ABOUT GEORGIA - People

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

population

4.9mn

ethnic groups

>100

Georgia is one of the most densely populated Post Soviet countries with 2% of the whole population of the former Soviet Union living here.

The mean density of population is 75.6 per 1 sq. km. At altitudes above 600m.a.s.l. the density sharply decreases. The highest inhabited level is 2,000m.

OTHER INFORMATIONS

Georgia is one of the most densely populated Post Soviet countries with 2% of the whole population of the former Soviet Union living here. The mean density of population is 75.6 per 1 sq. km. At altitudes above 600m.a.s.l. the density sharply decreases. The highest inhabited level is 2,000m.

With 15 major ethnic groups (and up to 80 in Tbilisi), Georgia is the least homogenous of the TransCaucasian states. The population is probably under 5 million, although statistics are unreliable, due to population movements since the 1989 Soviet census; many Russians, Armenians, Jews and Greeks left the country, some Georgians have returned home but maybe 6000,000 are living and working abroad.

The Georgians grew out of a blend of Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures, and the present-day nation is still a mix of very different types – the Megrels or Mingrelians in the west, who are quick, smart, boastful, and can`t be stopped from feeding guests; the naïf and funny Svans; the extremely hospitable and talkative Imeretians; the slow and careful Rachvels; the political and humorous Gurians; the calm, wine-loving Kakhetians; not to mention the Karts, Khevsurians, Pshavians, Mokhevians and Meskhians. As for the Adjarians, they are said to have all the above qualities; they are ethnically and linguistically Georgian but mostly Muslim in religion.

Other groups share ethnicity and religion with the majority population but are linguistically distinct: these include the million or so Megrels, the Svans and the Laz, most of whom(around 200,000) live across the border in the Hopa region of Turkey. Related to the Megrels, the Laz are very extrovert and humorous, and tend to have reddish hair.

Minority Communities

The Armanians form the largest ethnic minority in Georgia and are found all over the country; however the vast majority live either in Tbilisi (200.000) and in the Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda regions, known to them as Javakhk, where they form a majority of the population. Their ancestors settled here from Western Anatolia during the 19th century Russo-Turkish wars, and also just before and after World War I.

Russians are scattered thinly across Georgia, apart from small groups of religious dissidents such as Molokans and Doukhobors, mainly in the center and south. The families of some arrived in the 19th century, but the bulk arrived in the Soviet period, settling mainly in urban and industrial areas such as Tbilisi and Rustavi as well as in Abkhazia.

The Azeri population occupied the southeastern corner of the country, around Marneuli, Bolnisi and Gardabani, in the early 17th century when it was depopulated by the Persian wars.

Until recently the majority of the 165,000 Ossetians in Georgia lived outside the then Autonomous Region – mainly in Tbilisi and Rustavi, and also in some rural areas. An Indo-European people, speaking an Iranian language, are held to be the descendants of the Alans, one of the many nomadic peoples who came out of Asia and settled in the North Caucasus. Most are Orthodox Christians, although some of the later arrivals are Sunni Muslim; in fact paganism still plays a strong part in their religious lives.

The Abkhaz are considered to be one of the aboriginal peoples of the Caucasus, entitling them to an Autonomous Republic under Stalin`s scheme for ethnic relations. They are both Christians and Sunni Muslims.

Greeks live in the Tsaika and Tetri-Tskaro areas of Lower Kartli (the so-called Anatolian Greeks, or Rums), and on the Black Sea coast ( the Pontian Greeks). Although most are Orthodox Christians, some in fact converted to Islam.

Most of the Kurds in Georgia are Yezidi ( Mithraist pagans), descended from refugees from Ottoman persecution. They live mainly in Tbilisi and Rustavi, but although fairly well integrated socially, they preserve their distinct ethnic identity, language and cultural traditions.

It is a proud boast in Georgia, and largely true, that Jews have lived there for 2,600 years without suffering persecution. The population is divided into about 10, 000 Ashkenazin (European or Russian Jews) and 14,000 Georgian Jews (Georgian-speaking and considered as Sephardim due to their religious ritual); over half live in Tbilisi, with many of the rest in the west of the country. As a rule they feel very attached to Georgia, and although over 17,000 have emigrated to Israel they maintain close links with Georgia and preserve Georgian cultural traditions.

Finally, a group that currently is scarcely represented in Georgia are the so called Meskhetian Turks. Under the Ottomans, Javakheti was heavily Islamicized from 1624, producing a population of mixed Georgian and Turkish ethnicity.

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