
Shatili valley in the Khevsureti region.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Situated at the juncture of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the east by Azerbaijan. Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 kmē and its population is 4.7 million, largely ethnic Georgians.
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 as an official religion, early in the 4th century. At the beginning of the 19th century Georgia became a part of the Russian Empire. After a brief period of independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Georgia was forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1922.
Independence was restored in 1991. Like many post-communist countries Georgia suffered from the economic crisis and civil unrest during the 1990s. After the bloodless Rose Revolution, however, the new leadership has established efficient government institutions, reformed the economy and guided the country through a period of the fastest economic growth in its history.
The landscape within the nation's boundaries is quite varied. Western Georgia's landscape ranges from low-land marsh-forests, swamps, and temperate rain forests to eternal snows and glaciers, while the eastern part of the country even contains a small segment of semi-arid plains characteristic of Central Asia. Forests cover around 40% of Georgia's territory while the alpine/subalpine zone accounts for roughly around 10% of the land.
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