Georgia: the area of the territory without Abkhazia and South Ossetia

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

One of the countries of the Caucasus is Georgia. The area of the territory of this state has changed more than once in history. And at present, this country controls far from all the lands it claims. Nevertheless, in many reference books, these de facto uncontrolled regions appear as Georgia. The area of the territory without Abkhazia and South Ossetia still corresponds more to the real state of affairs. Let's find out what is the area of the country without these republics and how its territory was formed.

The history of the formation of the territory of Georgia

One of the oldest states of the Caucasus is Georgia. The area of this country has been formed over hundreds of years, and even millennia.

The first states in Georgia appeared in antiquity. It was Colchis (covering the Black Sea coast of the country) and Iberia (located in the center). The last state was formed in the III century BC. It was located in the center of the country and was the core from which Georgia was formed in the future.

The area of this state was equal to about half of the Georgian territory. In later sources, Iberia begins to be referred to as a kingdomKartli. In the 1st century BC. the kings of Iberia and Colchis recognize their dependence on Rome. Christianity became the state religion in Kartli (Iberia) in the first half of the 4th century AD.

In subsequent centuries, the territory of Georgia was actually divided into zones of influence of Byzantium (Colchis) and Persia (Iberia). Sometimes even these territories completely lost their independence and were part of the above states. In the middle of the 7th century, the Arabs conquered Persia and most of Georgia. The Georgians managed to completely free themselves from the Arabs only in the 10th century.

But after the liberation from the Arabs, Georgia was a lot of independent states. The rulers of the Bagratid dynasty, which initially ruled in the kingdom of Tao-Klarjeti, managed to unite them into one state. The kings from this dynasty managed to expel the Arabs from Tbilisi and make this city their capital. After that, they united the entire territory of modern Georgia and even annexed to it the lands that were not part of the modern Georgian state.

Georgia gained its greatest power under King David the Builder and Queen Tamara (XII-XIII centuries), during whose reign even the emperors of the Trebizond Empire recognized vassalage. This was the golden age of political power and culture that Georgia has ever experienced. The area of its territories went much beyond the limits of modern borders.

But nothing lasts forever. After the Golden Age, a series of strife began between representatives of the ruling house. The power of the Georgianstate of the Mongol invasion in the 20s of the XIII century. In the end, the Georgian kings recognized their vassal dependence on the Mongols and agreed to pay tribute. The series of aggressive campaigns of the Central Asian ruler Tamerlane finally crushed the united Georgian state. These campaigns led to the complete depletion of the Georgian economy and its disintegration into several independent states. Over time, most of these principalities were forced to recognize vassal dependence on the Ottoman Empire or on the Persian power of the Safavids. On the territory of Georgia there was a struggle between these two great monarchies. In the end, according to a peace treaty signed in the middle of the 16th century, the principalities of Kakheti and Kartli were given to Persia, and Imereti to the Ottomans.

In the 17th century, a new powerful state, the Russian Empire, entered the Caucasian arena. In a series of wars with the Ottoman Empire and Persia, she establishes control over a large part of the Caucasus. Meanwhile, the principalities of Kartli and Kakheti are united into one state. The ruler of the united Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, Erekle II, takes Russian citizenship in 1783. And in 1801, after the death of the next Georgian king, the Kartli-Kakheti state finally became part of the Russian Empire.

Now, being part of the empire, the modern Georgian territories were part of the Tiflis and Kutaisi provinces, roughly corresponding to the territories of the Kartli-Kakheti and Imereti kingdoms, as well as the Batum region.

The formation of the Georgian state in modernborders

The area of Georgia, roughly coinciding with its current borders, began to form after the fall of the monarchy in the Russian Empire in 1917. Already in November 1917, the Transcaucasian Commissariat was assembled in Tiflis (modern Tbilisi), which is a coalition government of the provinces of Transcaucasia (Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan).

In April 1918, the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic was created on its basis. But already in May, under pressure from Turkey, this state broke up into three independent republics, one of which was the Democratic Republic of Georgia. The territory of this state covered not only modern Georgia, but also Abkhazia, South Ossetia, as well as parts of Armenia and Turkey. It is from this power that modern Georgia leads its statehood.

However, it did not last long. Already in 1921, Bolshevik troops captured Georgia. Here the Georgian SSR was formed with its capital in Tbilisi. In the same year, the Adjara SSR was singled out as a subject of the GSSR. On the basis of the concluded union agreement, the Abkhaz SSR is part of Georgia, and a year later another autonomy is formed - the South Ossetian Autonomous Okrug. In the same 1922, the GSSR, the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR form a federation - the ZSFSR. At the end of 1922, the latter became part of the USSR. However, in 1936, the ZSFSR was disbanded and all three republics that were part of this association, including Georgia, became direct subjects of the USSR.

In the late 80s of the last century, Georgia was one of the firstrepublics headed for secession from the USSR. This was stated by the republican Supreme Soviet in 1989, when Soviet troops dispersed a rally demanding Georgia's secession from the Soviet Union. In April 1991, Georgia declared complete separation from the USSR.

But the autonomous territories within the GSSR - the Abkhaz ASSR and the South Ossetian Autonomous Okrug, wished to remain part of the USSR. This led to a conflict between Georgia and the armed formations of these republics. The war was stopped only in 1993, thanks to the mediation of Russia and the introduction of a peacekeeping contingent. In fact, Abkhazia and South Ossetia became independent states, although this fact was not legally recognized by any country in the world. Georgia continued to consider these territories as its own.

Modern stage

In 2008, a new armed conflict broke out between Georgia on the one hand and Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Russia on the other. As a result of this conflict, Georgia completely lost control over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, whose statehood was officially recognized by Russia.

On this, the formation of the territory of Georgia in the form it exists now was completed. That is why now the calculations take into account the area of Georgia without Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Georgian territory

Now it's time to find out what is the area of Georgia in square meters. km without Abkhazia and South Ossetia. So, let's find out the answer to this question.

Total area of Georgia with all territories covered byit claims is 69.7 thousand km2. According to this indicator, this country ranks 119th in the world. But we are primarily interested in the area of Georgia in sq. km. without South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Given that the territory of Abkhazia is 8.6 thousand km², and the territory of South Ossetia is 3.9 thousand km², it is not difficult to calculate their total area - 12.5 thousand km². Thus, the area of Georgia without these regions is 57.2 thousand km^{2. This is already the 122nd place among all the states of the world.}

Population

We figured out what size area Georgia is located on. The area of the territory and the population of the country are very interconnected parameters. Therefore, in order to have a complete picture, let's find out how many people live in this Transcaucasian country.

Currently, this state has 3,729.5 thousand inhabitants. Georgia occupies the 130th place in this indicator among other countries of the world. The area and population of this Transcaucasian state were indicated without taking into account Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Population density

Knowing these indicators of the population and area of the country, it is not difficult to calculate the population density of Georgia. At the moment it is 68 people. per 1 sq. km.

For comparison, the population density in the neighboring states of Azerbaijan and Armenia is 111 and 101.5 people/sq. km. Thus, this indicator in Georgia is less than in neighboring countries.

Compositionpopulation

Now let's look at the ethnic and religious composition of the population that lives on the territory of Georgia, that is, the people occupying the area of this country.

The main ethnic group are Georgians. They make up 83.4% of the total population of Georgia, excluding Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This characterizes it as a country with a significant predominance of one nationality. The second place in terms of number is occupied by Azerbaijanis - 6.7%, followed by Armenians - 5.7%. But the Russians are already significantly behind in number from the ethnic groups listed above. Their share is only 1.9%. Ossetians in the country are about 1%.

All other ethnic groups that inhabit Georgia make up less than 1% of the total population. These include Yezidis (Kurds), Ukrainians, Greeks, Chechens, Avars, Kists, Abkhazians, Assyrians and some other nationalities.

The vast majority of Georgians profess Orthodox Christianity - 83.4%. There are also quite a few Muslims, mainly in Adjara - 10.7%. Other religious groups include the parishioners of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholics, Protestants, Yezidis, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Jews.

Administrative divisions

Now let's find out what territorial units modern Georgia is divided into. This state actually consists of 9 territories (mkhare), one autonomous republic (Adzharia), as well as one city of state importance (Tbilisi). In addition, legally, Georgia, according to its legislation, includes the Republic of AzerbaijanAbkhazia, but Georgia does not actually control this territory.

The list of nine regions is as follows: Samtskhe-Javakheti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Lower Svaneti, Imereti, Guria, Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti, Kakheti, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Shida Kartli, Kvemo Kartli.

Besides, administrative units of higher order (krai and autonomous republics) are divided into administrative units of lower order (municipalities and cities of republican (krai) significance). At the moment, the presence of 67 municipalities and fourteen cities of regional significance is fixed by law in Georgia. But in fact, only 59 municipalities and 11 regional settlements are under the control of Georgia.

It should be noted that until 2006, the administrative entities that are now called municipalities were called, as in the Soviet Union, districts.

Area of individual regions of Georgia

Now let's find out what territory is occupied by hotel regions, which are part of such a state entity as Georgia. The area of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara with its capital in Batumi, which is located in the extreme south-west of Georgia, is 2.9 thousand km2.

The Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti region is located in the northwestern part of Georgia on the border with Abkhazia on the territory of 7.4 thousand km2. The main city of this region is Zugdidi.

The administrative center of the region of Guria is the city of Ozurgeti. This territorial unit has an area of 2.0 thousand km2 and is located in the southwest of the country.

The edge of Racha-Lechkhumi and LowerSvaneti is located in the north of the country on a territory equal to 4.6 thousand km2. The main settlement here is the city of Ambrolauri.

The region, whose name corresponds to the name of the ancient kingdom of Imereti, has an area of 6.6 thousand km2 and is located in the central part of Georgia with a shift to the west. The administrative center of this region is the city of Kutaisi.

The region with the complex name Samtskhe-Javakheti has an area of 6.4 thousand km2. This region is located in the south of the country. The main town here is Akh altsikhe.

The land of Shida Kartli has an area of 4.8 thousand km2. The main city in this region is Gori. The region is located in the north-central part of Georgia on the border with South Ossetia. According to the laws of Georgia, about half of the territory of this region is just South Ossetian land, and most of South Ossetia is part of the Shida Kartli region. But when calculating the area of this region, we took into account only the territory that the Georgian authorities actually control.

The region with the poetic name Mtskheta-Mtianeti has a territory of 6.8 thousand km², located in the north-east of Georgia, but actually controls 5.8 thousand km ^{2, since the rest is located on the territory of South Ossetia. The main city of the region is Mtskheta.}

Kvemo Kartli region is located in the south-east of Georgia. It has an area of 6.5 thousand km2. The administrative center is Rustavi.

The Kakheti region is located in the easternmost part of the country. It has dimensions equal to 11.3 thousand square meters.km2. The administrative center here is the city of Telavi.

The city of state importance Tbilisi also has its own territory. It is, of course, much smaller than the territory of the regions and is only 720 km2. The total number of inhabitants in the capital of Georgia is 1.1 million people. The city is located in the central part of the state with an offset to the southeast.

Thus, as we can see, the largest regions of Georgia in terms of area are the Kakheti region (11.3 thousand km²) and the Samegrelo-Upper Svaneti region (7.4 thousand.km²). The smallest regions of Georgia in terms of territory, not taking into account the city of state significance Tbilisi, Guria region (2.0 thousand km²) and the Autonomous Republic of Adjara (2.9 thousand km ^2).

General conclusion

We found out what is the area of Georgia in thousand km2. When determining this indicator, you need to know one very important nuance. There are territories that the Tbilisi government classifies as Georgian, but which Georgia does not actually control. The area of the country, accordingly, in Georgian sources is overestimated in comparison with the real state of affairs.

Thus, we found that at the moment the area of this country, not taking into account the actually uncontrolled South Ossetia and Abkhazia, is 57.2 thousand km2.