Georgia Map

Georgia sits on the southern flank of the Greater Caucasus, between the Black Sea and the dry steppes of Azerbaijan. Russia lies along the mountain crest to the north, Turkey and Armenia to the south and Azerbaijan to the south-east. The country covers 69,700 km², a figure that includes the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and has about 3.8 million people (UN World Population Prospects, 2025 estimate); Georgia's own 2024 census counted 3.93 million. It is usually grouped with West Asia, though Georgians often describe their country as European, and it applied to join the EU in 2022.

Two mountain walls and a divide in the middle

The Greater Caucasus forms almost the whole northern border. Georgia's highest peak, Shkhara (5,193 m), rises on the border in Upper Svaneti, and the extinct volcano Kazbek (5,054 m) towers over the Georgian Military Road, the historic route through the Darial Gorge to Vladikavkaz in Russia. The lower Lesser Caucasus runs along the south towards Turkey and Armenia, and the volcanic Javakheti Plateau around Akhalkalaki sits above 1,500 m.

Between them, the short north-south Likhi (Surami) Range splits the country in two. West of it the Kolkheti (Colchis) Lowland opens to the Black Sea: warm, humid and green, drained by the Rioni and the Enguri, whose Enguri Dam is one of the tallest concrete arch dams in the world. East of it the climate turns drier and more continental. The Mtkvari (Kura) flows through Tbilisi on its way to the Caspian, and the Alazani valley in Kakheti holds most of the country's vineyards.

Climate and the best time to go

The Black Sea coast around Batumi is humid subtropical and one of the wettest places in the region, with heavy rain in autumn. Tbilisi has hot summers, often above 35°C in July and August, and cold but fairly dry winters. Late May to June and September to October suit most trips; high mountain areas such as Svaneti and Tusheti are best between July and September, and the road into Tusheti over the Abano Pass is usually open only from about June to October. Gudauri, on the Military Road, is the main ski resort from December to March.

Regions and the breakaway territories

Georgia is divided into nine regions (mkhare), the capital Tbilisi, and two autonomous republics, Adjara on the Black Sea around Batumi and Abkhazia. Two areas are outside the government's control:

• Abkhazia, in the north-west, broke away in a war in 1992-93 that displaced most of its ethnic Georgian population.
• South Ossetia (called the Tskhinvali region by the Georgian government), north of Gori, fought Georgian forces in 1991-92.

After a five-day war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008, Russia recognised both as independent states and keeps troops in them; only a handful of other states have followed. Georgia, the EU and most of the world regard them as Georgian territory under Russian occupation. Together they make up roughly a fifth of Georgia's internationally recognised area.

Major Cities

• Tbilisi - The capital, home to about 1.33 million people at the 2024 census, a third of the population; its old town of balconied houses and sulphur baths sits below the Narikala fortress on the Mtkvari.
• Batumi - Adjara's capital and Georgia's main Black Sea resort and port; it grew by over 50% between the 2014 and 2024 censuses and has overtaken Kutaisi as the second-largest city.
• Kutaisi - Ancient capital of western Georgia, with the Gelati Monastery and an international airport used by low-cost airlines; Georgia's parliament met here from 2012 to 2019.
• Rustavi - A Soviet-era steel town just south-east of Tbilisi on the road and railway to Azerbaijan.
• Poti - The main cargo port at the mouth of the Rioni, an end point of the trade corridor from the Caspian.

A crossroads of corridors

Armenia's borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan have long been closed, and the only road across the Caucasus to Russia runs through Georgia at Upper Lars, so much of the South Caucasus's east-west and north-south traffic passes through the country. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline (2006) and the South Caucasus gas pipeline cross it, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway (2017) links the Caspian to Turkey. Black Sea ports at Poti and Batumi serve Armenia and Azerbaijan as well as Georgia, and a deep-water port at Anaklia has long been planned. GDP per capita was about US$9,700 in 2025 (World Bank), with tourism, transit, wine and remittances important.

History, faith and wine

The kingdom of Kartli (Iberia) adopted Christianity in the 330s, traditionally after the preaching of Saint Nino, and the Georgian Orthodox Church remains central to national identity. The medieval kingdom reached its height under David IV and Queen Tamar around 1100-1210 before Mongol, Persian and Ottoman invasions fragmented it. Russia absorbed eastern Georgia in 1801, and after a short independence in 1918-21 the country became a Soviet republic; Stalin was born in Gori. Independence came in 1991. Georgia was granted EU candidate status in December 2023, but in November 2024 the Georgian Dream government suspended accession talks until 2028, and relations with Brussels remain strained as of 2026.

Georgian has its own script, used in three historic forms whose living culture UNESCO added to its intangible heritage list in 2016, along with polyphonic singing and winemaking in clay qvevri jars. Pottery residues from sites near Tbilisi show wine was being made here about 8,000 years ago. The country has four World Heritage Sites: the Gelati Monastery, the historic churches of Mtskheta, the tower villages of Upper Svaneti, and the Colchic rainforests and wetlands. Kutaisi's Bagrati Cathedral was removed from the list in 2017 after a reconstruction UNESCO considered too invasive.