50 Fun Facts About Georgia (Country)

What is the capital and largest city of Georgia?

More than a third of the country's 3.9 million people live there.

Georgia lies on the east coast of which sea?

Russia lies to the north, Turkey and Armenia to the south and Azerbaijan to the south-east.

What do Georgians call their own country?

It means 'land of Kartvelians'; Lithuania adopted 'Sakartvelas' officially in 2020.

Modern scholars derive the name 'Georgia' from a term in which language?

The ethnonym Gurj may relate to gurğān, 'land of wolves'; Saint George's popularity helped the name stick in Europe.

The Georgian language belongs to which family, unrelated to any other?

Svan, Mingrelian and Laz are its relatives; nothing outside the Caucasus is.

The Dmanisi hominins found in Georgia are the oldest known in Eurasia — about how old?

They are a subspecies of Homo erectus.

Georgia hosts the earliest known sites of what, dating to about 6000 BCE?

Settlements there also show the first use of fibres, more than 34,000 years ago.

Greek mythology placed the Golden Fleece in which ancient western Georgian kingdom?

A wealthy kingdom traded with Greek colonies such as Phasis from the 14th century BC.

Which king adopted Christianity as the state religion of Iberia in 337?

The conversion followed the missionary work of Saint Nino of Cappadocia.

Which missionary from Cappadocia is credited with converting Iberia to Christianity?

The Georgian Orthodox Church also claims apostolic foundation by Saint Andrew.

Which dynasty rose in the early 9th century and ruled Georgia for a thousand years?

Prince Ashot I used infighting among Arab governors to build its power in Tao-Klarjeti.

In which year was Bagrat III crowned the first King of a unified Georgia?

He had already become King of Abkhazia in 978 and King of the Iberians in 1008.

Which two rulers' reigns define the Georgian Golden Age?

Tamar was David's great-granddaughter; the age produced the national epic The Knight in the Panther's Skin.

At which 1121 battle did David IV crush much larger Turkish armies?

He then abolished the Emirate of Tbilisi and made the city his capital.

What title was Queen Tamar given?

Her 29-year reign, the first by a woman, is considered the most successful in Georgian history.

Which epic poem is considered Georgia's national epic?

Shota Rustaveli wrote it in the Golden Age; a 4,960 m peak bears his name.

Which 1783 treaty made eastern Georgia a Russian protectorate?

Russia sent no help when Persia sacked the capital in 1795, then annexed the kingdom outright in 1801.

Which Georgian writer led the national revival movement of the late 19th century?

The 1907 Tiflis bank robbery organised by the Bolsheviks came in the instability that followed.

On what date in 1918 did Georgia declare independence from Russia?

The Democratic Republic became an ally of the German Empire and was one of the first in Europe to give women the vote.

The Red Army entered the Georgian capital and installed Soviet rule on 25 February of which year?

Soviet Russia had recognised Georgian independence in the Treaty of Moscow only a year earlier.

Which event of 4–9 April 1989 discredited Soviet rule in Georgia?

Two years later to the day, on 9 April 1991, Georgia declared independence.

Which country was the first to recognise Georgia's independence, in August 1991?

Georgia had been the first non-Baltic Soviet republic to declare independence.

Which former Soviet foreign minister led Georgia from 1992 until 2003?

He was deposed in 2003 after a disputed parliamentary election.

The peaceful 2003 uprising that ousted Shevardnadze is known as what?

Mikheil Saakashvili, Zurab Zhvania and Nino Burjanadze led it.

Which French president negotiated the ceasefire that ended the August 2008 war with Russia?

Russia recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent two weeks later, on 26 August.

Which party's 2012 election win was Georgia's first peaceful electoral transfer of power?

Billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili served as its first prime minister.

Who became Georgia's first woman president in full capacity, in 2018?

It was the last direct presidential election; she later refused to recognise her 2024 successor.

In 2018 Georgia became the first former socialist state to legalise what?

The Constitutional Court ruled consumption was protected by the right to free personality.

What is the highest mountain in Georgia?

It rises 5,203 m; Kazbek, at 5,047 m, is the only volcanic peak among the giants.

Which mountains divide Georgia into its eastern and western halves?

Historically the west was Colchis and the eastern plateau Iberia.

What are Georgia's two major rivers?

The Rioni may still hold a breeding population of the critically endangered bastard sturgeon.

What is Georgia's total area?

It sits between latitudes 41° and 44° N, almost entirely in the South Caucasus.

Which bird, endemic to Georgia, has been introduced worldwide as a game bird?

It is also called the Colchian pheasant.

Besides Georgian, which language has official status in Georgia, within one autonomous region?

Azerbaijani is the first language of 6.8% of the population and Armenian of 3.5%.

Which US president was the first to visit Georgia while in office?

The road to the capital's airport was renamed George W. Bush Avenue.

Which is Georgia's largest and busiest seaport?

It doubles as a seaside resort and transit point for Azerbaijani energy exports.

What share of Georgia's population practises Eastern Orthodox Christianity?

Muslims make up 11.1%, Armenian Christians 2.6% and Catholics 0.5%.

Georgian is written in how many unique scripts?

Tradition credits King Pharnavaz I of Iberia with inventing them in the 3rd century BC.

Which Georgian folk song flew into space on the Voyager Golden Record?

It was one of 27 compositions chosen; Georgian polyphony is built on three voices and perfect fifths.

What is the toastmaster at a Georgian supra called?

He leads the philosophical toasts and keeps the feast flowing.

Khinkali, the Georgian meat dumplings, come from which part of the country?

Khachapuri, the cheese bread, is mainly from Imereti, Samegrelo and Adjara.

What are the clay jars of Georgia's UNESCO-listed wine method called?

UNESCO added the method to its Intangible Cultural Heritage lists in 2013.

Russia imposed an embargo on Georgian wine in which year, claiming it was counterfeit?

The official reason masked the use of trade ties for political pressure.

Which sport is considered Georgia's national sport?

Lelo, a traditional game very like rugby, was popular in the 19th century.

Which Georgian centre won NBA titles with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018?

Dinamo Tbilisi had won the EuroLeague back in 1962.

Which Georgian club won the EuroLeague basketball title in 1962?

Otar Korkia and Zurab Sakandelidze were among Georgia's Soviet national-team stars.

Which primitivist painter is among Georgia's most famous artists of the early 20th century?

Choreographer George Balanchine and director Tengiz Abuladze are other Georgian cultural icons.

How many of Georgia's monuments are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?

Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery, the monuments of Mtskheta and Upper Svaneti.

The only race circuit in the Caucasus, reopened in 2012, is in which Georgian city?

The $20 million rebuild brought it up to FIA Grade 2.

Which Georgian-born Soviet leader ran the USSR from 1924 until his death in 1953?

His 1936–38 Great Purge devastated Georgia's own intelligentsia.