Other Georgian Info

-Predominantly Orthodox Christian, with minorities of Muslim and Armenian also present
-Population: ~4.5 million
-Main language is Georgian, but Russian, Armenian and Azeri are also spoken in small pockets
-100% literacy rate
-High unemployment...roughly 16% nationally, but 35.5% unemployment for people ages 15-24...potential for civil unrest and revolution?

Georgian Economy

-Georgia's economy sustained GDP growth of more than 10% in 2006-07, based on strong inflows of foreign investment and robust government spending.
-GDP growth slowed in 2008 following the August 2008 conflict with Russia, and turned negative in 2009 as foreign direct investment and workers' remittances declined in the wake of the global financial crisis, but rebounded in 2010.
-Georgia's main economic activities include the cultivation of agricultural products such as grapes, citrus fruits, and hazelnuts; mining of manganese and copper; and output of a small industrial sector producing alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, metals, machinery, aircraft and chemicals.
-Areas of recent improvement include growth in the construction, banking services, and mining sectors, but reduced availability of external investment and the slowing regional economy are emerging risks.
-The country imports nearly all its needed supplies of natural gas and oil products.
-It has sizeable hydropower capacity, a growing component of its energy supplies.
-Georgia has overcome the chronic energy shortages and gas supply interruptions of the past by renovating hydropower plants and by increasingly relying on natural gas imports from Azerbaijan instead of from Russia.

Georgian Geography

-Georgia is located in Southwest Asia, bordering Russia and Turkey, the Black Sea and the Caspain Sea.
-Most maps reference this country as a part of the Middle East; however, the relatonship between the Western powers and Georgia vary strongly from other countries typically associated with the "Middle East".
-Country Size is slightly smaller than the state of South Carolina.
-Mediterranian climate along the coast, highland climate in mountain regions.
-Largely mountainous with Great Caucasus Mountains in the north and Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the south.
-Strategically located east of the Black Sea; Georgia controls much of the Caucasus Mountains and the routes through them.

Georgian History



The region of present day Georgia contained the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Kartli-Iberia. The area came under Roman influence in the first centuries A.D. and Christianity became the state religion in the 330s. Domination by Persians, Arabs, and Turks was followed by a Georgian golden age (11th-13th centuries) that was cut short by the Mongol invasion of 1236. Subsequently, the Ottoman and Persian empires competed for influence in the region. Georgia was absorbed into the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Independent for three years (1918-1921) following the Russian revolution, it was forcibly incorporated into the USSR until the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. An attempt by the incumbent Georgian government to manipulate national legislative elections in November 2003 touched off widespread protests that led to the resignation of Eduard SHEVARDNADZE, president since 1995. New elections in early 2004 swept Mikheil SAAKASHVILI into power along with his United National Movement party. Progress on market reforms and democratization has been made in the years since independence, but this progress has been complicated by Russian assistance and support to the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. After a series of Russian and separatist provocations in summer 2008, Georgian military action in South Ossetia in early August led to a Russian military response that not only occupied the breakaway areas, but large portions of Georgia proper as well. Russian troops pulled back from most occupied Georgian territory, but in late August 2008 Russia unilaterally recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gg.html

First Inquiry

You"ve asked for it, so here's our first task at the Georgian Chronicle:

Facts & Figures: Compile basic demographic figures for the country that
you selected, and offer this information as your first blog post. Give
readers basic information about your country: Where is it? Who lives
there? What kind of government? What are the leading industries?
Religions? Ethnicities? When was the country formed? What else should
readers know? Be creative and try to organize your data so that it's
easy to read/understand. Maps/pictures/visuals are helpful too.

Welcome

Welcome to the beginning of the critically acclaimed Georgian Chronicle...