Land and People

Situated on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus and in the Lesser Caucasus, Georgia is largely ruggedly mountainous. The Suram Mts. separate the Rion (Rioni) and Kura river valleys. The perpetually snowcapped Mt. Kazbek, the tallest peak within Georgia, rises to 16,541 ft (5,042 m). The climate is humid subtropical in the Black Sea lowland of Mingrelia, alpine in the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, and dry in the Kura steppes in the east. Included in Georgia are the Abkhazia, the Adjarian Autonomous Republic (Adjaria), and South Ossetia (see Ossetia). In addition to Tbilisi, other important cities are Rustavi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Sukhumi, and Poti.

More than two thirds of the population are Georgians—a people who speak a language related to the Ibero-Caucasian family of languages. Armenians, Azeris, and Russians are the other major ethnic groups, with Ossetians, Abkhazians, and Adjars in smaller numbers. The Georgian church, to which most of the ethnic Georgians belong, is an independent Eastern Orthodox congregation. Georgian is the official language. There has been a standard Georgian literary language since about the 5th cent. (see Georgian literature). Russian is also widely spoken. Educational and cultural institutions include the university at Tbilisi (est. 1918) and the Georgian Academy of Sciences.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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