Georgia
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| საქართველო Georgia |
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| Motto: ძალა ერთობაშია (English: "Strength is in Unity") |
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| Anthem: თავისუფლება (English: "Freedom") |
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| Capital (and largest city) |
Tbilisi |
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| Official languages | Georgian1 | |||||
| Demonym | Georgian | |||||
| Government | Semi-presidential republic | |||||
| - | President of Georgia | Mikheil Saakashvili | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Lado Gurgenidze | ||||
| - | Cabinet of Georgia | UNN | ||||
| Consolidation | ||||||
| - | Kingdom of Georgia | 1008 | ||||
| - | Democratic Republic of Georgia | May 26, 1918 | ||||
| - | Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic | February 25, 1921 | ||||
| - | Independence from the Soviet Union Declared Finalized |
April 9, 1991 |
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| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 69,700 km² (121st) 26,916 sq mi |
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| Population | ||||||
| - | 2008 estimate | 4,630,8412 (115th) | ||||
| - | Density | 66/km² (132) 172/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2007 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $20.5 billion (117th) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $4,700 (112th) | ||||
| HDI (2007) | 0.755 (medium) (95th) | |||||
| Currency | Lari (ლ) (GEL) | |||||
| Time zone | UTC (UTC+4) | |||||
| Internet TLD | .ge | |||||
| Calling code | +995 | |||||
| 1 | Also Abkhaz within the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia. | |||||
| 2 | From CIA World Factbook. Population figure excludes those parts of Abkhazia and South Ossetia that are not controlled by the Government of Georgia. | |||||
Georgia or Sakartvelo (Georgian: საქართველო), formerly the Republic of Georgia, is a transcontinental country partially in Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia in the Caucasus region. It is bordered to the north by the Russian Federation, to the east by Azerbaijan, to the west across the Black Sea by Ukraine, to the south by Armenia and to the southwest by Turkey. The territory of Georgia covers 69,700 km² and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Georgia’s population is 4.4 million in the territories controlled by the central government of Georgia, nearly 84% of whom are ethnic Georgians.
Two ancient Georgian states were the Kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia. The latter, one of the first countries in the world to adopt Christianity as an official religion early in the 4th century, subsequently provided a nucleus around which the unified Kingdom of Georgia was formed early in the 11th century. After a period of political, economic and cultural flourishing, this kingdom went into decline in the 13th century and eventually fragmented into several kingdoms and principalities in the 16th century. The three subsequent centuries of Ottoman and Persian hegemony were followed by a piecemeal absorption into the Russian Empire in the 19th century. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Georgia had a brief period of independence as a Democratic Republic (1918-1921), which was terminated by the Red Army invasion of Georgia. Georgia became part of the Soviet Union in 1922 and regained its independence in 1991. Early post-Soviet years were marked by a civil unrest and economic crisis. Georgia began to gradually stabilize in 1995, and achieved more effective functioning of state institutions following a bloodless change of power in the so-called Rose Revolution of 2003. However, Georgia continues to suffer from the unresolved secessionist conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Relations with Russia remain tense over these issues as well as Georgia’s aspiration of NATO membership.
Georgia is a representative democracy, organized as a secular, unitary, semi-presidential republic. It is currently a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the World Trade Organization, the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, and GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development. The country seeks to join NATO and, in the longer term, accession to the European Union.
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
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