Georgia

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Georgia

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name Sak'art'velo/Georgia Area 69,700 sq km/26,911 sq mi Capital Tbilisi Language Georgian (official), Russian, Abkazian, Armenian, Azeri Religion Georgian Orthodox, also Muslim Time difference GMT +4 Major holidays 1, 19 January, 3, 26 May, 28 August, 14 October, 23 November; variable: Orthodox Christmas (January), Orthodox Easter (March/April)


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Kutaisi, Rustavi, Batumi, Zugdidi, Gori Physical features largely mountainous with a variety of landscape from the subtropical Black Sea shores to the ice and snow of the crest line of the Caucasus; chief rivers are Kura and Rioni Airports two international airports; total passengers carried: 200,000 (2003 est) Railways total length: 1,655 km/1,028 mi; total passenger journeys: 2.2 million (2003) Roads total road network: 20,247 km/12,580 mi, of which 39.4% paved (2003 est); passenger cars: 63.2 per 1,000 people (2003 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Mikhail Saakashvili from 2004 Head of government Zurab Nogaideli from 2005 Political system emergent democracy Political executive limited presidency Administrative divisions 53 regions, nine cities and two autonomous republics Political parties Citizens' Union of Georgia (CUG), nationalist, pro-Shevardnadze; National Democratic Party of Georgia (NDPG), nationalist; Round Table/Free Georgia Bloc, nationalist; Georgian Popular Front (GPF), moderate nationalist, prodemocratization; Georgian Communist Party (GCP); National Independence Party (NIP), ultranationalist; Front for the Reinstatement of Legitimate Power in Georgia, strong nationalist Death penalty abolished in 1997 Armed forces 11,300; plus paramilitary forces of 11,700 (2006 est) Conscription compulsory for 18 months Defence spend (% GDP) 3.1 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 2.2 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 1 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency lari GDP (US$) 6.4 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 7.5 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 6 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 3,270 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 9.6% (2006 est) Unemployment 13% (2005 est) Labour force 54.3% agriculture, 9.3% industry, 36.4% services (2005) Foreign debt (US$) 1.7 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Germany, Turkmenistan Resources coal, manganese, barytes, clay, petroleum and natural gas deposits, iron and other ores, gold, agate, marble, alabaster, arsenic, tungsten, mercury Industries metalworking, light industrial goods, motor cars, food processing, textiles (including silk), chemicals, construction materials Exports ferro-alloys and gold, machinery, wine, tea, food and tobacco products. Principal market: Russia 17.8% (2005) Imports mineral fuels, chemical and petroleum products, machinery, medicines, food products (mainly wheat and flour), light industrial products, beverages. Principal source: Russia 15.4% (2005) Arable land 11.5% (2006 est) Agricultural products grain, tea, citrus fruits, wine grapes, flowers, tobacco, almonds, sugar beet; sheep and goat farming; forest resources


POPULATION

Population 4,433,800 (2006 est) Population growth rate -0.8% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 64 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 52 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 19%, 15–59 63%, 60+ 18% (2005 est) Ethnic groups 70% ethnic Georgian, 8% Armenian, 7% ethnic Russian, 6% Azeri, 3% Ossetian, 2% Abkhazian, and 2% Greek Life expectancy 67 (men); 75 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 45 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 8 Literacy rate 99% (men); 99% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 39.1 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 4.2 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.2 (2005 est) AIDS deaths <500 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 90 (urban); 61 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 15.1 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 32.6 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 559 (1999 est) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 386 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 4.3 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 3.9 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

4th century BC Georgian kingdom founded. 1st century BC Part of Roman Empire. AD 337 Christianity adopted. 458 Tbilisi founded by King Vakhtang Gorgasal. mid-7th century Tbilisi brought under Arab rule and renamed Tiflis. 1121 Tbilisi liberated by King David II the Builder, of the Gagrationi dynasty. An empire was established across the Caucasus region, remaining powerful until Mongol onslaughts in the 13th and 14th centuries. 1555 Western Georgia fell to Turkey and Eastern Georgia to Persia (Iran). 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk established Russian dominance over Georgia. 1804–13 First Russo-Iranian war fought largely over Georgia. late 19th century Abolition of serfdom and beginnings of industrialization, but Georgian church suppressed. 1918 Independence established after Russian Revolution. 1921 Invaded by Red Army; Soviet republic established. 1922–36 Linked with Armenia and Azerbaijan as the Transcaucasian Federation. 1930s Rapid industrial development, but resistance to agricultural collectivization and violent political purges instituted by the Georgian Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. 1936 Became separate republic within the USSR. early 1940s 200,000 Meskhetians deported from southern Georgia to Central Asia on Stalin's orders. 1972 Drive against endemic corruption launched by new Georgian Communist Party (GCP) leader Eduard Shevardnadze. 1978 Violent demonstrations by nationalists in Tbilisi. 1981–88 Increasing demands for autonomy encouraged from 1986 by glasnost initiative of reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. 1989 Formation of nationalist Georgian Popular Front led minority Abkhazian and Ossetian communities in northwest and central-north Georgia to demand secession, provoking interethnic clashes. State of emergency imposed in Abkhazia; 20 pro-independence demonstrators killed in Tbilisi by Soviet troops; Georgian sovereignty declared by parliament. 1990 Nationalist coalition triumphed in elections and Gamsakhurdia became president. GCP seceded from Communist Party of USSR. 1991 Independence declared. GCP outlawed and all relations with USSR severed. Demonstrations held against increasingly dictatorial Gamsakhurdia; state of emergency declared. 1992 Gamsakhurdia fled to Armenia; Shevardnadze, with military backing, appointed interim president. Georgia admitted into United Nations (UN). Clashes continued in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, where independence had been declared. 1993 Conflict with Abkhazi separatists intensified, forcing Shevardnadze to seek Russian military help. Otar Patsatsia appointed prime minister. 1994 Georgia joined Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Military cooperation pact signed with Russia. Ceasefire agreed with Abkhazi separatists; 2,500 Russian peacekeeping troops deployed in region and paramilitary groups disarmed. Inflation exceeded 5,000% per annum. 1996 Cooperation pact with European Union (EU) signed as economic growth resumed. Elections to secessionist Abkhazi parliament declared illegal by Georgian government. 1997 New opposition party, Front for the Reinstatement of Legitimate Power in Georgia, formed. Talks held between government and breakaway Abkhazi government. 1998 Another outbreak of fighting in Abkhazia. 2000 President Shevardnadze won second term in elections. Giorgi Arsenishvili became prime minister. Government signed pact with Abkhazian prime minister Vyacheslav Tsugba, both sides repudiating use of force to settle conflict. 2003 Political protest followed legislative elections dismissed by opposition parties as fraudulent; resignation of President Shevardnadze in bloodless transfer of power. Mikhail Saakashvili became president. 2004 Saakashvili won presidential elections; his National Movement-Democratic Front won overwhelming majority in rerun parliamentary elections. South Ossetia and Abkhazia held parliamentary elections; unrecognized by Tbilisi. Deaths were reported in clashes between Georgian and South Ossetian forces; Georgia pulled back its forces after having regained key positions it promised to hand over to peacekeepers. 2005 Sergei Bagapsh won rerun of Abkhaz presidential elections; his rival, Raul Khadzhimba became vice president. President Saakashvili's attempts to offer conditional autonomy within Georgia to Abkhazia and South Ossetia failed. Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania found dead in Tbilisi, apparently by gas poisoning; replaced by Zurab Noghaideli. 2006 Midwinter explosions on Russia's gas pipeline cut off supplies; another blast cut off electricity supplies from Russia. Saakashvili accused Moscow of sabotage. Series of incidents and reciprocal provocation caused mounting tension between the two nations, culminating in detention of Russian officers on spying charges. Russia imposed sanctions, expelled hundreds of Georgians, and cut transport links. 2007 Georgia accused Russia of violating its air space on two occasions; Moscow denied any such action.


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