Georgia
Name
| Official name | Georgia — Sakartvelo (საქართველო); no "republic" in the constitutional name since 1995 |
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| Not to be confused with | The U.S. state of Georgia — named for George II in 1732; the country's name is St. George's |
| Former names | The Kingdom of Georgia (1008–1490); the Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918–1921); the Georgian SSR (1921–1991); the Republic of Georgia (1991–1995) |
| Demonym | Georgian; Kartveli |
| Meaning of the name | Sakartvelo, "the land of the Kartvelians," from Kartli, the central province; "Georgia" through the Persian Gurjistan and the medieval belief that it honored St. George |
| Motto | "Strength is in Unity" — Dzala ertobashia; on the coat of arms |
Quick facts
| Capital | Tbilisi — Tiflis — founded in the 5th century, the capital since the 6th; about 1.2 million |
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| Largest cities | Tbilisi; Batumi, about 170,000; Kutaisi; Rustavi; Gori; Zugdidi; Poti; Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia, held by the separatists |
| Official language | Georgian — Kartuli, a Kartvelian language with no known relatives outside the Caucasus, in its own Mkhedruli alphabet; Abkhaz official in Abkhazia |
| Currency | Georgian lari — ISO code GEL, ₾; 100 tetri; about 2.7 to the U.S. dollar |
| Time zone | Georgia Time, UTC+4, all year |
| Calling code | +995 |
| Internet domains | .ge and .გე |
| ISO 3166 codes | GE · GEO · 268 |
| Vehicle registration code | GE |
| Driving side | Right |
| Electricity | 220 V, 50 Hz; plug types C and F |
| Independence | Restored 9 April 1991, from the Soviet Union, after the referendum of 31 March; first declared 26 May 1918 |
| National days | 26 May, Independence Day, for 1918; 9 April, the Day of National Unity, for the massacre of 1989 and the declaration of 1991; 14 January, Flag Day; 23 November, St. George's Day; 7 January, Orthodox Christmas; 12 May, St. Andrew's Day |
| Constitution | 24 August 1995 — amended in 2004, 2010 and 2017, the last making the state a parliamentary republic with the president elected by a college from 2024 |
| Population | 3,694,600 on 1 January 2025 (Geostat, the government-controlled territory); 3,713,804 at the census of 2014; some 240,000 more in Abkhazia and South Ossetia by their own counts |
| Area | 69,700 km² (26,911 sq mi) — including Abkhazia, 8,660 km², and South Ossetia, 3,900 km², occupied by Russia |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | The Five Cross Flag — a red St. George's cross on white with four smaller red Bolnisi crosses in the quarters: the banner of the medieval kingdom, carried by the Rose Revolution of 2003 and made the national flag on 14 January 2004, in place of the wine-red flag of the first republic used from 1991.Flag of Georgia |
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| Coat of arms | A red shield with St. George on horseback slaying the dragon, supported by two golden lions, under the Iberian crown, over the motto — the arms of the Bagrationi dynasty; adopted 1 October 2004 |
| National anthem | "Tavisupleba" ("Freedom") — words by David Magradze, music from two operas of Zakaria Paliashvili arranged by Ioseb Kechakmadze; adopted 20 May 2004 |
| National motto | "Strength is in Unity" |
| National colors | White and red |
| National symbol | The Borjgali — the seven-rayed sun of eternity, on the passports and the coins |
| National animal | None designated — the lions of the arms; the Caucasian shepherd dog and the pheasant, named for the Phasis, the Rioni, widely cited |
| National tree | None designated — the vine the nation's plant, and the grape; the qvevri wine-making on UNESCO's list since 2013 |
| National dish | Khachapuri, the cheese bread — Adjarian, Imeretian, Megrelian; khinkali, the dumplings; the supra feast with its tamada; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag, arms and anthem are fixed by the law of 2004; the Borjgali by state use; the animal, tree and dishes widely cited |
Geography
| Location | The South Caucasus — between the Black Sea and the Greater Caucasus, at the edge of Europe and Asia; Russia to the north, Turkey and Armenia to the south, Azerbaijan to the east |
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| Land borders | 1,814 km (1,127 mi) with four countries |
| Border with Russia | 894 km (556 mi) — along the crest of the Caucasus; the Verkhny Lars crossing the one open |
| Border with Azerbaijan | 428 km (266 mi) — the David Gareja monastery disputed |
| Border with Turkey | 273 km (170 mi) |
| Border with Armenia | 219 km (136 mi) |
| Coastline | 310 km (193 mi) on the Black Sea |
| Highest point | Shkhara, 5,193 m (17,037 ft), on the Russian border — 5,201 m by other measures |
| Lowest point | The Black Sea, 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 1,432 m (4,698 ft) |
| Major rivers | The Mtkvari — the Kura — 1,515 km to the Caspian, about 390 km in Georgia, through Tbilisi; the Rioni, the ancient Phasis, to the Black Sea at Poti; the Enguri, dammed by the arch dam of 1978, 271 m, among the tallest in the world; the Alazani of the Kakheti vineyards |
| Lakes | Paravani, the largest, on the Javakheti plateau; Tabatskuri; Ritsa in Abkhazia; the Jinvali reservoir |
| Terrain | The Greater Caucasus along the north, with Shkhara, Kazbek and Ushba; the Lesser Caucasus in the south; the Kolkheti lowland on the sea; the Kartli plain and the Kakheti valley; the caves of the Arabika massif, the deepest known on earth |
| Climate | Humid subtropical on the Black Sea coast — Batumi with 2,500 mm of rain; continental in the east; alpine in the mountains |
| Natural hazards | Earthquakes — Racha 1991, the Tbilisi quake of 2002; landslides and floods — the Shovi mudflow of August 2023, 33 dead; the flood of Tbilisi Zoo in 2015; avalanches in Svaneti |
| Natural resources | Manganese at Chiatura, among the largest deposits; copper and gold at Madneuli; coal at Tkibuli; hydropower; mineral waters — Borjomi; the vineyards |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 35%; forest about 40% |
| National parks | 14 — Borjomi-Kharagauli, the first, 1995, and the largest; Tusheti; Kazbegi; Lagodekhi, the oldest reserve, 1912; Mtirala; Kolkheti; the caves of Imereti |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 4 — the Gelati Monastery (1994); the historical monuments of Mtskheta (1994); Upper Svaneti (1996), with the tower villages of Ushguli; the Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands (2021); the qvevri wine-making, the polyphonic singing and the three alphabets on the intangible list |
| Administrative divisions | 9 regions — mkhare — with Tbilisi; the Autonomous Republic of Adjara; the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia and the former South Ossetian autonomous oblast, both under separatist rule; 64 municipalities |
People
| Population | 3,694,600 (1 January 2025); 3,713,804 (census of 2014) |
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| Population density | About 65 per km² (170 per sq mi) on the controlled territory |
| Population growth | Slightly negative — emigration above births; some 1.5 million left since 1991 |
| Median age | About 39 years |
| Life expectancy | About 74 years |
| Fertility rate | About 1.8 births per woman |
| Urban population | About 61% |
| Adult literacy | About 100% |
| Ethnic groups | Georgian about 87%; Azerbaijani about 6%, in Kvemo Kartli; Armenian about 4.5%, in Javakheti; Russian, Ossetian, Yazidi, Ukrainian, Kist and Greek; the Abkhaz and Ossetians of the occupied regions (census of 2014) |
| Languages | Georgian by about 87% — with the Kartvelian Mingrelian, Svan and Laz; Azerbaijani, Armenian, Russian, still the lingua franca of the older generation; English among the young; the Georgian script of 33 letters, its three alphabets on UNESCO's list since 2016 |
| Religion | Georgian Orthodox about 83% — the Church of Georgia, Christian since 337 and autocephalous since 486; Muslim about 11% — the Azerbaijanis, the Adjarians and the Kists; Armenian Apostolic about 3%; Catholic, Yazidi and Jewish minorities — the Jews of Georgia 2,600 years in the country |
| Human Development Index | 0.844 (2023 data, 2025 report) — very high; about 57th of 193 |
| Migration | Some 100,000 Russians arrived after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many since gone; about 1 million Georgians abroad — in Russia, Turkey, Greece, Italy, the United States and Germany |
| Sport | Rugby — the Lelos, the Six Nations' knocking neighbor, at every World Cup since 2003; football — the Crusaders at Euro 2024, their first tournament, into the round of 16; wrestling, judo and weightlifting — Lasha Talakhadze's two golds and the world records; chess — Nona Gaprindashvili and Maia Chiburdanidze, the women's world champions; basketball |
| Diaspora | About a million abroad — the largest in Russia, Turkey, Greece, Italy and the United States |
Government
| Form of government | Unitary parliamentary republic under the Constitution of 1995 as amended in 2017 — the prime minister head of government; the president, since 2024, a ceremonial head of state elected by a college of 300 for five years |
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| Prime Minister | Irakli Kobakhidze (Georgian Dream), since 8 February 2024 — the 16th; chairman of the party, speaker of parliament 2016–2019, a constitutional lawyer, born 25 September 1978 in Tbilisi; his second government confirmed 28 November 2024 |
| President | Mikheil Kavelashvili (People's Power), since 29 December 2024 — the sixth; a former footballer of Manchester City and Dinamo Tbilisi, born 22 July 1971; elected 14 December 2024 by the electoral college with 224 of its 300 votes, the opposition boycotting; Salome Zourabichvili, president 2018–2024, the first woman, refused to recognize the vote and left the palace on 29 December calling herself the only legitimate president; the opposition, the European Parliament and several Western governments regard the office as disputed |
| The power behind | Bidzina Ivanishvili — the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream, prime minister 2012–2013, honorary chairman of the party, the country's richest man and its de facto ruler by the reckoning of the opposition, the analysts and the U.S. Treasury, which sanctioned him in December 2024 |
| The 2024 election | Held 26 October 2024: Georgian Dream 53.9% and 89 of 150 seats by the Central Election Commission; the four opposition blocs — Coalition for Change, Unity–National Movement, Strong Georgia and For Georgia — 37.8% and 61, all refusing their seats; the OSCE observers reporting intimidation, vote-buying and ballot secrecy violations, the opposition and President Zourabichvili calling the vote stolen, the European Parliament refusing to recognize it, the government calling it free and fair; the Constitutional Court dismissed the challenges |
| The crisis | On 28 November 2024 Kobakhidze halted the EU accession process "until the end of 2028" and refused EU budget support — the goal of membership written into the constitution and backed by about 80% of Georgians; protests on Rustaveli Avenue every night since, met with water cannon, tear gas and beatings in the winter of 2024–25, with hundreds arrested and the "foreign agents," "family values" and assembly laws of 2024–25; the journalist Mzia Amaglobeli sentenced to two years in August 2025; the local elections of 4 October 2025 won by Georgian Dream as the main opposition boycotted, with an attempt to storm the presidential palace that day and the arrest of its leaders; BTI 2026 classes the country an autocracy for the first time |
| The ban on the opposition | In October 2025 Georgian Dream asked the Constitutional Court to outlaw the United National Movement, Lelo–Strong Georgia and the Coalition for Change as "unconstitutional," on the report of a parliamentary commission that blamed the war of 2008 on Saakashvili's party; in April 2026 it withdrew and refiled the suit adding the Federalists, and in September 2026 added Gakharia for Georgia; the law of May 2025 lets the court bar the members of a banned party from politics; the court, which the opposition regards as the party's, had not ruled by mid-September 2026 |
| Parliament | The Parliament of Georgia — 150 members elected for four years by proportional representation, a 5% threshold, in Tbilisi since 2019 after seven years at Kutaisi; Shalva Papuashvili the speaker; Georgian Dream and People's Power the only parties seated |
| The next election | The parliamentary election due in October 2028; the government has said EU talks may resume after it |
| The occupied regions | Abkhazia, lost in the war of 1992–93, and South Ossetia, in 1991–92 and the war of August 2008, when Russian forces entered Georgia proper — recognized as states by Russia on 26 August 2008 and by Nicaragua, Venezuela, Syria and Nauru; some 250,000 Georgians displaced; Russian bases in both; the "borderization" of the line; a fifth of the country |
| Legal system | Civil law; the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court at Batumi; the courts' independence the EU's and the opposition's complaint |
| Regions | 9 and Tbilisi under governors appointed by the prime minister; Adjara with its own government |
| Europe and NATO | EU candidate status granted 14 December 2023 and the process frozen since November 2024, the EU declaring the candidacy halted in 2025; the visa-free travel of 2017 under review, with suspensions for officials; NATO's promise of membership at Bucharest in 2008, unfulfilled; the Association Agreement of 2014 |
| United Nations | Member since 31 July 1992 |
| Memberships | The Council of Europe (1999), the OSCE, the WTO (2000), the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, GUAM; the Commonwealth of Independent States left in 2009 after the war |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$35 billion (2025, IMF) |
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| GDP per capita | About US$9,500 (2025) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$27,000 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 9% a year in 2022–24 and about 7% in 2025 — among the fastest in Europe, lifted by the Russian money, migrants and re-exports after 2022; inflation low |
| Economy by sector | Services about 60%, industry about 22%, agriculture about 7% |
| Currency | Georgian lari (GEL) |
| Wine | The cradle of wine — 8,000 years of vintages found at Gadachrili Gora, the oldest evidence on earth; the qvevri, the buried clay vessels of the traditional method; some 500 native grapes, Saperavi and Rkatsiteli above all; about 100 million bottles exported, most to Russia, and the West growing |
| Transit | The corridor between the Caspian and the Black Sea — the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline of 2006, the South Caucasus gas pipeline, the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway of 2017, the Middle Corridor of the container trains from China; the Anaklia deep-water port given to a Chinese consortium in 2024 |
| Tourism | About 7 million visitors a year — Russians, Turks, Armenians, Israelis, Europeans and the Gulf; Batumi, Tbilisi, the mountains and the wine roads; about 10% of GDP |
| Mining and industry | Manganese from Chiatura, mined since 1879; copper and gold at Madneuli; ferroalloys at Zestaponi; the Borjomi mineral water; hydropower exported |
| Remittances | About US$3 billion a year — about 8% of GDP — from Russia, Italy, the United States, Greece and Israel |
| Public finances | Public debt about 38% of GDP; the sanctions and the frozen EU funds; the lari steady |
| Income classification | Upper-middle income (World Bank) |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airports | Tbilisi Shota Rustaveli International; Kutaisi, the low-cost gateway; Batumi |
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| Airline | Georgian Airways, the national carrier since 1993; Flydubai, Turkish, Wizz Air and the Russian carriers restored in 2023 |
| Main ports | Batumi and Poti on the Black Sea; Kulevi for oil; the Anaklia project |
| Railways | About 1,500 km (930 mi) of Russian gauge — Georgian Railway from the Azerbaijani border to the sea; the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars line to Turkey; the Tbilisi Metro of 1966, two lines |
| Roads | About 20,000 km (12,400 mi); the East–West Highway from the Azerbaijani border to Poti and Batumi, rebuilt with the Rikoti tunnels; the Georgian Military Highway to Russia over the Cross Pass at 2,379 m |
| The old road | The Georgian Military Highway of 1799–1863, Tbilisi to Vladikavkaz through the Dariali Gorge under Kazbek — the one road to Russia, jammed by the fleeing conscripts of September 2022 |
History in dates
| 1.8 million years ago | The hominins of Dmanisi — the oldest human remains outside Africa, found 1991 |
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| c. 6000 BC | The first wine, in the Neolithic villages of Kvemo Kartli |
| c. 1200 BC | Colchis on the Black Sea — the Golden Fleece of Jason |
| 337 | Iberia adopts Christianity under King Mirian, converted by St. Nino |
| 5th century | The Georgian alphabet; Tbilisi founded |
| 1008 | Bagrat III unites Georgia |
| 1089–1125 | David the Builder; Didgori, 1121 |
| 1184–1213 | Queen Tamar — the Golden Age; Rustaveli's Knight in the Panther's Skin |
| 1236 | The Mongols; the kingdom breaks into three by 1490 |
| 1783 | The Treaty of Georgievsk with Russia |
| 1801 | Kartli-Kakheti annexed by the tsar |
| 1918 | The Democratic Republic of Georgia, 26 May |
| 1921 | The Red Army takes Tbilisi, 25 February |
| 1989 | The Tbilisi massacre, 9 April — twenty-one dead |
| 1991 | Independence restored, 9 April; the civil war of 1991–93 |
| 1992–1993 | The war in Abkhazia; Shevardnadze in power to 2003 |
| 2003 | The Rose Revolution, 23 November — Saakashvili |
| 2008 | The war with Russia, 7–12 August; Abkhazia and South Ossetia recognized by Moscow, 26 August |
| 2012 | Georgian Dream wins, 1 October — Ivanishvili |
| 2023 | EU candidate status, 14 December |
| 2024 | The foreign agents law, 28 May; the election of 26 October; the EU halt, 28 November; Kavelashvili installed, 29 December |
| 2025 | The local elections and the palace, 4 October; the lawsuit to ban the opposition, October |
| 2026 | The suit refiled, April; the ruling awaited |
Records & firsts
| The cradle of wine | 8,000 years — the oldest evidence on earth |
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| The oldest humans outside Africa | Dmanisi, 1.8 million years |
| An alphabet of its own | One of the world's fourteen scripts, from the 5th century |
| The deepest caves on earth | Veryovkina and Krubera, past 2,200 m |
| Among the highest villages in Europe | Ushguli, 2,100 m |
| Among the tallest dams | The Enguri arch, 271 m |
| Christian since 337 | Among the first states to convert |
| The Golden Fleece | Colchis of the Argonauts |
| A queen called king | Tamar, mepe of Georgia, 1184–1213 |
| Stalin's birthplace | Gori, 1878 |
| The polyphony | On UNESCO's list, 2001 |
| A fifth of the country occupied | Abkhazia and South Ossetia |
Frequently asked questions
Which Georgia is this — the country or the American state?
The country: Georgia in the Caucasus, between the Black Sea and Russia, with its capital at Tbilisi and its own language and alphabet, independent since 1991. The American state of Georgia was named in 1732 for King George II; the country's English name comes, through Persian and Latin, from the Georgians' devotion to St. George, whose cross is on the flag — the Georgians themselves call their country Sakartvelo, "the land of the Kartvelians." The two share nothing but the word, and the country's address on this site says so.
What is the official name of Georgia?
Georgia — Sakartvelo — with no "republic" in it since the constitution of 1995, though the Republic of Georgia is the form of 1991 and still heard. The Kingdom of Georgia of the Bagrationi flourished from 1008 to the Mongols; the Democratic Republic of Georgia lived from 26 May 1918 to the Red Army's invasion of February 1921; the Georgian SSR followed for seventy years, and the country declared its independence restored on 9 April 1991.
What is the capital of Georgia?
Tbilisi — Tiflis in the old European form — on the Mtkvari, the Kura, founded by King Vakhtang Gorgasali in the 5th century on the site of hot springs that gave it its name, "warm place," and the capital since the 6th century; about 1.2 million people, a third of the country. Batumi on the Black Sea, the resort and port of Adjara, is the second city; Kutaisi, the ancient capital of Colchis, held the parliament from 2012 to 2019; Rustavi, Gori — Stalin's birthplace — and Zugdidi follow.
How big is Georgia, and how many people live there?
About 69,700 km² (26,911 sq mi) — a little smaller than Ireland or South Carolina — including Abkhazia and South Ossetia, about a fifth of the country, held by Russian-backed separatists since the wars of the 1990s and 2008 and recognized as independent by Russia and a handful of others. Geostat counted 3,694,600 people on 1 January 2025 in the territory the government controls; the census of 2014 found 3,713,804. The population has fallen by a third since 1991 through emigration, and more Georgians live abroad than in any city at home.
What are the highest and lowest points of Georgia?
Shkhara, 5,193 m (17,037 ft) by the national measure, 5,201 m by some — on the Russian border in the Greater Caucasus above Svaneti, the third-highest peak in the Caucasus — and the Black Sea. Kazbek, 5,047 m, rises above the Georgian Military Highway; Ushguli in Upper Svaneti, at 2,100 m, is among the highest villages in Europe; and Veryovkina and Krubera in Abkhazia's Arabika massif are the deepest caves on earth, past 2,200 m.
What currency does Georgia use?
The Georgian lari (ISO code GEL, ₾), of 100 tetri, issued by the National Bank of Georgia since 1995, at about 2.7 to the U.S. dollar. Clocks keep Georgia Time, UTC+4, all year.
Who governs Georgia?
The Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012 and directed from outside office by its founder, the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili — through Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, head of government since 8 February 2024, and Mikheil Kavelashvili, a former footballer elected president by the party's electoral college on 14 December 2024 and in office since 29 December, whose legitimacy the opposition and his predecessor Salome Zourabichvili reject. The party claimed 54 percent in the parliamentary election of 26 October 2024, which the opposition, observers and the European Parliament called fraudulent; it halted the country's EU accession bid until 2028 on 28 November 2024, setting off protests every night since; and in 2025–26 it asked the Constitutional Court to ban the main opposition parties. The next parliamentary election is due in 2028.
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