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101-507: The Georgians , or Kartvelians ( / k ɑːr t ˈ v ɛ l i ə n z / ; Georgian : ქართველები , romanized : kartvelebi , pronounced [kʰaɾtʰʷelebi] ), are a nation and Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Georgian kingdoms. Significant Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia , Turkey , Greece , Iran , Ukraine ,

202-457: A vigesimal numeric system like Basque and (partially) French . Numbers greater than 20 and less than 100 are described as the sum of the greatest possible multiple of 20 plus the remainder. For example, "93" literally translates as 'four times twenty plus thirteen' ( ოთხმოცდაცამეტი , otkhmotsdatsamet’i ). One of the most important Georgian dictionaries is the Explanatory dictionary of

303-476: A British force was deployed in Tbilisi too. Georgia's relations with its neighbors were uneasy. Territorial disputes with Armenia, Denikin 's White Russian government and Azerbaijan led to armed conflicts in the first two cases. A British military mission attempted to mediate these conflicts in order to consolidate all anti-Bolshevik forces in the region. To prevent White Russian army forces from crossing into

404-569: A Roman grammarian from the 2nd century AD. The first direct attestations of the language are inscriptions and palimpsests dating to the 5th century, and the oldest surviving literary work is the 5th century Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik by Iakob Tsurtaveli . The emergence of Georgian as a written language appears to have been the result of the Christianization of Georgia in the mid-4th century, which led to

505-665: A capital-like effect called Mtavruli for titles and inscriptions. Georgian is an agglutinative language with a complex verb structure that can include up to eight morphemes , exhibiting polypersonalism . The language has seven noun cases and employs a left-branching structure with adjectives preceding nouns and postpositions instead of prepositions. Georgian lacks grammatical gender and articles, with definite meanings established through context. Georgian's rich derivation system allows for extensive noun and verb formation from roots, with many words featuring initial consonant clusters. The Georgian writing system has evolved from ancient scripts to

606-546: A degree of autonomy. Article 107 of the constitution gave autonomy to Abkhazia and Zaqatala. However, due to the Red Army invasion, the exact nature of this autonomy was never determined. It did however serve as the first time in the modern era that Abkhazia was defined as a geographic entity. The territory of the Democratic Republic of Georgia included some territories that today belong to other countries. It

707-1030: A moderate, multi-party political system led by the Georgian Social Democratic Party ( Mensheviks ). Initially, DRG was a protectorate of the German Empire . However, after the German defeat in World War I , the country was partially occupied by British troops, who were sent there to counter a proposed Bolshevik invasion. The British had to leave in 1920 because of the Treaty of Moscow , in which Russia recognized Georgia's independence in exchange for DRG not hosting forces hostile to Russia's interests. Now that Western European powers were no longer present in Georgia, in February 1921

808-461: A political settlement of the relations between two countries in the hope that this might lead to recognition of Georgia's independence by Moscow . Severe criticism of the Georgian refusal by Russian leaders was followed by several unsuccessful attempts by local communists to organize mass anti-government protests. In April 1920, the 11th Red Army established a Soviet regime in Azerbaijan , and

909-490: A ri means 'friend'; megobrebi ( megob Ø rebi ) means 'friends', with the loss of a in the last syllable of the word stem. Georgian has seven noun cases: nominative , ergative , dative , genitive , instrumental , adverbial and vocative . An interesting feature of Georgian is that, while the subject of a sentence is generally in the nominative case and the object is in the accusative case (or dative), one can find this reversed in many situations (this depends mainly on

1010-399: A row, as may be seen in words like გვფრცქვნ ი gvprtskvni 'you peel us' and მწვრთნ ელი mts’vrtneli 'trainer'. Vicenik has observed that Georgian vowels following ejective stops have creaky voice and suggests this may be one cue distinguishing ejectives from their aspirated and voiced counterparts. Georgian has been written in a variety of scripts over its history. Currently

1111-611: A significant number of irreligious Georgians . Located in the Caucasus , on the continental crossroads of Europe and Asia , the High Middle Ages saw Georgian people form a unified Kingdom of Georgia in 1008 AD, the pan-Caucasian empire, later inaugurating the Georgian Golden Age , a height of political and cultural power of the nation. This lasted until the kingdom was weakened and later disintegrated as

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1212-612: A strong suspicion that Georgia was aiding armed rebels in the North Caucasus. For its part, Georgia accused Moscow of fomenting anti-government riots in various regions of the country, and of provoking border incidents in the Zaqatala region , disputed with the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic . The Lori "neutral zone" was another challenge, as Soviet Armenia categorically demanded that Georgia withdraw

1313-555: A temporary step against the Bolshevik revolution and considered calls for Georgia's independence chauvinistic and separatist. The union of Transcaucasus was short-lived though. Undermined by increasing internal tensions and by pressure from the German and Ottoman empires, the federation collapsed on 26 May 1918, when Georgia declared independence. Two days later both Armenia and Azerbaijan declared their independence as well. Georgia

1414-612: A unified regional authority known as the Transcaucasian Commissariat (14 November 1917) and later a legislature, the Sejm (23 January 1918). On 22 April 1918, the Sejm – Nikolay Chkheidze was the president – declared the Transcaucasus an independent democratic federation with an executive Transcaucasian government chaired by Evgeni Gegechkori and later by Akaki Chkhenkeli . Many Georgians, influenced by

1515-589: A word. Georgian vowels in non-initial syllables are pronounced with a shorter duration compared to vowels in initial syllables. long polysyllabic words may have a secondary stress on their third or fourth syllable. Georgian contains many "harmonic clusters" involving two consonants of a similar type (voiced, aspirated, or ejective) that are pronounced with only a single release; e.g. ბგ ერა bgera 'sound', ცხ ოვრება tskhovreba 'life', and წყ ალი ts’q’ali 'water'. There are also frequent consonant clusters , sometimes involving more than six consonants in

1616-520: Is also a small number of Georgian Jews , tracing their ancestors to the Babylonian captivity . In addition to traditional religious confessions, Georgia retains irreligious segments of society , as well as a significant portion of nominally religious individuals who do not actively practice their faith. The Georgian cuisine is specific to the country, but also contains some influences from other European culinary traditions , as well as those from

1717-484: Is because syllables in the language often begin with two consonants. Recordings are available on the relevant Wiktionary entries, linked to below. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights : Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia ( DRG ; Georgian : საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა , romanized : sakartvelos demok'rat'iuli resp'ublik'a )

1818-606: Is derived from the country of Georgia. In the past, lore-based theories were given by the medieval French traveller Jacques de Vitry , who explained the name's origin by the popularity of St. George amongst Georgians, while traveller Jean Chardin thought that "Georgia" came from Greek γεωργός ("tiller of the land"), as when the Greeks came into the region (in Colchis ) they encountered a developed agricultural society. However, as Alexander Mikaberidze adds, these explanations for

1919-520: Is most closely related to the Zan languages ( Megrelian and Laz ) and more distantly to Svan . Georgian has various dialects , with standard Georgian based on the Kartlian dialect, and all dialects are mutually intelligible. The history of Georgian spans from Early Old Georgian in the 5th century, to Modern Georgian today. Its development as a written language began with the Christianization of Georgia in

2020-557: Is prepared, always accompanied by large amounts of wine, and dinner can last for hours. In a Georgian feast, the role of the tamada (toastmaster) is an important and honoured position. In countries of the former Soviet Union , Georgian food is popular due to the immigration of Georgians to other Soviet republics, in particular Russia. In Russia all major cities have many Georgian restaurants and Russian restaurants often feature Georgian food items on their menu. The Georgians have historically been classified into various subgroups based on

2121-947: Is rather light, and in fact Georgian transliterates the tenuis stops in foreign words and names with the ejectives. The coronal occlusives ( /tʰ tʼ d n/ , not necessarily affricates) are variously described as apical dental, laminal alveolar, and "dental". Per Canepari, the main realizations of the vowels are [ i ], [ e̞ ], [ ä ], [ o̞ ], [ u ]. Aronson describes their realizations as [ i̞ ], [ e̞ ], [ ä ] (but "slightly fronted"), [ o̞ ], [ u̞ ]. Shosted transcribed one speaker's pronunciation more-or-less consistently with [ i ], [ ɛ ], [ ɑ ], [ ɔ ], [ u ]. Allophonically, [ ə ] may be inserted to break up consonant clusters, as in /dɡas/ [dəɡäs] . In casual speech, /iV, Vi/ sequences can be realized phonetically as [jV~i̯V, Vj~Vi̯]. Phrase-final unstressed vowels may sometimes be partially reduced. Prosody in Georgian involves stress, intonation, and rhythm. Stress

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2222-401: Is very weak, and linguists disagree as to where stress occurs in words. Jun, Vicenik, and Lofstedt have proposed that Georgian stress and intonation are the result of pitch accents on the first syllable of a word and near the end of a phrase. According to Borise, Georgian has fixed initial word-level stress cued primarily by greater syllable duration and intensity of the initial syllable of

2323-458: The Dittionario giorgiano e italiano . These were meant to help western Catholic missionaries learn Georgian for evangelical purposes. On the left are IPA symbols, and on the right are the corresponding letters of the modern Georgian alphabet, which is essentially phonemic. Former /qʰ/ ( ჴ ) has merged with /x/ ( ხ ), leaving only the latter. The glottalization of the ejectives

2424-499: The Mkhedruli script is almost completely dominant; the others are used mostly in religious documents and architecture. Mkhedruli has 33 letters in common use; a half dozen more are obsolete in Georgian, though still used in other alphabets, like Mingrelian, Laz, and Svan. The letters of Mkhedruli correspond closely to the phonemes of the Georgian language. According to the traditional account written down by Leonti Mroveli in

2525-516: The Georgian Orthodox Church and together are called Khutsuri 'priest alphabet'. In Mkhedruli , there is no case. Sometimes, however, a capital-like effect, called Mtavruli ('title' or 'heading'), is achieved by modifying the letters so that their vertical sizes are identical and they rest on the baseline with no descenders. These capital-like letters are often used in page headings, chapter titles, monumental inscriptions, and

2626-564: The Georgian Social Democratic Party government and the country established a multi-party system. In 1919, reforms in the judicial system and local self-governance were carried out. Abkhazia was granted autonomy. Nevertheless, ethnic issues continued to trouble the country, especially on the part of the Ossetians , as witnessed in May 1920. Nikolay Chkheidze proposed a white mandate for Georgia, vying to protect Georgia in event of an invasion by

2727-582: The Imereti region for centuries and are now identified as Imeretian or Imeretian-Mingrelians. Last names from mountainous eastern Georgian provinces (such as Kakheti, etc.) can be distinguished by the suffix – uri (ური), or – uli (ული). Most Svan last names typically end in – ani (ანი), Mingrelian in – ia (ია), - ua (უა), or - ava (ავა), and Laz in – shi (ში). The 1897 Russian census (which accounted people by language), had Imeretian, Svan and Mingrelian languages separate from Georgian . During

2828-457: The Kartlian dialect. Over the centuries, it has exerted a strong influence on the other dialects. As a result, they are all, generally, mutually intelligible with standard Georgian, and with one another. The history of the Georgian language is conventionally divided into the following phases: The earliest extant references to Georgian are found in the writings of Marcus Cornelius Fronto ,

2929-485: The Laz . The language known today as Georgian is a traditional language of the eastern part of the country which has spread to most of the present-day Georgia after the post-Christianization centralization in the first millennium CE. Today, Georgians regardless of their ancestral region use Georgian as their official language. The regional languages Svan and Mingrelian are languages of the west that were traditionally spoken in

3030-609: The Ottoman Empire changed with the course of World War I and was modified after the Ottoman defeat in the hostilities. Georgia regained control over Artvin, Ardahan, part of Batum province, Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki. Batum was finally incorporated into the republic after the British evacuated the area in 1920. The Treaty of Sèvres of 1920 granted Georgia control over eastern Lazistan including Rize and Hopa . However,

3131-602: The Red Army to Soviet Russia . After Azerbaijan and Armenia had been Sovietized by the Red Army , Georgia found itself surrounded by hostile Soviet republics. Moreover, as the British had already evacuated the Caucasus, the country was left without any foreign support. According to Soviet sources , relations with Georgia deteriorated over alleged violations of the peace treaty, re-arrests of Georgian Bolsheviks, obstruction of convoys passing through Georgia to Armenia , and

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3232-565: The Red Army . Many opposed him though. It is unknown whether or not the Kingdom of Italy wanted to place Georgia under its protection as a white mandate, but they were considering it. Nevertheless, Georgia did not become a mandate, resulting in the Red Army invasion of Georgia . The year 1920 was marked by increased threats from the Russian SFSR . With the defeat of the White movement and

3333-476: The Social Democratic Party of Georgia with 81.5% of the vote. On 21 March, Noe Zhordania formed the third government, which had to deal with armed peasants' revolts incited by local Bolshevik activists and largely supported by Russia. These became more troublesome when carried out by ethnic minorities such as Abkhazians and Ossetians . However, the land reform was finally well handled by

3434-940: The United States , and the European Union . Georgians arose from Colchian and Iberian civilizations of classical antiquity ; Colchis was interconnected with the Hellenic world , whereas Iberia was influenced by the Achaemenid Empire until Alexander the Great conquered it. In the early 4th century, the Georgians became one of the first to embrace Christianity and now the majority of Georgians are Orthodox Christians , with most following their national Georgian Orthodox Church , although there are small Georgian Catholic and Muslim communities as well as

3535-477: The ancient Greeks and Romans as Colchians and Iberians . East Georgian tribes of Tibarenians-Iberians formed their kingdom in 7th century BCE . However, western Georgian tribes ( Colchian tribes ) established the first Georgian state of Colchis ( c.  1350 BCE ) before the foundation of the Kingdom of Iberia in the east. According to the numerous scholars of Georgia, the formations of these two early Georgian kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia, resulted in

3636-403: The 11th century, the first Georgian script was created by the first ruler of the Kingdom of Iberia , Pharnavaz , in the 3rd century BC. The first examples of a Georgian script date from the 5th century AD. There are now three Georgian scripts, called Asomtavruli 'capitals', Nuskhuri 'small letters', and Mkhedruli . The first two are used together as upper and lower case in the writings of

3737-795: The 1926 Soviet census, Svans and Mingrelians were accounted separately from Georgian. Svan and Mingrelian languages are both Kartvelian languages and are closely related to the national Georgian language . Laz people also may be considered Georgian based on their geographic location and religion. According to the London School of Economics ' anthropologist Mathijs Pelkmans, Lazs residing in Georgia frequently identify themselves as "first-class Georgians" to show pride, while considering their Muslim counterparts in Turkey as "Turkified Lazs". (Shavshians) Throughout history Georgia also has extinct Georgian subdivisions Georgian language Georgian

3838-472: The 1930s, when growing Soviet power and political processes in Europe made it impractical to do so indefinitely. Although short-lived, DRG continues to be an inspiration for modern day Georgia due to its legacy of democracy and pluralism. DRG was one of the first countries in Europe to grant women the right to vote as enshrined in the Georgian constitution, which was "unusual in most European constitutions at

3939-824: The 20th century, due to Soviet anti-religious policies, cultural integration with the national Orthodox majority, and strong missionary efforts by the Georgian Orthodox Church. In the early modern period, converted Georgian recruits were often used by the Persian and Ottoman Empires for elite military units such as the Mameluks , Qizilbash , and ghulams . The Iranian Georgians are all reportedly Shia Muslims today, while Ingiloy (indigenous to Azerbaijan), Laz (indigenous to Turkey), Imerkhevians (indigenous to Turkey), and Georgians in Turkey (who descend from Georgian immigrants) are mostly Sunni Muslim. There

4040-548: The 4th century. Georgian phonology features a rich consonant system, including aspirated, voiced, and ejective stops , affricates , and fricatives . Its vowel system consists of five vowels with varying realizations. Georgian prosody involves weak stress, with disagreements among linguists on its placement. The language's phonotactics include complex consonant clusters and harmonic clusters. The Mkhedruli script , dominant in modern usage, corresponds closely to Georgian phonemes and has no case distinction, though it employs

4141-686: The Abkhaz Autonomy, the Autonomy of Muslim Georgia, and the Zaqatala Region, which were granted autonomy in local affairs. The Chairman of the Government was the chief executive post, approved by the parliament for one-year terms of office (the post could not be held for more than two consecutive terms). The chairman appointed ministers and was responsible for governing the country and representing Georgia in foreign relations. However,

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4242-480: The Bolshevik Red Army proceeded to invade the country, leading to DRG's defeat and collapse by March of that year, with Georgia becoming a Soviet republic . The Georgian Government, led by Prime Minister Noe Zhordania , moved to France where it continued to work in exile . The government-in-exile was recognized by France, Britain, Belgium, and Poland as the only legitimate government of Georgia until

4343-609: The Bolshevik threat from Abkhazia . German forces were almost certainly under the command of Friedrich Freiherr Kress von Kressenstein . Following the German defeat in the First World War , British occupation forces arrived in the country, with the permission of the Georgian government. Relations between the British and the local population were more strained than they had been with the Germans. British-held Batumi remained out of Georgia's control until 1920. In December 1918,

4444-594: The Committee of the Union of the elected bodies of local self-government of Georgia No. 2, 1920 (State printing house), Tiflis. - 103 p.; National Library of the Parliament of Georgia, Archive Fund, F 7.876/4 - პროექტი საქართველოს ტერიტორიის დანაწილებისა ახალ საადმინისტრაციო ერთეულებად (ოლქებად) ) the division into Governorates and Oblasts was eliminated, uezds and okrugs were preserved, renamed to regions. The names of

4545-456: The Democratic Republic of Georgia , the first modern fundamental law in the nation's history, placing emphasis on human rights. The country was governed as a type of decentralized unitary parliamentary republic with an executive , with the constitution stating that "the state belongs to all the people. Parliament exercises the sovereignty of the nation within the framework of this constitution." The three decentralized regions included

4646-473: The Democratic Republic of Georgia in Exile continued to be recognized by many European states as the only legal government of Georgia for some time after 1921. The Government of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in Exile lasted until 1954 continuing to oppose Soviet rule in Georgia. Georgia's 1918–1921 borders were formed through the border conflicts with its neighbors and ensuing treaties and conventions. In

4747-1405: The Democratic Republic of Georgia, created in accordance with the Project, on the basis of existing uezds and okrugs of the Russian Empire, (alternative names of areas are given in brackets): 1 – Tiflis region (Samokalako), capital - Tiflis 2 – Borchaly region (Kvemo Kartli), capital - Ratevani / Ekaterinenfeld (or Kveshi) 3 – Akhaltsikhe region (Samtskhe-Javakheti), capital - Akhaltsikhe 4 – Gori region (Shida Kartli), capital - Gori 5 – Ananur region (Mtiuleti), capital - Ananuri 6 – Telavi region (Shida Kakheti), capital - Telavi 7 – Sighnaghi region (Kiziki), capital - Sighnaghi 8 – Zaqatala region (Saingilo), capital – Zaqatala 9 – Kutaisi region (Kvemo Imereti), capital - Kutaisi 10 – Zestaponi region (Zemo Imereti), capital - Zestaponi / Kvirily 11 – Oni region (Racha), capital - Oni 12 – Tsageri region (Lechkhum-Svaneti), capital - Tsageri 13 – Sukhumi region (Abkhazia-Samurzakano), capital - Sukhumi 14 – Zugdidi region (Zemo Odishi), capital - Zugdidi 15 – Senaki region (Kvemo Odishi), capital - Ahal-Senaki / Novo-Senaki 16 – Ozurgeti region (Guria), capital - Ozurgeti 17 – Batumi region (Adjara-Klarjeti), capital - Batumi 18 – Artaani region (Tao-Artaani), capital - Artaani / Ardagan 19 – Tiflis (Tbilisi) – capital of

4848-622: The Democratic Republic of Georgia. Under the terms of the Moscow Peace Treaty of 7 May, Georgian independence was recognized by Soviet Russia in return for the legalization of Bolshevik organizations and a commitment not to allow foreign troops on Georgian soil. The independence of the Democratic Republic of Georgia was de jure recognized by Romania , Argentina , Germany , Turkey , Belgium , United Kingdom , France , Japan , Italy , Poland , Czechoslovakia , Siam and Estonia , among other countries. The Government of

4949-602: The Georgian Bolshevik Sergo Orjonikidze requested permission from Moscow to advance into Georgia. Though official consent was not granted by Lenin and Sovnarkom , local Bolsheviks attempted to seize the Military School of Tbilisi as a preliminary to a coup d'état on 3 May 1920, but were successfully repelled by General Kvinitadze . The Georgian government began mobilization and appointed Giorgi Kvinitadze commander-in-chief . In

5050-580: The Georgian government, unwilling to become embroiled in a new war with Turkish Revolutionaries , took no steps to take control of these areas. The border disputes with the First Republic of Armenia over a part of Borchalo district led to a brief war between the two countries in December 1918. With the British intervention the Lori "neutral zone" was created, only to be reoccupied by Georgia after

5151-568: The Georgian language ( ქართული ენის განმარტებითი ლექსიკონი ). It consists of eight volumes and about 115,000 words. It was produced between 1950 and 1964, by a team of linguists under the direction of Arnold Chikobava . Georgian has a word derivation system, which allows the derivation of nouns from verb roots both with prefixes and suffixes, for example: It is also possible to derive verbs from nouns: Likewise, verbs can be derived from adjectives, for example: In Georgian many nouns and adjectives begin with two or more contiguous consonants. This

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5252-581: The Georgian language. Colchians in the ancient western Georgian polity of Colchis were another proto-Georgian tribe. They are first mentioned in the Assyrian annals of Tiglath-Pileser I and in the annals of Urartian king Sarduri II, and also included western Georgian tribe of the Meskhetians . Iberians, also known as Tiberians or Tiberanians, lived in the eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia. Both Colchians and Iberians played an important role in

5353-570: The Georgian population, most of whom are ethnic Georgian, follow Eastern Orthodox Christianity. A sizable Georgian Muslim population exists in Adjara . This autonomous Republic borders Turkey, and was part of the Ottoman Empire for a longer amount of time than other parts of the country. Those Georgian Muslims practice the Sunni Hanafi form of Islam. Islam has however declined in Adjara during

5454-717: The Imperial Russian authorities. After the February Revolution of 1917 and collapse of the tsarist administration in the Caucasus , most powers were held by the Special Transcaucasian Committee ( Ozakom , short for Osobyi Zakavkazskii Komitet ) of the Russian Provisional Government . All of the soviets in Georgia were firmly controlled by the Georgian Social Democratic Party , who followed

5555-626: The Red Armies' advance to the Caucasus frontiers, the republic's situation became extremely tense. In January, the Soviet leadership offered Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan an alliance against the White armies in South Russia and the Caucasus. The Government of the DRG refused to enter any military alliance, referring to its policy of neutrality and noninterference, but suggested negotiations towards

5656-591: The Russians on the political horizon as a possible replacement for the lost Byzantine Empire , "for the sake of the Christian faith". The Georgian kings and Russian tsars exchanged no less than 17 embassies, which culminated in 1783, when Heraclius II of the eastern Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti forged an alliance with the Russian Empire . The Russo-Georgian alliance, however, backfired as Russia

5757-510: The case of Svans and Mingrelians , own regional languages. The Georgian language , with its own unique writing system and extensive written tradition, which goes back to the 5th century, is the official language of Georgia as well as the language of education of all Georgians living in the country. According to the State Ministry on Diaspora Issues of Georgia , unofficial statistics say that there are more than 5 million Georgians in

5858-403: The character of the verb). This is called the dative construction . In the past tense of the transitive verbs, and in the present tense of the verb "to know", the subject is in the ergative case. Georgian has a rich word-derivation system. By using a root, and adding some definite prefixes and suffixes, one can derive many nouns and adjectives from the root. For example, from the root - kart -,

5959-526: The consolidation and uniformity of the Georgian nation. According to the renowned scholar of the Caucasian studies Cyril Toumanoff , the Moschians also were one of the early proto-Georgian tribes which were integrated into the first early Georgian state of Iberia. The ancient Jewish chronicle by Josephus mentions Georgians as Iberes who were also called Thobel (Tubal). David Marshall Lang argued that

6060-458: The current Mkhedruli, used for most purposes. The language has a robust grammatical framework with unique features such as syncope in morphophonology and a left-branching syntax. Georgian's vocabulary is highly derivational, allowing for diverse word formations, while its numeric system is vigesimal. No claimed genetic links between the Kartvelian languages and any other language family in

6161-518: The earliest Georgian formation. An FTDNA collection of Georgian Y-DNA suggests that Georgians have the highest percentage of Haplogroup G (39.9%) among the general population recorded in any country. Georgians' Y-DNA also belongs to Haplogroup J (32.5%), R1b (8.6%), L (5.4%), R1a (4.2%), I2 (3.8%) and other more minor haplogroups such as E, T and Q. Georgian is the primary language for Georgians of all provenance, including those who speak other Kartvelian languages : Svans , Mingrelians and

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6262-418: The ethnic and cultural formation of the modern Georgian nation. According to the scholar of the Caucasian studies Cyril Toumanoff: Colchis appears as the first Caucasian State to have achieved the coalescence of the newcomer, Colchis can be justly regarded as not a proto-Georgian, but a Georgian (West Georgian) kingdom ... It would seem natural to seek the beginnings of Georgian social history in Colchis,

6363-422: The fall of the Armenian Republic at the end of 1920. In the southeast, Georgia was bordered by Azerbaijan , which claimed control of Zaqatala district , and parts of . The dispute, however, never led to hostilities and relations between the two countries were generally peaceful until the Sovietization of Azerbaijan. The 1919 projects and the 1921 constitution of Georgia granted Abkhazia , Ajaria and Zaqatala

6464-498: The following words can be derived: Kart veli ('a Georgian person'), Kart uli ('the Georgian language') and Sa kart velo ('the country of Georgia'). Most Georgian surnames end in - dze 'son' (Western Georgia), - shvili 'child' (Eastern Georgia), - ia (Western Georgia, Samegrelo ), - ani (Western Georgia, Svaneti ), - uri (Eastern Georgia), etc. The ending - eli is a particle of nobility, comparable to French de , Dutch van , German von or Polish - ski . Georgian has

6565-408: The former religions except Zoroastrianism, which become a second established religion in Iberia after the Peace of Acilisene in 378. The conversion to Christianity eventually placed the Georgians permanently on the front line of conflict between the Islamic and Christian world. Georgians remained mostly Christian despite repeated invasions by Muslim powers, and long episodes of foreign domination. As

6666-498: The geographic region which their ancestors traditionally inhabited. Even if a member of any of these subgroups moves to a different region, they will still be known by the name of their ancestral region. For example, if a Gurian moves to Tbilisi (part of the Kartli region) he will not automatically identify himself as Kartlian despite actually living in Kartli. This may, however, change if substantial amount of time passes. For example, there are some Mingrelians who have lived in

6767-406: The ideas of Ilia Chavchavadze and other intellectuals from the late 19th century, insisted on national independence. A cultural national awakening was further strengthened by the restoration of the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church (12 March 1917) and the establishment of a national university in Tbilisi (1918). In contrast, the Georgian Mensheviks regarded independence from Russia as

6868-421: The lead of the Petrograd Soviet and supported the Provisional Government. The Bolshevist October Revolution changed the situation drastically. The Caucasian Soviets refused to recognize Vladimir Lenin 's regime. Threats from the increasingly Bolshevistic deserting soldiers of the former Caucasus army , ethnic clashes and anarchy in the region forced Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani politicians to create

6969-405: The legal system, political and administrative arrangements for ethnic minorities (including an act about the People's Council of Abkhazia ), a national system of public education, and some other laws and regulations on fiscal and monetary policy, railways, and trade and domestic production. On 21 February 1921, facing the onset of Soviet aggression, the Constituent Assembly adopted a constitution of

7070-424: The legalization of Bolshevik organizations and a commitment not to allow foreign troops on Georgian soil. A vote at the League of Nations on granting membership to Georgia was held on 16 December 1920, with the resolution defeated: 10 voted for it, 13 against, and 19 abstained. Georgia gained de jure recognition from the Allies on 27 January 1921. This, however, did not prevent the country from being annexed by

7171-498: The like. This is the Georgian standard keyboard layout. The standard Windows keyboard is essentially that of manual typewriters . Georgian is an agglutinative language . Certain prefixes and suffixes can be joined in order to build a verb. In some cases, one verb can have up to eight different morphemes in it at the same time. An example is ageshenebinat ('you [all] should've built [it]'). The verb can be broken down to parts: a-g-e-shen-eb-in-a-t . Each morpheme here contributes to

7272-472: The meaning of the verb tense or the person who has performed the verb. The verb conjugation also exhibits polypersonalism ; a verb may potentially include morphemes representing both the subject and the object. In Georgian morphophonology , syncope is a common phenomenon. When a suffix (especially the plural suffix - eb -) is attached to a word that has either of the vowels a or e in the last syllable, this vowel is, in most words, lost. For example, megob

7373-635: The meantime, in response to Georgia's alleged provision of assistance to the Azeri nationalist rebellion in Ganja , Soviet forces attempted to penetrate Georgian territory, but were repelled by Kvinitadze in brief border clashes at the Red Bridge . Within a few days, peace talks resumed in Moscow. Under the terms of the controversial Moscow Peace Treaty of 7 May, Georgian independence was recognized in return for

7474-434: The newly established states, the British commander in the region drew a line across the Caucasus that Denikin would not be permitted to cross, giving both Georgia and Azerbaijan temporary relief. The threat of invasion by Denikin's forces, notwithstanding the British position, brought Georgia and Azerbaijan together in a mutual defense alliance on 16 June 1919. On 14 February 1919, Georgia held parliamentary elections won by

7575-593: The north, Georgia was bordered by various Russian Civil War polities until Bolshevik power was established in the North Caucasus in the spring of 1920. The international border between Soviet Russia and Georgia was regulated by the 1920 Moscow Treaty. During the Sochi conflict with the Russian White movement , Georgia briefly controlled the Sochi district in 1918. In the southwest, the DRG's border with

7676-602: The parliament. Any changes to the constitution must have first been approved by 2/3 of the legislature, and then a majority of the voting public in a referendum. During the Democratic Republic of Georgia, in accordance with the Project for dividing the territory of Georgia into new administrative units (regions), developed by the Self-Government Commission of the Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1920 (Publication of

7777-471: The person in the position did not have some privileges common to dual-heads of state and heads of government, such as the ability to dissolve parliament or veto legislation. The 1919 government of Georgia adopted a law on jury trials . The right to trial by jury for serious criminal, political and print cases was incorporated into the 1921 Constitution . The highest court was the Senate, indirectly elected by

7878-485: The pre-Christian Kingdom of Colchis , but later lost importance as the unified Kingdom of Georgia emerged. Their decline is largely due to the capital of the unified kingdom, Tbilisi , being in the eastern part of the country known as Kingdom of Iberia effectively making the language of the east an official language of the Georgian monarch. All of these languages comprise the Kartvelian language family along with

7979-414: The proto-Georgian tribes that emerged as a dominant group in ancient times. Kart probably is cognate with Indo-European gard and denotes people who live in a "fortified citadel ". Ancient Greeks ( Homer , Herodotus , Strabo , Plutarch etc.) and Romans ( Titus Livius , Cornelius Tacitus , etc.) referred to western Georgians as Colchians and eastern Georgians as Iberians . The term "Georgians"

8080-688: The regions were mainly proposed by the names of their administrative centers. Minor changes were made to their borders and several former uezds and okrugs were united: Batumi and Artvin okrugs - into the Batumi region, Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki uezds - into the Akhaltsikhe region, Dusheti and Tianet uezds into the Ananuri region. In addition, three autonomous entities were created: Abkhazian autonomy (Sukhumi region), Autonomy of Muslim Georgia (Batumi region) and Zagatala region. Two-level local self-government

8181-688: The related language of the Laz people , which has speakers in both Turkey and Georgia. Georgian dialects include Imeretian , Racha - Lechkhumian , Gurian , Adjarian , Imerkhevian (in Turkey), Kartlian , Kakhetian , Ingilo (in Azerbaijan), Tush , Khevsur , Mokhevian , Pshavian , Fereydan dialect in Iran in Fereydunshahr and Fereydan , Mtiuletian , Meskhetian and Javakhetian dialect. According to Orthodox tradition, Christianity

8282-577: The remaining Georgian territories were absorbed by the Russian Empire in a piecemeal fashion through the course of the 19th century. Georgians briefly reasserted their independence from Russia under the First Georgian Republic from 1918 to 1921 and finally in 1991 from the Soviet Union . The Georgian nation was formed out of a diverse set of geographic subgroups, each with its characteristic traditions, manners, dialects and, in

8383-640: The replacement of Aramaic as the literary language . By the 11th century, Old Georgian had developed into Middle Georgian. The most famous work of this period is the epic poem The Knight in the Panther's Skin , written by Shota Rustaveli in the 12th century. In 1629, a certain Nikoloz Cholokashvili authored the first printed books written (partially) in Georgian, the Alphabetum Ibericum sive Georgianum cum Oratione and

8484-693: The result of the 13th–15th-century invasions of the Mongols and Timur , the Black Death , the Fall of Constantinople , as well as internal divisions following the death of George V the Brilliant in 1346, the last of the great kings of Georgia . Thereafter and throughout the early modern period , Georgians became politically fractured and were dominated by the Ottoman Empire and successive dynasties of Iran . Georgians started looking for allies and found

8585-604: The root Tibar gave rise to the form Iber that made the Greeks pick up the name Iberian in the end for the designation of the eastern Georgians. Diauehi in Assyrian sources and Taochi in Greek lived in the northeastern part of Anatolia . This ancient tribe is considered by many scholars as ancestors of the Georgians. Modern Georgians still refer to this region, which now belongs to present-day Turkey, as Tao-Klarjeti , an ancient Georgian kingdom. Some people there still speak

8686-496: The same day, was led by Noe Ramishvili . In October 1918, the National Council of Georgia has renamed the Parliament and announced new elections to be held on 14 February 1919. During its two-year history (1919–1921), the newly elected Constituent Assembly of Georgia , with Nikolay Chkheidze as president, adopted 126 laws; these included laws on citizenship, local elections, defence, the official language, agriculture,

8787-408: The surrounding Western Asia. Each historical province of Georgia has its own distinct culinary tradition, such as Megrelian, Kakhetian, and Imeretian cuisines. In addition to various meat dishes, Georgian cuisine also offers a variety of vegetarian meals. The importance of both food and drink to Georgian culture is best observed during a Caucasian feast, or supra , when a huge assortment of dishes

8888-427: The time". Several women of varying backgrounds were elected to the Georgian parliament, as were representatives of nine ethnicities, including Germans, Russians, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, and Jews. DRG also saw the founding of Georgia's first fully fledged university , thereby realizing a longstanding goal cherished by generations of Georgian intellectuals whose efforts were, up to that point, consistently frustrated by

8989-511: The troops that had been stationed in the region since the fall of the Armenian Republic. The Act of Independence of Georgia , declared on 26 May 1918, in brief, outlined the main principles of the nation's future democracy. According to this act, "the Democratic Republic of Georgia equally guarantees to every citizen within her limits political rights irrespective of nationality, creed, social rank or sex". The first government, formed

9090-472: The word Georgians/Georgia are rejected by the scholarly community, who point to the Persian word gurğ/gurğān ("wolf") as the root of the word. Starting with the Persian word gurğ/gurğān , the word was later adopted in numerous other languages, including Slavic and West European languages. This term itself might have been established through the ancient Iranian appellation of the near- Caspian region, which

9191-399: The world are accepted in mainstream linguistics. Among the Kartvelian languages, Georgian is most closely related to the so-called Zan languages ( Megrelian and Laz ); glottochronological studies indicate that it split from the latter approximately 2700 years ago. Svan is a more distant relative that split off much earlier, perhaps 4000 years ago. Standard Georgian is largely based on

9292-539: The world. Georgians call themselves Kartveli ( ქართველი , pl. Kartvelebi ქართველები ), their land Sakartvelo ( საქართველო ), and their language Kartuli ( ქართული ). According to The Georgian Chronicles , the ancestor of the Kartvelian people was Kartlos , the great-grandson of the Biblical Japheth . However, scholars agree that the word is derived from the Karts , the latter being one of

9393-502: Was circa 107,600 km , compared to 69,700 km in modern Georgia. The Soviet occupation of the DRG led to significant territorial rearrangements by which Georgia lost almost a third of its territory. Artvin, Ardahan and part of Batumi provinces were ceded to Turkey, Armenia gained control of Lori, and Azerbaijan obtained Zaqatala district. A portion of the Georgian marches along the Greater Caucasus Mountains

9494-476: Was first preached in Georgia by the Apostles Simon and Andrew in the 1st century. It became the state religion of Kartli (Iberia) in 319 or 326. At the same time, in the first centuries A.D., the cult of Mithras , pagan beliefs, and Zoroastrianism were commonly practiced in Georgia. The conversion of Kartli to Christianity is credited to St. Nino of Cappadocia . Christianity gradually replaced all

9595-401: Was immediately recognized by Germany and the Ottoman Empire . The young state had to place itself under German protection in the Treaty of Poti and to cede its largely Muslim -inhabited regions (including the cities of Batumi , Ardahan , Artvin , Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki ) to the Ottoman government in the 4 June Treaty of Batum . However, German support enabled the Georgians to repel

9696-514: Was introduced: 18 regions and equivalent to regions, the capital of Georgia - Tiflis (Tbilisi) at the regional level and 356 cities and communities at the local level. The southern part of the Ardahan district and the Olta district - if the Democratic Republic of Georgia establishes control over them, will be part of the created Artaani region. New administrative-territorial units (regions – «olki») of

9797-512: Was referred to as Gorgan ("land of the wolves"). Most historians and scholars of Georgia as well as anthropologists, archaeologists, and linguists tend to agree that the ancestors of modern Georgians inhabited the southern Caucasus and northern Anatolia since the Neolithic period . Scholars usually refer to them as Proto-Kartvelian (Proto-Georgians such as Colchians and Iberians) tribes. The Georgian people in antiquity have been known to

9898-704: Was taken by Russia. Forming principally on the territories of the Tiflis and Kutais governorates, as well as the Batum Oblast and Sukhumi Okrug , the Georgian Democratic Republic following the Treaty of Batum consisted of 1,607,000 Georgians , 535,000 Armenians , 200,000 Muslims , and 510,000 others, totalling 2,852,000 inhabitants. By 1921, following the fall of the Armenian and Azerbaijani republics and Georgia's reacquisition of

9999-480: Was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia , which existed from May 1918 to February 1921. Recognized by all major European powers of the time, DRG was created in the wake of the Russian Revolution of 1917 , which led to the collapse of the Russian Empire and allowed territories formerly under Russia 's rule to assert independence. In contrast to Bolshevik Russia , DRG was governed by

10100-491: Was true elsewhere, the Christian church in Georgia was crucial to the development of a written language, and most of the earliest written works were religious texts. Medieval Georgian culture was greatly influenced by Eastern Orthodoxy and the Georgian Orthodox Church , which promoted and often sponsored the creation of many works of religious devotion. These included churches and monasteries, works of art such as icons , and hagiographies of Georgian saints. Today, 83.9% of

10201-468: Was unwilling to fulfill the terms of the treaty, proceeding to annex the troubled kingdom in 1801 as well as the western Georgian kingdom of Imereti in 1810. There were several uprisings and movements to restore the statehood, the most notable being the 1832 plot , which collapsed in failure. Eventually, Russian rule over Georgia was acknowledged in various peace treaties with Iran and the Ottomans, and

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