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Note--Georgia has been beset by ethnic and civil strife since independence. In late 1991, the country's first elected president, Zviad GAMSAKHURDIA was ousted in an armed coup. In October 1993, GAMSAKHURDIA, and his supporters sponsored a failed attempt to retake power from the current government led by former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard SHEVARDNADZE. The Georgian government has also faced armed separatist conflicts in the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions. A cease-fire went into effect in South Ossetia in June 1992 and a joint Georgian-Ossetian-Russian peacekeeping force has been in place since that time. Georgian forces were driven out of the Abkhaz region in September 1993 after a yearlong war with Abkhaz separatists. Nearly 200,000 Georgian refugees have since fled Abkhazia, adding substantially to the estimated 100,000 internally displaced persons already in Georgia. Russian peacekeepers are deployed along the border of Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia.
Location: Southwestern Asia, bordering the Black Sea, between Turkey and Russia
Map references: Middle East
Area:
total area: 69,700 sq km
land area: 69,700 sq km
comparative area: slightly larger than South Carolina
Land boundaries: total 1,461 km, Armenia 164 km, Azerbaijan 322 km, Russia 723 km, Turkey 252 km
Coastline: 310 km
Climate: warm and pleasant; Mediterranean-like on Black Sea coast
Terrain: largely mountainous with Great Caucasus Mountains in the north and Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the south; Kolkhida Lowland opens to the Black Sea in the west; Mtkvari River Basin in the east; good soils in river valley flood plains, foothills of Kolkhida Lowland
Natural resources: forest lands, hydropower, manganese deposits, iron ores, copper, minor coal and oil deposits; coastal climate and soils allow for important tea and citrus growth
Land use:
arable land: 11%
permanent crops: 4%
meadows and pastures: 29%
forest and woodland: 38%
other: 18%
Irrigated land: 4,660 sq km (1990)
Population: 5,725,972 (July 1995 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 24% (female 674,331; male 707,355)
15-64 years: 64% (female 1,894,681; male 1,791,847)
65 years and over: 12% (female 410,703; male 247,055) (July 1995 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.77% (1995 est.)
Birth rate: 15.77 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Death rate: 8.73 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Net migration rate: 0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 22.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 73.1 years
male: 69.43 years
female: 76.95 years (1995 est.)
Total fertility rate: 2.16 children born/woman (1995 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Georgian(s)
adjective: Georgian
Ethnic divisions: Georgian 70.1%, Armenian 8.1%, Russian 6.3%, Azeri 5.7%, Ossetian 3%, Abkhaz 1.8%, other 5%
Religions: Georgian Orthodox 65%, Russian Orthodox 10%, Muslim 11%, Armenian Orthodox 8%, unknown 6%
Languages: Armenian 7%, Azeri 6%, Georgian 71% (official), Russian 9%, other 7%
Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1989)
total population: 99%
male: 100%
female: 98%
Labor force: 2.763 million
by occupation: industry and construction 31%, agriculture and forestry 25%, other
44% (1990)
Names:
conventional long form: Republic of Georgia
conventional short form: Georgia
local long form: Sak'art'velos Respublika
local short form: Sak'art'velo
former: Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic
Digraph: GG
Type: republic
Capital: T'bilisi
Administrative divisions: 2 autonomous republics (avtomnoy respubliki, singular - avtom respublika);
Abkhazia (Sokhumi), Ajaria (Bat'umi)
note: the administrative centers of the autonomous republicsare included
in parentheses; there are no oblasts - the rayons around T'bilisi are under
direct republic jurisdiction
Independence: 9 April 1991 (from Soviet Union)
National holiday: Independence Day, 26 May (1991)
Constitution: adopted 21 February 1921; currently amending constitution for Parliamentary and popular review by late 1995
Legal system: based on civil law system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Overview: Georgia's economy has traditionally revolved around Black Sea tourism; cultivation of citrus fruits, tea, and grapes; mining of manganese and copper; and a small industrial sector producing wine, metals, machinery, chemicals, and textiles. The country imports the bulk of its energy needs, including natural gas and oil products. Its only sizable domestic energy resource is hydropower. Since 1990, widespread conflicts, e.g., in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Mingreliya, have severely aggravated the economic crisis resulting from the disintegration of the Soviet command economy in December 1991. Throughout 1993 and 1994, much of industry was functioning at only 20% of capacity; heavy disruptions in agricultural cultivation were reported; and tourism was shut down. The country is precariously dependent on US and EU humanitarian grain shipments, as most other foods are priced beyond reach of the average citizen. Georgia is also suffering from an acute energy crisis, as it is having problems paying for even minimal imports. Georgia is pinning its hopes for recovery on reestablishing trade ties with Russia and on developing international transportation through the key Black Sea ports of P'ot'i and Bat'umi. The government began a tenuous program in 1994 aiming to stabilize prices and reduce large consumer subsidies.
National product: GDP - purchasing power parity - $6 billion (1994 estimate as extrapolated from World Bank estimate for 1992)
National product real growth rate: -30% (1994 est.)
National product per capita: $1,060 (1994 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 40.5% per month (2nd half 1993 est.)
Unemployment rate: officially less than 5% but real unemployment may be more than 20%, with even larger numbers of underemployed workers
Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Exports: $NA
commodities: citrus fruits, tea, wine, other agricultural products; diverse types
of machinery; ferrous and nonferrous metals; textiles; chemicals; fuel re-exports
partners: Russia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan (1992)
Imports: $NA
commodities: fuel, grain and other foods, machineryand parts, transport equipment
partners: Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey (1993); note - EU and US sent humanitarian
food shipments
External debt: NA (T'bilisi owes about $400 million to Turkmenistan for natural gas as of January 1995)
Industrial production: growth rate -27% (1993); accounts for 36% of GDP
Electricity:
capacity: 4,410,000 kW
production: 9.1 billion kWh
consumption per capita: 1,526 kWh (1993)
Industries: heavy industrial products include raw steel, rolled steel, airplanes; machine tools, foundry equipment, electric locomotives, tower cranes, electric welding equipment, machinery for food preparation and meat packing, electric motors, process control equipment, instruments; trucks, tractors, and other farm machinery; light industrial products, including cloth, hosiery, and shoes; chemicals; wood-working industries; the most important food industry is wine
Agriculture: accountedfor 97% of former USSR citrus fruits and 93% of former USSR tea; important producer of grapes; also cultivates vegetables and potatoes; dependent on imports for grain, dairy products, sugar; small livestock sector
Currency: coupons introduced in April 1993 to be followed by introduction of the lari at undetermined future date; in July 1993 use of the Russian ruble was banned
Fiscal year: calendar year
Railroads:
total: 1,570 km in common carrier service; does not include industrial lines
broad gauge: 1,570 km 1.520-m gauge (1990)
Highways:
total: 33,900 km
paved and graveled: 29,500 km
unpaved: earth 4,400 km (1990)
Pipelines: crude oil 370 km; refined products 300 km; natural gas 440 km (1992)
Ports: Bat'umi, P'ot'i, Sokhumi
Merchant marine:
total: 32 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 419,416 GRT/640,897 DWT
ships by type: bulk 11, cargo 1, oil tanker 19, short-sea passenger 1
Airports:
total: 28
with paved runways over 3,047 m: 1
with paved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 7
with paved runways 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
with paved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 1
with paved runways under 914 m: 1
with unpaved runways over 3,047 m: 1
with unpaved runways 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
with unpaved runways 1,524 to 2,438 m: 1
with unpaved runways 914 to 1,523 m: 5
with unpaved runways under 914 m: 6
Note: transportation network is in poor condition and disrupted by ethnic conflict, criminal activities, and fuel shortages; network lacks maintenance and repair