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Focus REPORT: GEORGIA


In 2008 a military conflict between Georgia and Russia/South Ossetia and


Abkhazia began and saw Georgian


troops attack towns around South


Ossetia until they


were defeated and had to retreat. Today Russian troops remain in


South Ossetia and Abkhazia which they see as independent


countries whilst


Georgia considers them to be


territories under Russian


occupation.


South Ossetia meanwhile is a de facto independent state and is officially separate from Russia’s North Ossetia and is known within Georgia as the Tskinvali region. The capital Tbilisi stands on the banks of the River Mtkvari in a valley surrounded by hills. Its name is derived from the word tbili (warm) and it is covered with stone houses built around vine draped courtyards and small winding streets, which have a Mediterranean atmosphere. The capital city is currently undergoing a new urban development strategy to help the city’s development.


Like most Caucasian people the Georgians do not fit into any of the main ethnic categories of Europe or Asia. Ethnic Georgians called themselves Kartvelebi and their land was known as Sakartvelo (a place for Kartvelians).


The history of Georgia can be traced back to the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia and it was one of the first countries to adopt Christianity in the early 4th century. Early kingdoms were separated by various feudal regions by the early Middle Ages and this made it easier for the Arabs to conquer parts of south east Georgia. The country reached its zenith in the 12th and 13th centuries and this period has been termed as Georgia’s


Golden Age and it left a legacy of great cathedrals, poetry and literature. This was cut short by the Mongol invasion in 1236 and subsequently the Ottoman and Persian empires began to infiltrate the region. In 1783, Russia and the eastern Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti signed the Treaty of Georgievsk, which recognised the bond of orthodox Christianity between Russian and Georgian people and promised eastern Georgia protection. But this failed to happen some years later when the Turks and Persians invaded devastating Tbilisi and massacred its inhabitants.


After the Russian revolution in 1917 Georgia declared independence in 1918 in the midst of the Russian Civil War, which lasted for three years until 1921. The Soviets once again took control in 1924 and Georgia was incorporated into the Transcaucasian SFSR uniting Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.


World War II saw Georgians lose their lives against the Nazi Germany after fighting with the Red Army and a movement to restore Georgia’s statehood began in 1960 again. In 1989 a peaceful demonstration resulted in death by Soviet troops and finally in April 1991 the country declared independence and Zviad


Gamsakhurdia was elected as first President. He imposed a coup which sparked a bitter civil war which lasted until 1995 until Shevardnadze was officially elected president. He was replaced in 2004 by Mikheil Saakashvili who was re-elected in 2008 despite allegations of fraud within the voting system.


In 2008 a military conflict between Georgia and Russia/South Ossetia and Abkhazia began and saw Georgian troops attack towns around South Ossetia until they were defeated and had to retreat. Today Russian troops remain in South Ossetia and Abkhazia which they see as independent countries whilst Georgia considers them to be territories under Russian occupation.


georgia’s develoPMent Back in 2006/7 Georgia’s economy sustained GDP growth of more than 10 per cent, which was at the time based on strong inflows of foreign investment and a robust government spending policy. Not unsurprisingly, however, the country’s GDP slowed in 2008, following the conflict with Russia, which turned negative in 2009 as foreign debt and workers’ remittances dropped in the wake of the global recession.


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