Kobuleti ( Georgian : ქობულეთი , pronounced [kʰobuletʰi] ) is a town in Adjara , western Georgia , situated on the eastern coast of the Black Sea . It is the seat of Kobuleti Municipality and a seaside resort. It was known as Çürüksu during Ottoman rule.
109-671: The city is situated in the south-western part of Georgia , i.e. the northern part of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara . It borders with Ozurgeti Region to the north. The Regional centre is Kobuleti City, which stretches along the Black Sea shore. After the civil wars of 1990–1993, the once sophisticated sanatoriums remained abandoned and plundered until 2004. In the meantime Kobuleti has developed into an upscale tourist center again. Kobuleti Region consists of one municipal, two district and seventeen village councils. There are 48 villages in
218-686: A Roman client state for most of its history. In 337, King Mirian III adopted Christianity as the state religion of Iberia, beginning the Christianization of the Western Caucasus region and solidly anchoring it in Rome's sphere of influence by abandoning the ancient Georgian polytheistic religion heavily influenced by Zoroastrianism . However, the Peace of Acilisene in 384 formalized the Sasanian control over
327-581: A dominant regional group in ancient times. The name Sakartvelo ( საქართველო ) consists of two parts. Its root, kartvel-i ( ქართველ-ი ), specifies an inhabitant of the core central-eastern Georgian region of Kartli , or Iberia as it is known in sources of the Eastern Roman Empire . The official name of the country is Georgia per Article 2 of the Georgian Constitution . In Georgia's two official languages ( Georgian and Abkhaz ),
436-473: A high proportion of Neogene and Palaeogene relict plants and animals, with the closest relatives in distant parts of the world: five species of Rhododendrons and other evergreen shrubs, wingnuts , Caucasian salamander , Caucasian parsley frog , eight endemic species of lizards from the genus Darevskia , the Caucasus adder ( Vipera kaznakovi ), Robert's snow vole , and endemic cave shrimp . Millet
545-449: A later era the name "Colchians" was organically connected with the name " Lazi ", it should be remembered that Byzantine sources saw the northern limit of the spread of Laz people somewhere between the Phasis (modern. Poti ) and Dioscurias". The Greek name Kolchís ( Κολχίς ) is first used to describe a geographic area in the writings of Aeschylus and Pindar . Earlier writers speak of
654-578: A legacy of great cathedrals, romantic poetry and literature, and the epic poem The Knight in the Panther's Skin , considered a national epic. David IV suppressed dissent of feudal lords and centralized power in his hands to effectively deal with foreign threats. In 1121, he decisively defeated much larger Turkish armies during the Battle of Didgori and abolished the Emirate of Tbilisi . The 29-year reign of Tamar,
763-718: A major centre for textile goods. Joseph Stalin , an ethnic Georgian, was prominent among the Bolsheviks, ultimately becoming the de facto leader of the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death on 5 March 1953. Fellow Georgians such as Lavrentiy Beria and Vsevolod Merkulov likewise held powerful positions in the Soviet government. Stalin's Great Purge between 1936 and 1938 led to thousands of Georgian dissidents, intellectuals, and other presumed threats to Soviet authority being executed or sent to Gulag penal labor camps , severely truncating
872-628: A major uprising against the Roman Empire , which ended unsuccessfully. The lowlands and coastal area were frequently raided by fierce mountain tribes, with the Svaneti and Heniochi being the most powerful of them. Paying a nominal homage to Rome , they created their own kingdoms and enjoyed significant independence. Under Hadrian, the Romans established relations with Colchian tribes. Hadrian sent his advisor, Arrian , to tour Colchis and Iberia. Arrian depicted
981-476: A national revival movement led by Ilia Chavchavadze . This period also brought social and economic change to Georgia, with new social classes emerging: the emancipation of the serfs freed many peasants but did little to alleviate their poverty; the growth of capitalism created an urban working class in Georgia. Both peasants and workers found expression for their discontent through revolts and strikes, culminating in
1090-512: A new government. On 9 April 1991, shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Supreme Council of Georgia declared independence [ ka ] after a referendum held on 31 March. Georgia was the first non- Baltic republic of the Soviet Union to officially declare independence, with Romania becoming the first country to recognize Georgia in August 1991. On 26 May, Gamsakhurdia
1199-447: A personal union under the energetic king Heraclius II , who succeeded in stabilizing Eastern Georgia to a degree. In 1783, Russia and the eastern Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti signed the Treaty of Georgievsk , which made eastern Georgia a protectorate of Russia, guaranteed its territorial integrity and the continuation of its reigning Bagrationi dynasty in return for prerogatives in
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#17329135267621308-449: A result of incessant Ottoman–Persian Wars and deportations, the population of Georgia dwindled to 784,700 inhabitants at the end of the 18th century. Eastern Georgia , composed of the regions of Kartli and Kakheti , had been under Iranian suzerainty since the Peace of Amasya signed with neighboring rivalling Ottoman Turkey ( Safavid Georgia ). With the death of Nader Shah in 1747, both kingdoms broke free and were reunified through
1417-440: A series of reforms were launched to strengthen the country's military and economic capabilities, as well as to reorient its foreign policy westwards. The new government's efforts to reassert Georgian authority in the southwestern autonomous republic of Adjara led to a major crisis in 2004. Colchis In classical antiquity and Greco-Roman geography , Colchis ( / ˈ k ɒ l k ɪ s / ; Ancient Greek : Κολχίς )
1526-516: A symbol of excess condemned by Roman moralists. The Colchian hinterland lacked salt and demand was satisfied partially by local production on the coast and partially by imports from the northern coast of the Black Sea. Colchis provided slaves as a tribute to the Achaemenid Empire and Colchian slaves are also attested in Ancient Greece. The eastern Black Sea region in antiquity was home to
1635-420: A third live in the capital and largest city , Tbilisi . Georgians , who are native to the region, constitute a majority of the country's population and are its titular nation . Georgia has been inhabited since prehistory , hosting the world's earliest known sites of winemaking , gold mining, and textiles. The classical era saw the emergence of several kingdoms, such as Colchis and Iberia , that formed
1744-573: A turbulent fluctuation of tribal powers and boundaries, with various hostile and anarchic tribes in the area. The Laz controlled most of coastal Colchis, while other tribes such as the Sanigs and Abasgoi escaped Roman jurisdiction. Other tribes, like the Apsilae , were becoming powerful and their king with the Romanised name Julianus was recognized by Trajan. Arrian listed the following peoples in his Periplus of
1853-560: Is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and West Asia . It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, Russia to the north and northeast, Turkey to the southwest, Armenia to the south, and Azerbaijan to the southeast. Georgia covers an area of 69,700 square kilometres (26,900 sq mi). It has a population of 3.7 million, of which over
1962-574: Is disputed. Some scholars argue the name Qulḫa (Colchís) originally referred to a land to the west of Georgia. Others argue Qulḫa may have been located in the south, near modern Göle, Turkey . According to Levan Gordeziani, while the Greek Colchis etymologically descends from Urartian Qulḫa , the Greeks may have applied the name to a different region (and/or cultures) than the preceding Urartians had. Further confusion rests in possible differences in
2071-741: Is usually defined as the area east of the Black Sea coast, restricted from the north by the southwestern slopes of the Greater Caucasus , from the south by the northern slopes of the Lesser Caucasus in Georgia and Eastern Black Sea (Karadeniz) Mountains in Turkey, and from the east by Likhi Range , connecting the Greater and the Lesser Caucasus. The central part of the region is Colchis Plain, stretching between Sukhumi and Kobuleti ; most of that lies on
2180-510: The c. 13th to the 1st centuries BC, is regarded as an early ethnically Georgian polity; the name of the Colchians was used as the collective term for early Kartvelian tribes which populated the eastern coast of the Black Sea in Greco-Roman ethnography . According to Donald Rayfield , the ethnic makeup of Colchis is "obscure" and Kartvelian names "are conspicuously absent from
2289-609: The Umm Leisun inscription found in the Old City of Jerusalem . The medieval Georgian Chronicles present an eponymous ancestor of the Kartvelians, Kartlos , a great-grandson of Japheth who medieval chroniclers believed to have been the root of the local name of their kingdom. However, scholars agree that the word Kartli is derived from the Karts , a proto-Kartvelian tribe that emerged as
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#17329135267622398-755: The 6th millennium BC , especially in Western Georgia, while the Mtkvari basin became stably populated in the 5th millennium BC , as evidenced with the rise of various cultures closely associated with the Fertile Crescent , including the Trialetian Mesolithic , the Shulaveri–Shomu culture , and the Leyla-Tepe culture . Archaeological findings show that settlements in modern-day Georgia were responsible for
2507-622: The Argonauts . Archaeological evidence points to a wealthy kingdom in Colchis as early as the 14th century BC and an extensive trade network with Greek colonies on the eastern Black Sea shore (such as Dioscurias and Phasis ), though, the entire region would be annexed first by Pontus and then by the Roman Republic in the first century BC. Eastern Georgia remained a decentralized mosaic of various clans (ruled by individual mamasakhlisi ) until
2616-655: The Caucasus and benefiting from the Black Sea ecosystem, the region seems to have served as a refugium throughout the Pleistocene , while the first continuous primitive settlements date back to the Middle Paleolithic , close to 200,000 years ago. During the Upper Paleolithic , settlements developed mostly in Western Georgia, in the valleys of the Rioni and Qvirila rivers. Signs of agriculture date back to at least
2725-668: The Dekhva River . Kintrishi Protected Landscape and Kobuleti Managed Reserve are located in Kobuleti. Shukura Kobuleti are a professional football team, playing at the Chele Arena . [REDACTED] Media related to Kobuleti at Wikimedia Commons This Georgia location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Georgia (country) Georgia ( Georgian : საქართველო , romanized : sakartvelo , IPA: [sakʰartʰʷelo] )
2834-594: The Euxine , and the Anticites or Atticitus (now Kuban ). Arrian mentions many others by name, but they would seem to have been little more than mountain torrents: the most important of them were Charieis, Chobus or Cobus, Singames, Tarsuras, Hippus, Astelephus, Chrysorrhoas, several of which are also noticed by Ptolemy and Pliny . The chief towns were Dioscurias or Dioscuris (under the Romans called Sebastopolis, now Sukhumi ) on
2943-562: The Golden Fleece , and the fire-breathing Colchis bulls and was the destination of the Argonauts . Colchis also is thought to be a possible homeland of the Amazons . Amazons also were said to be of Scythian origin from Colchis. According to the Greek mythology, Colchis was a fabulously wealthy land situated on the mysterious periphery of the heroic world. Here in the sacred grove of
3052-544: The Kingdom of Imereti sent ambassadors to the Russian royal court, with Russia returning the favor in 1651. In the presence of these ambassadors, Alexander III of Imereti swore an oath of allegiance to Tsar Alexis of Russia on behalf of Imereti. Subsequent rulers also sought assistance from Pope Innocent XII but without success. The rulers of regions that remained partly autonomous organized rebellions on various occasions. As
3161-493: The Machelones , Heniochi , Zydretae , Lazi , Chalybes , Tibareni / Tubal , Mossynoeci , Macrones , Moschi , Marres , Apsilae , Abasci , Sanigae , Coraxi , Coli , Melanchlaeni , Geloni and Soani (Suani) . The ancients assigned various origins to the tribes that inhabited Colchis. Herodotus regarded the Colchians as "dark-skinned ( μελάγχροες ) and woolly-haired" and calls them Egyptians. Herodotus states that
3270-774: The Mongols , the Ottoman Empire , and Persia , before being gradually annexed into the Russian Empire starting in 1801. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Georgia briefly emerged as an independent republic under German protection , but was invaded and annexed by the Red Army in 1921, becoming one of the Republics of the Soviet Union . In the 1980s, an independence movement grew quickly, leading to Georgia's secession from
3379-639: The Mushki , Laz , and Byzeres . Some historians have suggested that the collapse of the Hittite world in the Late Bronze Age led to an expansion of the influence of these tribes to the Mediterranean Sea , notably with the Kingdom of Tabal . The classical period saw the rise of a number of Georgian states, including Colchis in western Georgia, where Greek mythology located the Golden Fleece sought after by
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3488-551: The Revolution of 1905 . Their cause was championed by the socialist Mensheviks , who became the dominant political force in Georgia in the final years of Russian rule. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic was established with Nikolay Chkheidze acting as its president. The federation consisted of three nations: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. As
3597-511: The Russo-Georgian War of 2008 and continued Russian occupation of parts of Georgia . Georgia is a representative democracy governed as a unitary parliamentary republic . It is a developing country with a very high Human Development Index and an emerging market economy . Sweeping economic reforms since 2003 have resulted in one of the freest business climates in the world, greater economic freedom and transparency , and among
3706-583: The Treaty of Moscow . But the recognition proved to be of little value, as the Red Army invaded Georgia in 1921 and formally annexed it into the Soviet Union in 1922. In February 1921, during the Russian Civil War , the Red Army advanced into Georgia and brought the local Bolsheviks to power. The Georgian army was defeated, and the Social Democratic government fled the country. On 25 February 1921 ,
3815-653: The brutal suppression by Soviet forces of a large peaceful demonstration held in Tbilisi on 4–9 April 1989 proved to be a pivotal event in discrediting the continuation of Soviet rule over the country. In October 1990, the first multi-party elections were held in Soviet Georgia, which were the first multi-party elections in the entire Soviet Union, in which the opposition groups were registered as formal political parties. The Round Table—Free Georgia coalition led by Zviad Gamsakhurdia secured victory in this election and formed
3924-564: The early Middle Ages . The Roman–Persian Wars plunged the region into chaos, with both Persia and Constantinople supporting various warring factions in the Caucasus ; however, the Byzantine Empire was able to establish control over Georgian territories by the end of the 6th century, ruling Iberia indirectly through a local Kouropalates . In 645, the Arabs invaded southeastern Georgia, starting an extended period of Muslim domination in
4033-851: The fastest rates of GDP growth . In 2018, Georgia became the second country in the world to legalize cannabis , and the first former socialist state to do so. Georgia is a member of numerous international organizations, including the Council of Europe , Eurocontrol , BSEC , GUAM , Energy Community . As part of the Association Trio , Georgia is a candidate for membership in the European Union . Ancient Greeks ( Strabo , Herodotus , Plutarch , Homer , etc.) and Romans ( Titus Livius , Tacitus , etc.) referred to early western Georgians as Colchians and eastern Georgians as Iberians ( Iberoi , Ἰβηροι in some Greek sources). The first mention of
4142-420: The "Kolchian" ( Κολχίδα ) people and their mythical king Aeëtes ( Αἰήτης ), as well as his eponymous city Aea or Aia ( Αἶα ) , but don't make explicit references to a Kolchis nation or region. The main river was known as the Phasis (now Rioni ) and was, according to some writers the southern boundary of Colchis, but more probably flowed through the middle of that country from the Caucasus west into
4251-626: The 11th century, the nascent Georgian kingdom experienced geopolitical and internal difficulties, with various noble factions opposed to the centralization of the Georgian state. They were often backed by the Byzantine Empire, which feared a dominion of the Caucasus region by the Bagrationi dynasty, and in some instances fueled internal conflict through aristocratic families seeking more power. However, ties between Byzantium and Georgia were normalized when
4360-524: The 1930s. The 1918 Georgian–Armenian War , which erupted over parts of disputed provinces between Armenia and Georgia populated mostly by Armenians, ended because of British intervention. In 1918–1919, Georgian general Giorgi Mazniashvili led an attack against the White Army led by Moiseev and Denikin to claim the Black Sea coastline from Tuapse to Sochi and Adler for independent Georgia. In 1920 Soviet Russia recognized Georgia's independence with
4469-504: The 4th century BC when it was conquered by Alexander the Great , eventually leading to the creation of the Kingdom of Iberia under the protectorate of the Seleucid Empire , an early example of advanced state organization under one king and an aristocratic hierarchy. Various wars with the Roman Empire , Parthia , and Armenia made Iberia regularly change its allegiance, though it remained
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4578-647: The Bagrationi. Dynastic conflicts eventually weakened Abkhazia in the second half of the 10th century while in Tao-Klarjeti, Prince David III used his influence within Byzantine Anatolia to empower the Bagrationi. Bagrat III, heir of the Bagrationi dynasty, successively became King of Abkhazia (978), Prince of Tao-Klarjeti ( 1000 ), and King of the Iberians (1008), allowing him to unify most Georgian feudal states and be crowned in 1010 as King of Georgia . For much of
4687-403: The Brilliant (r. 1299–1302), known for reuniting eastern and western Georgia and restoring the country's previous strength and Christian culture. After his death, local rulers fought for their independence from central Georgian rule, until the total disintegration of the kingdom in the 15th century. Georgia was further weakened by several disastrous invasions by Timur . Invasions continued, giving
4796-487: The Caucasus, and extended over large parts of present-day Azerbaijan, Armenia, eastern Turkey, and northern Iran, and used the vacuum of power left by the Fourth Crusade to create the Empire of Trebizond as a Georgian vassal state. The revival of the Kingdom of Georgia was set back after Tbilisi was captured and destroyed by the Khwarezmian leader Jalal ad-Din in 1226, followed by devastating invasions by Mongol ruler Genghis Khan . The Mongols were expelled by George V
4905-431: The Colchian land. Subsequently, the Colchis people appear to have overthrown the Persian Authority, and to have formed an independent state. According to Ronald Suny this western Georgian state was federated to Kartli-Iberia, and its kings ruled through skeptoukhi (royal governors) who received a staff from the king. According to David Braund's reading of Strabo 's account, the native Colchian dynasty continued ruling
5014-423: The Colchians remembered the Egyptians better than the Egyptians remembered the Colchians; the Egyptians said that they considered the Colchians part of Sesostris' army. I myself guessed it, partly because they are dark-skinned and woolly-haired; though that indeed counts for nothing, since other peoples are, too; but my better proof was that the Colchians and Egyptians and Ethiopians are the only nations that have from
5123-426: The Colchians, with the Ancient Egyptians and the Ethiopians , were the first to practice circumcision , a custom which he claims that the Colchians inherited from remnants of the army of Pharaoh Sesostris ( Senusret III ). Herodotus writes: For it is plain to see that the Colchians are Egyptians; and what I say, I myself noted before I heard it from others. When it occurred to me, I inquired of both peoples; and
5232-519: The Euxine Sea written in 130-131 (from south to north): Sanni, Machelones , Heniochi , Zudreitae, Lazi , Apsilae , Abasgoi , Sanigs and Zilchi . According to traditional accounts Christianity began to spread in the early first century by Andrew the Apostle , Simon the Zealot , and Saint Matthias . A change in burial patterns in the 3rd century was possibly due to Christian influence. The Hellenistic civilization , local paganism and Mithraic Mysteries would, however, remain widespread until
5341-405: The Georgian royal Bagrationi dynasty , as well as the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church . Pyotr Bagration , one of the descendants of the abolished house of Bagrationi, later joined the Russian army and became a prominent general in the Napoleonic wars. On 22 December 1800, Tsar Paul I of Russia , at the alleged request of the Georgian King George XII , signed the proclamation on
5450-453: The Greeks' own usage of the name Colchis in political and mythological contexts (i.e. the relationship between "Aia-Colchis" and "the land of Colchis"). According to the scholar of Caucasian studies Cyril Toumanoff : Colchis appears as the first Caucasian State to have achieved the coalescence of the newcomer. Colchis can be justly regarded as not a proto-Georgian, but a Georgian (West Georgian) kingdom. ... It would seem natural to seek
5559-432: The Iberians in 888 , restoring the monarchy abolished three centuries prior. In Western Georgia, the Kingdom of Abkhazia benefited from the weakening of Byzantium in the region to unify various tribes and become one of the most powerful states of the Caucasus in the 8th century. In the 9th-10th centuries, Abkhazia grew its influence through several military campaigns and came to control much of Iberia and competing with
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#17329135267625668-418: The Ispani marsh. The surrounding region has diverse soil: seashore lowland is rich in peatbog soil. There are alpine rocks in the highlands, red soil is found in the hill areas. The mountainous area is good for subtropical species. Kobuleti has several rivers. The most important ones are the Kintrishi River , the Chakvistskali River , the Acharistskali River , the Ochkhamuri River , the Achkva River , and
5777-421: The Ottomans advanced into the Caucasian territories of the crumbling Russian Empire, Georgia declared independence on 26 May 1918. The Menshevik Social Democratic Party of Georgia won the parliamentary election and its leader, Noe Zhordania , became prime minister. Despite the Soviet takeover, Zhordania was recognized as the legitimate head of the Georgian Government by France, UK, Belgium, and Poland through
5886-411: The Persian court 100 girls and 100 boys every five years. In 400 BC, shortly after the Ten Thousand reached Trapezus , a battle was fought between them and the Colchis in which the latter were decisively defeated. The influence exerted on Colchis by the vast Achaemenid Empire with its thriving commerce and wide economic and commercial ties with other regions accelerated the socio-economic development of
5995-440: The Province of Galatia (63) and later, in Cappadocia (81). Phasis , Dioscurias and other Greek settlements of the coast did not fully recover after the wars of 60-40 BC and Trebizond became the economical and political centre of the region. Despite the fact that all major fortresses along the sea coast were occupied by the Romans, their rule was relatively loose. In 69, the people of Pontus and Colchis under Anicetus staged
6104-422: The Red Army entered Tbilisi and established a government of workers' and peasants' soviets with Filipp Makharadze as acting head of state. Georgia was incorporated into what would soon become the Soviet Union . Soviet rule was firmly established only after local insurrections were defeated. Georgia would remain an unindustrialized periphery of the USSR until the first five-year plan (1928–1932), when it became
6213-494: The Soviet Union in April 1991. For much of the subsequent decade , the country endured economic crises, political instability , and secessionist wars in Abkhazia and South Ossetia . Following the peaceful Rose Revolution in 2003, Georgia strongly pursued a pro-Western foreign policy, introducing a series of democratic and economic reforms aimed at integration into the European Union and NATO . This Western orientation led to worsening relations with Russia , culminating in
6322-408: The Soviet Union, contributing to the nation's consolidation. 1978 Georgian demonstrations saw the return of mass anti-Soviet protests, but this time government backed down. Throughout the remainder of the Soviet period, Georgia's economy continued to grow and experience significant improvement, though it increasingly exhibited blatant corruption and alienation of the government from the people. With
6431-431: The Urartians and their territories were themselves conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire . According to Svante Cornell , "What could be conceived as the proto Georgian statehood emerged mainly in the Western parts of today's Georgia, with the kingdom of Colchis ( Kolkheti ) in the sixth century BC." Colchis was inhabited by a number of tribes whose settlements lay along the shore of the Black Sea. Chief among those were
6540-434: The beginning of perestroika in 1986, the Georgian Soviet leadership proved so incapable of handling the changes that most Georgians, including rank and file communists, concluded that the only way forward was a break from the existing Soviet system. Starting in 1988, mass protests erupted in Georgia in favor of independence, led by Georgian nationalists such as Merab Kostava and Zviad Gamsakhurdia . The following year,
6649-473: The beginnings of Georgian social history in Colchis, the earliest Georgian formation. According to most Classical-era sources, Colchis was bordered on the south-west by Pontus , on the west by the Black Sea , as far as the river Corax. To its north was the Greater Caucasus , beyond which was Sarmatia . On its east it bordered the Kingdom of Iberia and Montes Moschici (now the Lesser Caucasus ). The south of Colchis bordered Armenia . The westward extent of
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#17329135267626758-447: The conduct of Georgian foreign affairs. Despite its commitment to defend Georgia, Russia rendered no assistance when the Iranians invaded in 1795, capturing and sacking Tbilisi and massacring its inhabitants. Although Russia initiated a punitive campaign against Persia in 1796, the Russian Imperial authorities subsequently violated key promises of the Georgievsk Treaty and in 1801 proceeded to annex eastern Georgia, while abolishing
6867-446: The core central Georgian region of Kartli , recorded from the 9th century, and in extended usage referring to the entire medieval Kingdom of Georgia prior to the 13th century. The Georgian circumfix sa -X- o is a standard geographic construction designating 'the area where X dwell', where X is an ethnonym . The self-designation used by ethnic Georgians is Kartvelebi ( ქართველები , i.e. 'Kartvelians'), first attested in
6976-479: The country in spite of its fragmentation into skeptoukhies . Gocha R. Tsetskhladze explains that although Colchis and neighboring Iberia were once viewed as not having been under Achaemenid rule, "ever more evidence is emerging to show that they were, forming a lesser part of the Armenian satrapy ". Mithridates VI quelled an uprising in the region in 83 BC and gave Colchis to his son Mithridates , who, soon being suspected in having plotted against his father,
7085-435: The country is considered differently by different authors: Strabo makes Colchis begin at Trabzon , while Ptolemy , on the other hand, extends Pontus to the Rioni River . Although some ancient authors consider Dioscurias to be the extreme northern settlement point of Colchians (in an ethnic sense), nevertheless "they consider it as a point located on the territory of non-Colchian tribes ( Heniochi , Sanigs )". Since in
7194-530: The country is named საქართველო ( Sakartvelo ) and Қырҭтәыла ( Kərttʷʼəla ) respectively. Prior to the adoption of the Constitution in 1995 and following the dissolution of the USSR , the country was commonly called the "Republic of Georgia" and occasionally it still is. Several languages continue to use the Russian variant of the country's name, Gruzia , which the Georgian authorities have sought to replace through diplomatic campaigns. Since 2006, Israel, Japan, and South Korea legally changed their appellation of
7303-426: The country to variants of the English Georgia . In 2020, Lithuania became the first country in the world to adopt Sakartvelas in all official communications. The oldest traces of archaic humans in what is now Georgia date from approximately 1.8 million years ago in the form of the Dmanisi hominins , a subspecies of Homo erectus representing the oldest-known fossils of hominins in Eurasia . Buffered by
7412-426: The destination of the Argonauts , as well as the home to Medea and the Golden Fleece . It was also described as a land rich with gold, iron, timber and honey that would export its resources mostly to ancient Hellenic city-states. Colchis likely had a diverse population. According to Greek and Roman sources, between 70 and 300 languages were spoken in Dioscourias (modern Sukhumi) alone. According to Rayfield,
7521-418: The earliest ages, that Sesostris king of Egypt was overcome in Scythia , and put to fight, by the king of Colchis, which if true, that the Colchians not only had kings in those times, but were a very powerful people. Many modern theories suggest that the ancestors of the Laz - Mingrelians constituted the dominant ethnic and cultural presence in the region in antiquity, and hence played a significant role in
7630-463: The elevation below 20 m (66 ft) above sea level. Marginal parts of the region are mountains of the Great and the Lesser Caucasus and Likhi Range. Its territory mostly corresponds to what is now the western part of Georgia and encompasses the present-day Georgian provinces of Samegrelo , Imereti , Guria , Adjara , Abkhazia , Svaneti , Racha ; the modern Turkey ’s Rize , Trabzon and Artvin provinces ( Lazistan , Tao-Klarjeti ); and
7739-428: The empire. The principality of Guria was abolished and incorporated into the Empire in 1829, while Svaneti was gradually annexed in 1858. Mingrelia , although a Russian protectorate since 1803, was not absorbed until 1867. Russian rule offered the Georgians security from external threats, but it was also often heavy-handed and insensitive. By the late 19th century, discontent with the Russian authorities grew into
7848-632: The entire Caucasus, though Christian rulers of Iberia sought to rebel at times, leading to devastating wars in the 5–6th centuries, most famously under the rule of King Vakhtang Gorgasali who expanded Iberia to its largest historical extent by capturing all of western Georgia and building a new capital in Tbilisi . In 580, the Sasanian Empire abolished the Kingdom of Iberia, leading to the disintegration of its constituent territories into various feudal regions by
7957-408: The ethnogenesis of the modern Georgians . Pausanias , a 1st-century BC Greek geographer, citing the poet Eumelos, assigned Aeëtes , the mythological first king of Colchis, a Greek origin. The tribes living in the southern Colchis ( Macrones , Moschi , and Marres ) were incorporated into Persia and formed the 19th satrapy , while the northern tribes submitted "voluntarily" and had to send to
8066-571: The few anthronyms found in Colchian burials." Instead, Greek , Anatolian , Iranian , and possibly Abkhaz names are present. At the beginning of the XX century, a researcher of ancient history Peter Ushakov notes: "In ancient times, during the 15th-18th centuries BC, the tribes of the Abkhazian - Circassian group inhabited the entire space of the western half of the Caucasus from the Black Sea province through
8175-489: The first female ruler of Georgia, is considered the most successful in Georgian history. Tamar was given the title "king of kings" and succeeded in neutralizing her opposition, while embarking on an energetic foreign policy aided by the downfall of the rival powers of the Seljuks and Byzantium. Supported by a powerful military élite, Tamar was able to build on the successes of her predecessors to consolidate an empire that dominated
8284-748: The first mention of Colchis is during the reign of the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I of the Middle Assyrian Empire (1245–1209 BC) when he mentions "40 kings by the Upper [Black] Sea". Colchis territory is mostly assigned to what is now the western part of Georgia and encompasses the present-day Georgian provinces of Samegrelo , Imereti , Guria , Adjara , Svaneti , Racha ; Abkhazia ; modern Russia 's Sochi and Tuapse districts; and present-day Turkey ’s Artvin , Rize , and Trabzon provinces. Colchis, Kolkha, Qulḫa, or Kilkhi, which existed from
8393-507: The first practised circumcision. These claims have been widely rejected by modern historians. It is in doubt if Herodotus had ever been to Colchis or Egypt, and no Egyptian army ever set foot in the Caucasus, a region shielded by states to the south of the Caucasus too powerful for any Egyptian army to pass through, such as Urartu , Hittia , Assyria and Mitanni . According to Pliny the Elder : The Colchians were governed by their own kings in
8502-457: The first use of fibers, possibly for clothing, more than 34,000 years ago, the first cases of viticulture ( 7th millennium BC ), and the first signs of gold mining ( 3rd millennium BC ). The Kura-Araxes , Trialeti , and Colchian cultures coincided with the development of proto-Kartvelian tribes that may have come from Anatolia during the expansion of the Hittite Empire , including
8611-705: The fourth century. Goths , dwelling in the Crimea and looking for new homes, raided Colchis in 253, but were repulsed with the help of the Roman garrison of Pitsunda . By the first century BC, the Lazica (or the Laz) kingdom was established in the region. Lazica became known as Egrisi in 66 BC when Egrisi became a vassal of the Roman Empire after the Caucasian campaign of Pompey . Colchian coins,
8720-522: The incorporation of Georgia (Kartli-Kakheti) within the Russian Empire, which was finalized by a decree on 8 January 1801, and confirmed by Tsar Alexander I on 12 September 1801. The Bagrationi royal family was deported from the kingdom. The Georgian envoy in Saint Petersburg reacted with a note of protest that was presented to the Russian vice-chancellor, Prince Kurakin. In May 1801, under
8829-588: The kingdom no time for restoration, with both Qara Qoyunlu and Aq Qoyunlu Turkomans constantly raiding its southern provinces. The Kingdom of Georgia collapsed into anarchy by 1466 and fragmented into three independent kingdoms and five semi-independent principalities . Neighboring large empires subsequently exploited the internal division of the weakened country, and beginning in the 16th century, various Ottoman and Iranian forces subjugated western and eastern regions of Georgia, respectively. This pushed local Georgian rulers to seek closer ties with Russia. In 1649,
8938-520: The land'). These centuries-old explanations for the word Georgia / Georgians are now mostly rejected by the scholarly community, who point to the Persian word gurğ / gurğān ( گرگ , ' wolf ' ) as the likely root of the word. Under this hypothesis, the same Persian root was later adopted in numerous other languages, including Slavic and West European languages. The native name is Sakartvelo ( საქართველო ; 'land of Kartvelians '), derived from
9047-463: The majority Georgian populations, erupted into widespread inter-ethnic violence and wars. Supported by Russia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia achieved de facto independence from Georgia, with Georgia retaining control only in small areas of the disputed territories. Eduard Shevardnadze (Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1985 to 1991) was named as the head of Georgia's new government in March 1992 and
9156-440: The modern Russia ’s Sochi and Tuapse districts. The climate is mild humid; near Batumi , annual rainfall level reaches 4,000 mm (160 in), which is the absolute maximum for continental western Eurasia. The dominating natural landscapes of Colchis are temperate rainforests , yet degraded in the plain part of the region; wetlands (along the coastal parts of Colchis Plain); subalpine and alpine meadows . Colchis has
9265-586: The most important elements in the modern Georgian nation, the Colchians were probably established in the Caucasus by the Middle Bronze Age ." It has been described in modern scholarship as "the earliest Georgian formation", which, along with the Kingdom of Iberia , would later contribute significantly to the development of the Kingdom of Georgia and the Georgian nation . Colchis is known in Greek mythology as
9374-519: The name Georgia is in Italian on the mappa mundi of Pietro Vesconte dated 1320. At the early stage of its appearance in the Latin world, the name was often spelled Jorgia . Lore-based theories were given by traveler Jacques de Vitry , who explained the name's origin by the popularity of St. George among Georgians, while Jean Chardin thought that Georgia came from the Greek γεωργός ('tiller of
9483-695: The nation's cultural and intellectual life. During World War II , Germany led an Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941 with the aim of conquering all territory up to the Ural Mountains . As the initial operation stalled, the Axis launched the Fall Blau offensive in 1942 to take control of strategic Caucasian oil fields and munitions factories; ultimately, Axis troops were stopped before reaching Georgian borders. Over 700,000 Georgians—constituting about 20 percent of
9592-490: The nucleus of the modern Georgian state. In the early fourth century, Georgians officially adopted Christianity , which contributed to the unification into the Kingdom of Georgia . Georgia reached its Golden Age during the High Middle Ages under the reigns of King David IV and Queen Tamar . Beginning in the 15th century, the kingdom declined and disintegrated under pressure from various regional powers, including
9701-438: The oldest of which were dated to the middle of the 6th century BC, served as the primary source of evidence for the Colchian state. A reassessment of the coins, however, has revealed that these early "Colchian" coins actually represent the production of a Achaemenid satrapy. Little is known of the rulers of Colchis. From the fifth century B.C.E. onwards, Colchis was identified as Aea, the mythical home of Aeëtes , Medea ,
9810-532: The oversight of General Carl Heinrich von Knorring, Imperial Russia transferred power in eastern Georgia to the government headed by General Ivan Petrovich Lazarev . The Georgian nobility did not accept the decree until 12 April 1802, when Knorring assembled the nobility at the Sioni Cathedral and forced them to take an oath on the Imperial Crown of Russia . Those who disagreed were temporarily arrested. In
9919-418: The population—fought in the Red Army to repel the invaders and advance towards Berlin; an estimated 350,000 were killed. After Stalin's death , Nikita Khrushchev became the leader of the Soviet Union and implemented a policy of de-Stalinization . Khrushchev's purges were met with riots in Tbilisi that had to be dispersed by military force. This violent turn of events that compromised Georgian loyalty to
10028-552: The region. Representatives of 24 different nationalities live together with Georgians in the region. Kobuleti is known with its traditions, hospitality, climatic areas, mild subtropical climate , ionized maritime air, bright shining sun and warm sea. The unique pebbly beach widely inclined to the sea is noted with its marvelous views beautified by sky-scraped endemic pine trees, eucalypts, bamboo, cypress grove, date and cocoa palms. The Kintrishi and Tikeri reserve areas are unique with their bio-diversity . One can find rare flora in
10137-572: The region; this also led to the establishment of several feudal states seeking independence from each other, such as the Emirate of Tbilisi and the Principality of Kakheti . Western Georgia remained mostly a Byzantine protectorate, especially following the Lazic War . The lack of a central government in Georgia allowed the rise of the Bagrationi dynasty in the early 9th century. Consolidating lands in
10246-474: The reigns of David IV (r. 1089–1125) and his great-granddaughter Tamar (r. 1184–1213) has been widely termed as the Georgian Golden Age . This early Georgian renaissance, which preceded its Western European analog, was characterized by impressive military victories, territorial expansion, and a cultural renaissance in architecture, literature, philosophy and the sciences. The Golden Age of Georgia left
10355-483: The seaboard of the Euxine, Sarapana (now Shorapani ), Phasis (now Poti ), Pityus (now Pitsunda ), Apsaros (now Gonio ), Surium (now Vani ), Archaeopolis (now Nokalakevi ), Macheiresis, and Cyta or Cutatisium or Aia (now Kutaisi ), the traditional birthplace of Medea . Scylax mentions also Mala or Male, which he, in contradiction to other writers, makes the birthplace of Medea . In physical geography , Colchis
10464-501: The smelting and casting of metals. Sophisticated farming implements were made, and fertile, well-watered lowlands and a mild climate promoted the growth of progressive agricultural techniques. The earliest attestations of the name of Colchis can be found in the 8th century Greek poet Eumelus of Corinth as Κολχίδα and earlier, in Urartian records as Qulḫa mentioned by the Urartian kings, who conquered it in 744 or 743 BC before
10573-537: The son and heir of Zenon, Colchis was part of the Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom . After the death of Polemon (8 BC), his second wife Pythodorida of Pontus retained possession of Colchis as well as of Pontus, although the kingdom of Bosporus was wrested from her power. Her son and successor, Polemon II of Pontus , was induced by Emperor Nero to abdicate the throne, and both Pontus and Colchis were incorporated in
10682-478: The southwestern region of Tao-Klarjeti , Prince Ashot I (813–830) used infighting between Arab governors to expand his influence to Iberia and was recognized as Presiding Prince of Iberia by both the Abbasid Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire. Though Ashot's descendants formed competing princely lines, Adarnase IV managed to unify most Georgian lands (except for Kakheti and Abkhazia) and was crowned King of
10791-591: The summer of 1805, Russian troops on the Askerani River near Zagam defeated the Iranian army during the 1804–13 Russo-Persian War and saved Tbilisi from reconquest now that it was officially part of the Imperial territories. Russian suzerainty over eastern Georgia was officially finalized with Iran in 1813 following the Treaty of Gulistan . Following the annexation of eastern Georgia, the western Georgian kingdom of Imereti
10900-425: The two countries faced a new common enemy, the rising Seljuk Empire in the 1060s. Following the decisive Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, Constantinople started to retreat from eastern Anatolia and entrusted Georgia with its administration, placing Georgia at the forefront of Turkish in the 1080s. The Kingdom of Georgia reached its zenith in the 12th to early 13th centuries. This period during
11009-516: The well-developed Bronze Age culture known as the Colchian culture , related to the neighbouring Koban culture , that emerged toward the Middle Bronze Age . In at least some parts of Colchis, the process of urbanization seems to have been well advanced by the end of the second millennium BC. The Colchian Late Bronze Age (fifteenth to eighth century BC) saw the development of significant skill in
11118-555: The whole of Colchis in a continuous strip to the sources of the Euphrates and were divided into four branches: the people of Mitanni , Colchians, Abasgi and Ubykhs ." The name Colchis is thought to have derived from the Urartian Qulḫa . In the mid-eighth century BC, Sarduri II , the King of Urartu , inscribed his victory over Qulḫa on a stele; however, the exact location of Qulḫa
11227-459: Was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( Georgian : ეგრისი ) located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea , centered in present-day western Georgia . Its population, the Colchians , are generally thought to have been mainly an early Kartvelian-speaking tribe ancestral to contemporary western Georgians , namely Svans and Zans . According to David Marshall Lang : "one of
11336-449: Was annexed by Tsar Alexander I. The last Imeretian king and the last Georgian Bagrationi ruler, Solomon II , died in exile in 1815, after attempts to rally people against Russia and to enlist foreign support against the latter, had been in vain. From 1803 to 1878, as a result of numerous Russian wars now against Ottoman Turkey , several of Georgia's previously lost territories – such as Adjara – were recovered, and also incorporated into
11445-523: Was deposed by the Rose Revolution , after Georgian opposition and international monitors asserted that 2 November parliamentary elections were marred by fraud. The revolution was led by Mikheil Saakashvili , Zurab Zhvania and Nino Burjanadze , former members and leaders of Shevardnadze's ruling party. Mikheil Saakashvili was elected as President of Georgia in 2004. Following the Rose Revolution,
11554-588: Was elected as head of state in that year's elections , later as president in 1995 . During the War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) , roughly 230,000 to 250,000 Georgians were expelled from Abkhazia by Abkhaz separatists and North Caucasian militants (including Chechens). Around 23,000 Georgians fled South Ossetia. By 1994, Georgia was facing a severe economic crisis, with bread rations and shortages of electricity, water and heat. In 2003, Shevardnadze (who won re-election in 2000)
11663-595: Was elected president in the first presidential election with 86.5% of the vote on a turnout of over 83%. Gamsakhurdia was soon deposed in a bloody coup d'état , from 22 December 1991 to 6 January 1992. The coup was instigated by part of the National Guard and a paramilitary organization called " Mkhedrioni " ("horsemen"). The country then became embroiled in a bitter civil war , which lasted until December 1993. Simmering disputes within two regions of Georgia; Abkhazia and South Ossetia , between local separatists and
11772-825: Was executed. During the Third Mithridatic War , Mithridates VI made another of his sons, Machares , king of Bosporus and Colchis, who held his power, but only for a short period. On the defeat of Mithridates VI of Pontus in 65 BC, Colchis was occupied by Pompey , who captured one of the local chiefs (sceptuchus) Olthaces, and installed Aristarchus as a dynast (63–47 BC). On the fall of Pompey, Pharnaces II , son of Mithridates , took advantage of Julius Caesar being occupied in Egypt , and reduced Colchis, Armenia , and some part of Cappadocia , defeating Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus , whom Caesar subsequently sent against him. His triumph was, however, short-lived. Under Polemon I ,
11881-399: Was the main staple crop in Colchis. Wheat grew in certain regions and was also imported by sea. Similarly, local wines were produced and some wines were brought from overseas. The Colchian plain provided ample grazing land for cattle and horses, with the name of Phasis associated with fine horses. The wetlands were a home for waterfowl, while Colchian pheasants were exported to Rome and became
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