Georgia (country), republic in western Asia. Georgia is the westernmost country of Transcaucasia (the southern portion of the region of Caucasia), which occupies the isthmus between the Black and Caspian seas; Azerbaijan and Armenia are also located in Transcaucasia. The name of the republic in Georgian, the official language, is Sakartvelo.
Georgia is a country of extremely diverse terrain, with high mountain ranges and fertile coastal lowlands. Ethnic Georgians constitute a majority of the population. Georgia was made a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922. After Georgia gained independence in 1991, the country was plagued by civil war and political upheaval. The economy suffered from these events and from severed trading ties with other former Soviet republics, but in the mid-1990s it stabilized when the political strife ebbed and free market reforms were instituted. Georgia's first post-Soviet constitution was adopted in August 1995.
Georgia includes two autonomous republics: Ajaria, located in Georgia's southwestern corner, and Abkhazia, in the northwestern arm of the republic. Both republics include stretches of the Black Sea coast. Georgia also contains the autonomous region of South Ossetia, which is located in the north central part of the country. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are bordered on the north by Russia, and Ajaria is bordered on the south by Turkey.
Georgia covers an area of about 69,700 sq km (about 26,900 sq mi). It is situated on the east coast of the Black Sea and bounded by Russia on the north and by Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey on the south. Rugged mountain ranges dominate Georgia's landscape, constituting about 85 percent of the total land area. The main ridge of the Caucasus Mountains, or Greater Caucasus, forms most of Georgia's northern border with Russia and contains the country's highest elevations, including Mount Shkhara (5,201 m/17,064 ft), Georgia's highest peak. The highest peak fully contained in the country is Mount Kazbek (5,037 m/16,526 ft), in the central Greater Caucasus. Many other peaks reach heights of 4,500 m (15,000 ft) or greater. The Lesser Caucasus mountains occupy the southern part of the republic and rarely exceed an elevation of 3,000 m (10,000 ft). These two mountain systems are linked by the centrally located Surami mountain range, which bisects the country along a northeast-southwest axis. The Surami range includes the Meskheti and Likhi ranges. To the west of this range the relief becomes much lower, and elevations are generally less than 100 m (300 ft) along the river valleys and the coast of the Black Sea. On the eastern side of the Surami Range, a high plateau known as the Kartaliniya Plain extends along the Kura River to the border with Azerbaijan.
The population of Georgia is 4,989,285 (2001 estimate), giving the country an average population density of 72 persons per sq km (185 per sq mi). Some 60 percent of the country's inhabitants live in cities. Population is concentrated mainly along the coast of the Black Sea and in river valleys, especially the valley of the Kura River, where Tbilisi, the capital and largest city, is located. The next largest city, K'ut'aisi, is located on the upper Rioni River. Other important urban centers include Bat'umi and Sokhumi, which are the capitals of Ajaria and Abkhazia, and Rustavi, located on the Kura downstream from Tbilisi.