POPULATION 4,960,951
GEORGIAN ORTHODOX 70 percent
MUSLIM 10 percent
ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC 8 percent
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX 5 percent
OTHER 7 percent

Country Overview

Introduction

The Republic of Georgia is situated to the south of the Caucasus Mountains. It is bordered by Russia to the north, Armenia and Turkey to the south, Azerbaijan to the east, and the Black Sea to the west.

The Georgians represent one of the indigenous peoples of the Caucasus region, and the Kartvelian languages that they speak have not been conclusively linked to any other language family. Eastern Georgia (referred to as "Iberia" in older documents) was in the Persian sphere of influence, whereas western Georgia, including the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Lazica, had been in contact with the Greeks since Homeric times. After centuries of Arab and Turkish occupation, King David the Rebuilder (reigned 1089–1125) recaptured the capital, Tbilisi (Tiflis), ushering in a vibrant, but short-lived, period of territorial expansion...