ABOUT GEORGIA - Geography

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

area

69.700km²

highest peak

Shkhara

The Georgians call their country "Sakartvelo" - Land of Georgians.

Sakartvelo is situated in the south of Caucasus region and with an area of 69.700km² (26.911 square miles), Georgia is slightly smaller than Austria or the Republic of Ireland, and under half the size of the American State of Georgia. More than half this area lies above 900m and almost 40% (2.69 million hectares) is wooded.

OTHER INFORMATIONS

The Georgians call their country "Sakartvelo" - Land of Georgians. Sakartvelo is situated in the south of Caucasus region and with an area of 69.700km² (26.911 square miles), Georgia is slightly smaller than Austria or the Republic of Ireland, and under half the size of the American State of Georgia. More than half this area lies above 900m and almost 40% (2.69 million hectares) is wooded.

Georgia borders with Russia in the north, Azerbaijan in the south–east, Armenia in the south, Turkey in the south–west, and the black Sea in the west. The total length of its borders is 1,968.8km, from which 1, 660.4km is border-land. Georgia is distinguished by its complex and varied relief. The north is dominated by the mountains of the Great Caucasus Range (Cavcasioni), while southern Georgia is traversed by the South Georgian Plateau. From the shore of the Black Sea in the west to the Alazani Valley in the east run the inter- mountain lowlands of Georgia. The mountain range Likhi divides the country into two parts differing in climate: the Eastern Georgia and the Western Georgia. Georgia has three peaks over 5,000m: The highest peak is Shkhara(5068m), Janga(5,059m), and Mkinvartsveri(Kazbek- 5,033m); the lowest place(-1.5m) is environs of the lake Paliastomi in the Colchis Lowland.

Georgia is rich in inland waters, although the river network is distributed unevenly. From total of 25.075 rivers, 17.000 are situated in western part of Georgia. Some of them flow into the black Sea and others into the Caspian Sea. The country is dominated by one main river, the Mtkvari(1,364km), which rises in Turkey, enters Georgia near Vardzia, then flows east through Kartli and Tbilisi and then through Azerbaijan to the Caspian. The main river of the western Georgia is the Rioni(327km) which flows from the foothills of Racha through Kutaisi to the Black Sea; others are Inguri(213km) which flows from Svaneti to the Black Sea, the Iori(320km) and Alazani(351km, the longest within Georgia), which flow through Kakheti and into the Mtkvari, and the head waters of the Terek(623km in all) which flows north into Russia and eventually into the Caspian. There are 860 lakes in Georgia. Mostly small in size, they are situated in picturesque landscapes, surrounded by trees, both overgreen and deciduous. Especially numerous are fresh water lakes. Lake Pharavani occupying the area of 37.5dq.km. is the largest. Lake Tabatsquri, containing 221 million cub.m. of water, is the largest in volume. Lake Ritsa, with average depth of 101m, is the deepest.

An important place among the tourist attraction belongs to more than 2,000 mineral springs producing 130 million liters a day, most of which is wasted. There are over 500 different waters, of which most contain carbon dioxide (both hot and cold), such as those from Borjomi, Sairme, and Nabeghlavi; there are also sulphide, nitric, and silicon waters (mostly hot), such as those from Tskaltubo, Tbilisi, Nunisi, Tkvarcheli and Makhinjauri, and Gagra, Sukhumi, and Aspindza in Abkhazia. Mineral waters, which are distributed over the entire territory of Georgia, represent a truly valuable resource for the country.

At least 15% of Georgia is limestone, so it is not surprising that there are a plenty of caves with great opportunities for exploring and it is not by accident that Georgia is called the country of caves. Today there are more then 1,100 caves, mines, and canyons registered in Georgia, some of which are monuments of international significance. Napra-Mchishta is the deepest hydro-geological system on this planet – 2,345m. Sensational Speleological finding are expected to be made in Mchishta basin. The Gumistavi cave, near Tskaltubo is a particularly fine recent discovery, and the Pantiukhin cave is claimed to be the second deepest in the world at 1,540m (5,050ft). Tovliani, Iliukhini and other canyons are more than 1,000m.long.

GEORGIA


Flag	Coat of arms

Capital and largest city		Tbilisi
Official languages		Georgian
Spoken languages		71% Georgian 9% Russian 7% Armenian 6% Azerbaijani 7% other
Ethnic groups (2002)		83.8% Georgian 6.5% Azerbaijani 5.7% Armenian 1.5% Russian 2.5% others
Demonym		Georgian
Government		Unitary semi-presidential republic
Legislature		Parliament
Area		69,700 km² (120th) 26,911 sq mi
Population (2014)		4,935,880 (119th)
Currency		Lari (GEL)
Time zone		GET (UTC+4)
Drives on the		right
Calling code		+995
ISO 3166 code		GE
Internet TLD		.ge