Georgia has a distinctive and ancient cultural heritage and is well-known for its traditions of hospitality and cuisine. Georgia is located at the strategically significant intersection where Europe and Asia converge.
Before being eventually annexed by Russia in the 19th century, Georgia was the subject of rivalry over the centuries between Persia, Turkey, and Russia.
Since gaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgia has once more become a flashpoint for competing interests.
Russia, Georgia's neighbor, has long been concerned about the country's growing US economic and political influence as well as Georgia's ambitions to join NATO and the EU.
Moscow's backing of the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has worsened already tense relations with Russia, sparking a brief war in August 2008.
- with capital letters. Tbilisi.
- Area:. 69,700 sq km.
- Population:. thirty-six million.
- Languages:. Abhkaz is from Georgia.
- Typical lifespan: 69 years for men and 78 years for women.
Salome Zourabichvili is in charge.
In 2004, Salome Zourabichvili first gained notoriety when President Mikheil Saakashvili appointed her as his foreign minister. She was the daughter of Georgian emigrants who had previously worked in the French diplomatic service and served as ambassador to France before obtaining Georgian citizenship.
Though she continued to be a member of the Georgian Dream party that ousted Mr. Saakashvili in the 2012 elections, she soon turned against the president and called him a "dictator.".
Since Georgian Dream, who reduced the presidency to a ceremonial position, all future presidents are anticipated to be selected by an electoral college rather than by the general populace.
Grigol Vashadze, a pro-Saakashvili opponent, lost to Ms. Zourabichvili in the run-off when she ran as an independent in 2018 with Georgian Dream's support.
Irakli Garibashvili is the prime minister.
Following the resignation of Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia over plans to detain opposition leader Nika Melia in February 2021, Defense Minister Irakli Garibashvili formed a government.
Mr. Gakharia feared an arrest would worsen tensions because the opposition has refused to accept the results of the parliamentary elections in October.
There is little chance that Mr. Garibashvili can bring the two sides together. Being close to the contentious Georgian Dream party's controversial founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, he previously served as prime minister from 2013 to 2015 and displayed a combative demeanor toward the opposition.
Although online news sources are gaining ground, television continues to be the most widely used medium.
The right to free speech is guaranteed by the constitution, and journalists frequently criticize public figures. The media, according to Freedom House, are "robust and competitive, but frequently partisan.".
Important dates in Georgia's modern history include:
1801-04 . - The Russian Empire takes control of the majority of modern-day Georgia.
1879 . - Iosif Dzhugashvili (Joseph Stalin), the most well-known Georgian in history, is born in Gori.
1918 . - Following the Russian Revolution, an independent Georgian state was established.
1921 . - Red Army invades; Georgia is incorporated into the newly formed Soviet Union.
1956 . - Violent protests against Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinization policy in the USSR escalate and spark calls for secession; they are brutally put down by Soviet forces.
1989 . - Violent clashes between Georgians and Ossetians occur in South Ossetia as a result of demands for greater autonomy. Russian and later Soviet peacekeepers are sent into action.
1990-1991. - Growing separatist and Georgian forces violence is a result of South Ossetian aspirations for independence. Thousands of people flee their homes while hundreds are killed.
1991 . - After a referendum that resulted in a resounding victory for independence, the Georgian parliament declares secession from the Soviet Union.
1992 . - Conflict between Georgian government forces and separatist forces breaks out in Abkhazia.
1993 . - Separatists drive Georgian troops out of nearly all of Abkhazia, which is then ruled by Russia as a breakaway state that is not recognized internationally.
1994 . - A cease-fire agreement between the Georgian government and the Abkhaz separatists is signed, allowing Russia to send a peacekeeping force to the area.
2001. - Clashes between Abkhaz troops and Georgian paramilitaries supported by North Caucasian fighters in Abkhazia. Russian accusations that Georgia is harboring Chechen rebels, which Georgia denies, have increased tension.
2004 . - Clashes between Georgian and South Ossetian forces have reportedly resulted in a number of deaths.
2006 . - South Ossetians participate in an unofficial referendum and choose to become independent.
2008 . After Georgia attempts to retake South Ossetia by force following lower-level clashes with Russian-backed rebels, tensions between Georgia and Russia reach a full-blown military conflict.
Georgian troops are driven out of South Ossetia and Abkhazia by a Russian counterattack. Following five days of fighting, the two sides sign a truce mediated by France. The two breakaway regions are subsequently recognized by Russia as independent states, which is met with criticism from Georgia and the West. In South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia claims to maintain a military presence.
2009 . - Georgia is partially to blame in an EU report on the conflict with Russia in 2008.
2014. - An association agreement, a comprehensive trade partnership pact, is signed between Georgia and the European Union.
2015 . - Russian forces in South Ossetia reposition internal border 1.5 km inside Georgia proper, endangering main road connecting the west and east of the nation.
2017 . - As part of a plan to rename itself the State of Alania and join the Russian Federation, the breakaway region of South Ossetia holds presidential elections and a referendum on the matter.
