as prime minister and left the country after his presidential term ended in 2013. IVANISHVILI voluntarily resigned from office after the presidential succession, and in the years since, the prime minister position has seen frequent turnover. In 2021, SAAKASHVILI returned to Georgia, where he was immediately arrested to serve six years in prison on outstanding abuse-of-office convictions. <br><br>Popular support for integration with the West is high in Georgia. Joining the EU and NATO are among the country's top foreign policy goals, and Georgia applied for EU membership in 2022, becoming a candidate country in December 2023. Georgia and the EU have a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, and since 2017, Georgian citizens have been able to travel to the Schengen area without a visa.

Southwestern Asia, bordering the Black Sea, between Turkey and Russia, with a sliver of land north of the Caucasus extending into Europe; note - Georgia views itself as part of Europe; geopolitically, it can be classified as falling within Europe, the Middle East, or both

42 00 N, 43 30 E

Asia

slightly smaller than South Carolina; slightly larger than West Virginia

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; fertile soils in river valley flood plains and foothills of Kolkhida Lowland

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

4,330 sq km (2012)

settlement concentrated in the central valley, particularly in the capital city of Tbilisi in the east; smaller urban agglomerations dot the Black Sea coast, with Bat'umi being the largest

earthquakes

<strong>note 1:</strong> strategically located east of the Black Sea, Georgia controls much of the Caucasus Mountains and the routes through them <br><br><strong>note 2:</strong> the world's four deepest caves are all in Georgia, including two that are the only known caves on earth deeper than 2,000 m: Krubera Cave at -2,197 m (-7,208 ft; reached in 2012) and Veryovkina Cave at -2,212 (-7,257 ft; reached in 2018)

Georgian 86.8%, Azeri 6.3%, Armenian 4.5%, other 2.3% (includes Russian, Ossetian, Yazidi, Ukrainian, Kist, Greek) (2014 est.)

Eastern Orthodox Christian (official) 83.4%, Muslim 10.7%, Armenian Apostolic Christian 2.9%, other 1.2% (includes Roman Catholic Christian, Jehovah's Witness, Yazidi, Protestant Christian, Jewish), none 0.5%, unspecified/no answer 1.2% (2014 est.)

-0.45% (2025 est.)

11.74 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

12.89 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

-3.33 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

settlement concentrated in the central valley, particularly in the capital city of Tbilisi in the east; smaller urban agglomerations dot the Black Sea coast, with Bat'umi being the largest

1.082 million TBILISI (capital) (2023)

25.9 years (2019 est.)

20 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)

1.94 children born/woman (2025 est.)

0.94 (2025 est.)

5.64 physicians/1,000 population (2023)

4.9 beds/1,000 population (2020 est.)

21.7% (2016)

2.1% (2018 est.)

65.3% (2018 est.)

air pollution, particularly in Rust'avi; heavy water pollution of Mtkvari River and the Black Sea; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil pollution from toxic chemicals; land and forest degradation; biodiversity loss; waste management

warm and pleasant; Mediterranean-like on Black Sea coast

18.6 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

63.33 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

semi-presidential republic

9 regions (<em>mkharebi</em>, singular - <em>mkhare</em>), 1 city (<em>kalaki</em>), and 2 autonomous republics (<em>avtomnoy respubliki</em>, singular - <em>avtom respublika</em>) <br><br><strong>regions:</strong> Guria, Imereti, Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Mtskheta Mtianeti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Samegrelo and Zemo Svaneti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Shida Kartli; note - the breakaway region of South Ossetia consists of the northern part of Shida Kartli, eastern slivers of the Imereti region and Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, and part of western Mtskheta-Mtianeti <br><br><strong>city:</strong> Tbilisi <br><br><strong>autonomous republics:</strong> Abkhazia or Ap'khazet'is Avtonomiuri Respublika (Sokhumi), Ajaria or Acharis Avtonomiuri Respublika (Bat'umi)

civil law system

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal

Ahali<br>Citizens<br>Conservative Party<br>Droa<br>European Georgia - Movement for Liberty<br>For Georgia<br>For the People<br>Freedom Square<br>Georgian Dream<br>Girchi - More Freedom<br>Law and Justice<br>Lelo for Georgia<br>National Democratic Party<br>People's Power<br>Progress and Freedom<br>Republican Party<br>State for the People<br>Strategy Aghmashenebeli<br>United National Movement or UNM

ADB, BSEC, CD, CE, CPLP (associate), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, G-11, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, OAS (observer), OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

9 April 1991 (from the Soviet Union); notable earlier date: A.D. 1008 (Georgia unified under King BAGRAT III)

Independence Day, 26 May (1918)

<strong>description:</strong> white rectangle with a central red cross extending to all four sides of the flag; each of the four quadrants displays a small red <em>bolnur-katskhuri</em> cross (also known as Bolnisi cross), which has equal-length arms that are slightly wider at the end than in the center<br><br><strong>history:</strong> sometimes referred to as the Five-Cross Flag, the design is based on a 14th-century banner of the Kingdom of Georgia

Saint George, lion

red, white

<p>upper-middle income, fast-growing South Caucasus economy; regionally focused exporter of cars, metal ores, and energy; financial and migrant inflows resulting from Ukraine conflict; EU accession talks suspended over disputed election and foreign influence law; low inflation but persistent high unemployment</p>

$33.776 billion (2024 est.)

milk, grapes, potatoes, maize, wheat, tangerines/mandarins, tomatoes, barley, apples, eggs (2023)

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

5.4% (2024 est.)

1.833 million (2024 est.)

11.8% (2023 est.)

23.6% (of GDP) (2023 est.)

Azerbaijan 13%, Turkey 11%, Armenia 11%, Russia 10%, Kyrgyzstan 8% (2023)

cars, copper ore, electricity, garments, wine (2023)

Turkey 16%, USA 13%, Russia 11%, China 8%, Germany 6% (2023)

cars, refined petroleum, packaged medicine, natural gas, garments (2023)

state-owned Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) includes Channel 1, Channel 2, and Adjara TV; independent commercial TV broadcasters include Imedi, Rustavi 2, Pirveli TV, Maestro, Kavkasia, Georgian Dream Studios (GDS), Obiektivi, Mtavari Arkhi, and TOK TV (Russian language); Tabula and Post TV are web-based TV outlets; Georgian Orthodox Church operates a satellite-based television station called Unanimity; 26 regional TV broadcasters; TV shifted to digital in 2015; several dozen private radio stations; GPB operates 2 radio stations (2019)

.ge

4L

21 (2025)

4 (2025)

Georgian Defense Forces (GDF; aka Defense Forces of Georgia, DFG): Ground Forces, Air Force, Special Operations Forces, National Guard<br><br>Ministry of Internal Affairs: Police, Border Police of Georgia, Coast Guard of Georgia (includes naval forces, which were merged with the Coast Guard in 2009) (2025)

the Georgia Defense Forces are authorized up to 37,000 personnel (2025)

the majority of the military's inventory consists of Soviet-era weapons and equipment, some of which has been upgraded; it has smaller quantities of mostly secondhand material from such countries as Israel, Poland, T&uuml;rkiye, and the US, as well as some domestically produced equipment; Georgia has a small defense industry which produces such items as small arms and light armored vehicles (2025)

18-35 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; conscription was abolished in 2016, but reinstated in 2017 for men 18-27 years of age; conscript service obligation is up to 11 months depending on the assigned ministry, job specialty, and if the service is carried out in a combat unit (2025)

the Defense Forces of Georgia (DFG) are responsible for protecting the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the country; the DFG also provides units for multinational military operations abroad and supports the Border Police in border protection and civil authorities in counter-terrorist operations, if requested; it is focused primarily on Russia, which maintains military bases and troops in occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia; a five-day conflict with Russian forces in 2008 resulted in the defeat and expulsion of Georgian forces from the breakaway regions <br><br>Georgia is not a member of NATO but has had a relationship with the Alliance since 1992 and declared its aspiration to join in 2002; the military is working to make itself more compatible with NATO and has participated in multinational exercises and security operations abroad with NATO, such as Afghanistan, where it was one of the top non-NATO contributors, and Kosovo; the DFG has also contributed troops to EU and UN missions (2025)