Georgia
(jôr`jə), Georgian Sakartvelo, Rus. Gruziya, officially Republic of Georgia, republic (2015 est. pop. 3,952,000), c.26,900 sq mi (69,700 sq km), in W Transcaucasia. Georgia borders on the Black Sea in the west, on Turkey and Armenia in the south, on Azerbaijan in the east, and on Russia in the north. TbilisiTbilisi
or Tiflis
, city (1989 pop. 1,259,682), capital of Georgia, SW Asia, on the Kura River and the Transcaucasian RR and at the southern end of the Georgian Military Road.
..... Click the link for more information. is the capital and by far the largest city; KutaisiKutaisi
, city (1989 pop. 234,870), W Georgia, on the Rion River. Georgia's second largest city and the country's former legislative capital (2012–18), it has industries producing trucks, mining and transport equipment, textiles, chemicals, and food products.
..... Click the link for more information. , the second largest city, was the legislative capital from 2012 through 2018. Land and People
Situated on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus and in the Lesser Caucasus, Georgia is largely ruggedly mountainous. The Suram Mts. separate the Rion (Rioni) and Kura river valleys. The perpetually snowcapped Mt. Kazbek, the tallest peak within Georgia, rises to 16,541 ft (5,042 m). The climate is humid subtropical in the Black Sea lowland of MingreliaMingrelia
, lowland region, W Georgia, bordering the Black Sea. Tea and grapes are the chief products. Poti is the main port. The Colchis of the ancients, Mingrelia was a vassal principality (with Zugdidi as capital) under the Ottoman Empire. It was annexed to Russia in 1803.
..... Click the link for more information. , alpine in the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, and dry in the Kura steppes in the east. Included in Georgia are AbkhaziaAbkhazia
or Apsny
, autonomous republic (2011 pop. 240,705), 3,300 sq mi (8,547 sq km), in Georgia, between the Black Sea and the Greater Caucasus. Sukhumi (the capital) and Gagra are the chief cities.
..... Click the link for more information. , the Adjarian Autonomous RepublicAdjarian Autonomous Republic
or Ajarian Autonomous Republic
, formerly Adzhar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
or Adzharistan
, autonomous region (1990 pop. 382,600), c.
..... Click the link for more information. (Adjaria), and South Ossetia (see OssetiaOssetia
or Alania
, Ossetian Iryston, region of the central Caucasus, divided between the Republic of Georgia and the Russian Federation. On the northern slope is North Ossetia-Alania (1990 est. pop.
..... Click the link for more information. ); all three have had separatist movements, and Abkhazia and South Ossetia have had de facto independence since the 1990s. In addition to Tbilisi, other important cities are RustaviRustavi
, city (1989 pop. 153,661), E Georgia, on the Kura River. It was an industrial center, with ironworks and steelworks and chemical plants, but the local economy collapsed in the 1990s and has recovered slowly.
..... Click the link for more information. , Kutaisi, BatumiBatumi
or Batum
, city (1990 est. pop. 136,609), capital of Adjarian Autonomous Republic, in W Georgia, on the Black Sea near the Turkish border. A major port and trade center, it is also the terminus of the Trans-Caucasian RR and an oil pipeline.
..... Click the link for more information. , SukhumiSukhumi
, Abkhaz Sukhum, city (2011 pop. 62,914), capital of Abkhazia, a region in W Georgia that has had de facto independence since the 1990. Located on the Black Sea, it is a port and a rail junction and a subtropical resort, whose sulfur baths have been frequented
..... Click the link for more information. (in Abkhazia), and PotiPoti
, city (1989 pop. 50,922), W Georgia, on the Black Sea at the mouth of the Rion River. It is a port that ships manganese (from Chiatura), corn, lumber, and wine. The region around Poti is the swampy Colchis lowland. The city was known as Phasis in the 5th cent. B.C.
..... Click the link for more information. .
More than 80% of the population are Georgians—a people who speak a language related to the Ibero-Caucasian family of languages. Azeris, Armenians, and Russians are the other major ethnic groups, with Ossetians, Abkhazians, and Adjars in smaller numbers. The Georgian church, to which most of the ethnic Georgians belong, is an independent Orthodox Eastern congregation. About 10% of the people are Muslims. Georgian is the official language. There has been a standard Georgian literary language since about the 5th cent. (see Georgian literatureGeorgian literature.
Early Georgian literature shows the influence of two distinctly different civilizations—medieval Eastern Orthodox Christianity and, later, Persia. The Passion of St.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Russian is also widely spoken.
Economy
Agriculture is an important occupation in Georgia, whose warmer districts produce large quantities of citrus fruits and tea; wine grapes, hazelnuts, tobacco, rice, and mulberry trees (for silk) are also grown. Sheep, pigs, and poultry are raised. Georgia is rich in minerals, notably manganese (mined mostly at Chiatura and in ImeritiaImeritia
, geographic and historic region, Georgia, in the upper Rion River basin. Kutaisi (the historic capital) and Chiatura are the main cities. Imeritia is an agricultural region, noted for its mulberry trees and vineyards. There are also manganese deposits.
..... Click the link for more information. ) and copper; iron ore, coal, tungsten, barites, molybdenum, oil, and peat are also found. There are sizable deposits of marble, dolomite, talc, and clays for use in construction.
As part of the Soviet Union, Georgia had a large and varied industrial sector. Many industries collapsed after independence, and economic redevelopment has been hindered by warfare, corruption, and the effects of Russia's economic troubles. Today, there is food and beverage processing and the manufacture of steel, aircraft, machine tools, electrical appliances, chemicals, and wood products. The Black Sea shore is dotted with resorts and spas that attract numerous tourists. The construction of oil and gas pipelines from the Caspian Sea through Tbilisi to E Turkey have brought foreign investment and job opportunities. The Black Sea coast railway, the line from Batumi through Tbilisi to BakıBakı
or Baku
, city (1991 pop. 1,782,000), capital of Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea. Greater Bakı includes almost the whole Absheron peninsula, on which Bakı proper is situated; the city is located below sea level.
..... Click the link for more information. ; the Georgian Military RoadGeorgian Military Road,
highway, SE European Russia and Georgia. It is c.135 mi (220 km) long and crosses the Greater Caucasus Mts. Starting from its northern terminus at Vladikavkaz, the road winds upward through the Daryal gorge. Skirting Mt.
..... Click the link for more information. ; and the Ossetian Military RoadOssetian Military Road,
highway, c.170 mi (270 km) long, across the Caucasus, S European Russia and Georgia, linking Kutaisi with Alagir. One of the two main routes over the N Caucusus, it crosses the Caucasian crest through the pass at Mamison.
..... Click the link for more information. are the country's main transportation arteries. Georgia's sizable hydropower capacity is underdeveloped and it must import the bulk of its fuel. The chief exports are scrap metal, machinery, chemicals, fuel reexports, citrus fruits, tea, and wine. The main imports are fuels, machinery, transportation equipment, grain and other foods, and pharmaceuticals. The chief trade partners are Russia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan.
Government
Georgia is governed under the constitution of 1995 as amended. The president, who is a largely ceremonial head of state, is elected by an electoral college (beginning in 2024) to a five-year term. The prime minister is head of government and is responsible to the Parliament. The unicameral legislature consists of the 150-seat Parliament; 77 members are elected on a proportional basis and 73 are directly elected by districts. Beginning in 2024 all will be elected on a proportional basis. All serve five-year terms. Administratively, the country is divided into nine regions, one city, and two autonomous republics.
History
Early History through Soviet Rule
Georgia developed as a kingdom about the 4th cent. B.C. MtskhetaMtskheta
, town (1989 pop. 9,588), W central Georgia, on the Kura River and the Georgian Military Road. It was the capital of ancient Iberia until the 6th cent. A.D., when the capital was moved to Tbilisi; Mtskheta remained the religious center of the country.
..... Click the link for more information. was its earliest capital; coastal Georgia was the ColchisColchis
, ancient country on the eastern shore of the Black Sea and in the Caucasus region. Centered about the fertile valley of the Phasis River (the modern Rion), Colchis corresponds to the present-day region of Mingrelia in Georgia.
..... Click the link for more information. of the ancient Greeks. The Persian SassanidsSassanid,
Sasanid
, or Sassanian
, last dynasty of native rulers to reign in Persia before the Arab conquest. The period of their dominion extended from c.A.D. 224, when the Parthians were overthrown and the capital, Ctesiphon, was taken, until c.
..... Click the link for more information. , who ruled the country from the 3d cent. A.D., were expelled c.400. In the 4th cent. Christianity was introduced in Georgia. In the 9th cent. the rule of the Bagrationi family began. Alp ArslanAlp Arslan
, 1029–72, Seljuk sultan of Persia (1063–72). In 1065 he led the Seljuks in an invasion of Armenia and Georgia and in 1066 attacked the Byzantine Empire. The success of his campaign was crowned (1071) by his brilliant victory over Romanus IV at Manzikert.
..... Click the link for more information. held the region in the 11th cent., but King David IV (or David II, known as David the Builder) expelled the Seljuk Turks, united the Georgians, and reestablished their independence.
In the 12th and 13th cent. Georgia under Queen Thamar (1184–1213) reached its greatest expansion (it then included the whole of Transcaucasia and part of what is now neighboring Turkey) and cultural flowering. From that period dates the national poem, The Man in the Panther's Skin, by Shota Rustaveli. Ravaged (13th cent.) by the Mongols, Georgia revived but was again sacked by TimurTimur
or Tamerlane
, c.1336–1405, Mongol conqueror, b. Kesh, near Samarkand. He is also called Timur Leng [Timur the lame]. He was the son of a tribal leader, and he claimed (apparently for the first time in 1370) to be a descendant of Jenghiz Khan.
..... Click the link for more information. (c.1386–1403). In the 15th cent. King Alexander I divided Georgia into three kingdoms (Imertia, Kakhetia, and Karthlia) among his sons, and the period of decline set in.
In the 16th cent. Georgia became an object of struggle between Turkey and Persia. In 1555, W Georgia passed under Turkish suzerainty and E Georgia (Kakhetia and Karthlia) under Persian rule. In the 18th cent. kings of Kakhetia tried to unite Georgia, but, pressed by the Turks and the Persians, accepted (1783) vassalage to Russia in exchange for assistance. The last king, George XIII, threatened by Persia, abdicated (1801) in favor of the czar and ceded Kakhetia and Karthlia to Russia. Between 1803 and 1829 Russia also acquired from Turkey the western parts of Georgia (Abkhazia, Mingrelia, Imeritia, and Guria).
After the Russian Revolution (1917), the Georgian Menshevik party (see Bolshevism and MenshevismBolshevism and Menshevism
, the two main branches of Russian socialism from 1903 until the consolidation of the Bolshevik dictatorship under Lenin in the civil war of 1918–20.
..... Click the link for more information. ) proclaimed (May, 1918) Georgia's independence, and the country enjoyed a brief period as a democratic socialist republic. The Soviet government in Moscow recognized (May, 1920) the independence, but in 1921 the Red Army invaded Georgia, and in Feb., 1921, it was proclaimed a Soviet republic. It was joined the USSR in 1922 as a member of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic; in 1936 it became a separate union republic. Parts of Georgia were held by the Germans during World War II. After the war, Stalin, who was himself a Georgian, ordered the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Georgians as suspected collaborators. In Apr., 1989, a protest against Soviet rule in Georgia led Soviet troops to fire on demonstrators, killing 20 and injuring hundreds.
A New Nation
Georgia declared its independence in Apr., 1991, but was not generally recognized as an independent state until the USSR disintegrated in Dec., 1991. Once it achieved independence, Georgia, which had prospered economically as part of the USSR, struggled with social and economic disintegration.
In Jan., 1992, a rebellion against the increasingly dictatorial regime of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia led to his ouster. He escaped to W Georgia and instigated a counterrebellion. Forces in the South Ossetian Autonomous Republic and Abkhazian Autonomous Republic also revolted, the former demanding union with Russia's North OssetiaOssetia
or Alania
, Ossetian Iryston, region of the central Caucasus, divided between the Republic of Georgia and the Russian Federation. On the northern slope is North Ossetia-Alania (1990 est. pop.
..... Click the link for more information. and the latter demanding independence. A cease-fire with the Ossetians was signed in July, 1992; it left much of the area under rebel control.
In Oct., 1992, Eduard ShevardnadzeShevardnadze, Eduard Amvrosiyevich
, 1928–2014, Georgian politician and diplomat. Known for pragmatism rather than polemicism, Shevardnadze served as the head of the Georgian Communist party from 1972 to 1985 when Georgia was part of the Soviet Union, and became known as
..... Click the link for more information. , the former Soviet foreign minister and leader of the Democratic Reform movement, was elected speaker of parliament, a position tantamount to president. He faced civil war and a deteriorating economy. In 1993, Georgia reluctantly joined the Russian-dominated Commonwealth of Independent StatesCommonwealth of Independent States
(CIS), community of independent nations established by a treaty signed at Minsk, Belarus, on Dec. 8, 1991, by the heads of state of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. Between Dec. 8 and Dec.
..... Click the link for more information. . Georgian military forces, with Russian help, ultimately prevailed against the rebels led by Gamsakhurdia, who died in 1993. Also in 1993, separatists won control of the Abkhazian capital, Sukhumi, and within Abkhazia they conducted a campaign of "ethnic cleansing," driving out ethnic Georgians; a cease-fire was negotiated in 1994, but peace talks stalled and fighting has erupted periodically.
In Dec., 1995, Shevardnadze easily won election as president under a new constitution; he was the target of assassination attempts in 1995 and 1998. Pope John Paul II made a visit to Georgia in Nov., 1999, but received a cool reception from its Orthodox hierarchy. President Shevardnadze was reelected as expected in Apr., 2000, but by a lopsided margin that led foreign observers to accuse the government of vote tampering. Corruption hindered economic recovery and strapped government finances, all of which led to unhappiness with Shevardnadze's rule.
Parliamentary elections early in Nov., 2003, were regarded as seriously flawed by most observers and sparked opposition demonstrations that forced the president's resignation before the end of the month. Nino Burjanadze, the parliament speaker, became interim president. Presidential elections in Jan., 2004, resulted in a landslide for the main opposition candidate, Mikheil SaakashviliSaakashvili, Mikheil
, 1967–, Georgian lawyer and political leader, president of Georgia (2004–7, 2008–13), b. Tbilisi. He received law degrees from Kiev Univ., Columbia, and Georgetown Univ.
..... Click the link for more information. , a former justice minister under Shevardnadze. Constitutional changes in February strengthened the president's powers, and in March, prior to new parliamentary elections, Saakashvili sparked a confrontation with the autonomous region of Adjaria that led in May to the reestablishment there of the central government's authority, which had weakened under Shevardnadze. In the elections, Saakashvili's coalition won two thirds of the vote and 90% of the seats.
There was a subsequent increase in tension with South Ossetia and Abkhazia, In the former, fighting erupted for several weeks during the summer and also strained relations with Russia; in the latter disputes late in 2004 over election results further aggravated Russian relations. Since 2004 there has also been an increase in tensions between ethnic Armenians in Georgia and the central government over perceived discrimination against Armenian speakers.
An national energy crisis occurred in Jan., 2006, when a gas pipeline explosion in North Ossetia, Russia, curtailed natural gas supplies in Georgia, with some Georgians believing that it had been engineered by Russia. In Feb., 2006, Georgia's parliament called for Russian peacekeepers to be removed from South Ossetia and replaced by an international force; the call was repeated later in the year and extended to Abkhazia. A Russian ban (Apr., 2006) on the importation of Georgian (and Moldovan) wines and brandies, ostensibly for sanitary reasons, was similarly regarded with suspicion.
Relations with Russia have been strained since independence. Russia has been supportive of South Ossetian and Abkhazian separatists, and a 1999 agreement called for closing two of four Russian bases in 2001. A new agreement in 2005 called for Russia to withdraw from its two other remaining bases by 2008. Russia withdrew from its base in Batumi in 2007, saying it had quit its last Georgian base, but Georgia asserted Russia continued to maintain a base at Gudauta, Abkhazia. Russia insisted the force there consisted of peacekeepers. Georgia was accused by Russia of sheltering Chechen insurgents (particularly in the Pankisi Gorge near Chechnya) and providing them with support, and Russia threatened unilateral military strikes in areas bordering Chechnya. In Oct., 2002, however, Georgia and Russia agreed to establish joint patrols to prevent border crossings by Chechens.
Tensions with Abkhazia rose again in July, 2006, when Georgia forcibly disarmed the militia that had controlled the Kodori Gorge, part of Abkhazia still aligned with Georgia. In Sept., 2006, a number of opposition politicians were arrested and charged with plotting a coup, and later in the month several Russian officials and Georgians were arrested on charges of spying. Those arrests turned the sour Russian-Georgian relations into a bitter confrontation as Russia halted all transport and postal links with Georgia and subsequently expelled several hundred Georgians as illegal immigrants. The sharp escalation in rhetoric was particularly pronounced on Russia's side; the arrested Russians were subsequently expelled.
In the Oct., 2006, local elections the president's National Movement party won a solid victory. In December, tensions with Russia continued as the Russian Duma expressed support for Abkhazian and Ossetian separatists, and the Russian energy giant Gazprom increased the price Georgia paid for gas, leading Georgia to seek alternative suppliers. The same month, Georgia's parliament passed constitutional amendments that would, in 2008, lengthen legislators' terms and shorten the president's term so that all would be elected at the same time. The tense relations with Russia moderated somewhat in early 2007, but the apparent incursion of one plane (and perhaps two) from Russian airspace in Aug., 2007, further heightened tensions; the first plane apparently fired a missile. Russia accused Georgia of fabricating the incident, but two international panels lent credence to Georgia's charge that Russia had violated its airspace.
In September, Irakly Okruashvili, the former defense minister accused Saakashvili of corruption and ordering the killing of his opponent; the defense minister was then arrested on abuse of power and corruption charges. Saakashvili denied the charges; in custody his accuser recanted and pleaded guilty to the charges against him, raising suspicions among the president's opponents. Okruashvili subsequently was released and left Georgia; in Mar. 2008 he was convicted in absentia of bribery. He returned to Georgia in Nov., 2012, and was arrested; some of the charges against subsequently were dropped.
In Nov., 2007, following large antigovernment demonstrations, Saakashvili declared a state of emergency, which lasted nine days, and suppressed the largely peaceful demonstrations; he also called an early presidential election. He was reelected in Jan., 2008, with more than 51% of the vote, but the campaign, while generally approved of by international observers, was marred by intimidation and pressure, and opposition groups accused the government of ballot fraud.
Following KosovoKosovo
, Albanian Kosova, Serbian Kosovo i Metohija and Kosmet, officially Republic of Kosovo, republic (2015 est. pop. 1,871,000), 4,126 sq mi (10,686 sq km), SE Europe, a former province of Serbia that unilaterally declared its independence in 2008.
..... Click the link for more information. 's declaration of independence, the Russian State Duma called on Russia to consider recognizing Abkazia and South Ossetia as sovereign nations, especially if Georgia joined NATO. The nonbinding move was an additional irritant in Georgian-Russian relations, and Russia subsequently announced that it would increase ties with the two regions, where many inhabitants have acquired Russian citizenship.
In April, NATO declined to offer Georgia a long-term plan for joining the alliance, as Georgia wished, although NATO did say it would eventually admit Georgia as a member. That same month a Georgian drone was shot down over Abkhazia; a UN report in May called a Russian jet the most likely attacker, and noted that, while the drone's flight was a violation of the peace agreement, the attack called into question Russia's role as a peacekeeper. Russian actions with respect to Georgia in subsequent months continued to be provocative.
In the parliamentary elections of May, 2008, Saakashvili's United National Movement won nearly 60% of the vote. The main opposition grouping denounced the vote as rigged, but observers, while criticizing aspects of the campaign and balloting, said that they marked an improvement over the presidential election. Tensions with South Ossetia led to fighting between Georgian and South Ossetian forces in early July; Russia accused Georgia of planning to invade and said it had overflown the region (a violation of Georgian sovereignty) in an effort to stop the invasion.
In Aug., 2008, amid rising tensions and escalating attacks involving Georgian and South Ossetian forces, Georgia, reportedly believing that Russian forces were about to seize South Ossetia, sent its own forces into South Ossetia. Russia intervened in the conflict on the side of the South Ossetians, and soon routed the Georgians from South Ossetia, including areas previously under Georgian control. Russia also mounted air attacks against Georgia, invaded Georgia from Abkhazia (where Abkhazian separatists seized the Kodori Gorge, which had been controlled by Georgia since 2006), and occupied areas of Georgia bordering South Ossetia. Tens of thousands of South Ossetians and Georgians fled the fighting, which resulted in significant damage to Tskhinvali and Gori and the destruction of Georgian military bases and installations by Russia.
A cease-fire was negotiated after several days of fighting, and later in the month Russia began withdrawing its forces from areas of Georgia outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but areas previously under Georgian control in the two regions were not returned to Georgia despite the cease-fre terms. Russia subsequently recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent, and in 2009 signed defense pacts with them and agreed to establish bases in the two regions. Russia also refused to extend any international observer mission inside the two regions that could be seen as recognizing Georgia's sovereignty over them, leading to the removal of UN and OSCE observers. Georgia broke off diplomatic relations with Russia and withdrew from the Commonwealth of Independent States (finalized Aug., 2009). A European Union report (Sept., 2009) on the conflict rejected Georgia's justifications for sending troops into South Ossetia, but found both sides bore responsibility for the war. Subsequently, the EU was increasingly critical of what it regarded as undemocratic actions on the part of the Georgian government.
Constitutional amendments adopted in Oct., 2010, and effective in 2013 increased the prime minister and parliament's powers but also left some important powers with the president. The changes were regarded by many as being designed to allow Saakashvili to continue play a significant governmental role after his second (and final) term as president. In the Oct., 2012, parliamentary elections, however, the Georgian Dream opposition coalition, led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire businessman and philanthropist who was relatively new to politics, won a majority, and Ivanishvili became prime minister.
The subsequent months were marked by tensions between the president and prime minister, with the new government arresting on various charges former officials allied with Saakashvili and seeking to accelerate the constitutional changes transferring power from the president to prime minister. The new government also sought improved relations with Russia; in June, 2013, shipments of Georgian wine to Russia resumed. Giorgi Margvelashvili, a former deputy prime minister and the Georgian Dream candidate, handily won election as president in Oct., 2013. The following month Ivanishvili stepped down as prime minister, and Interior Minister Irakli GaribashviliGaribashvili, Irakli,
1982–, Georgian businessman and political leader. Garibashvili worked in the business and charitable enterprises of billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili from 2004, and joined the Georgian Dream political party when Ivanishvili founded it in 2012.
..... Click the link for more information. succeeded him; Ivanishvili, however, continued to be regarded as the real power behind the government.
Georgia signed a partnership agreement with the European Union in June, 2014; the move was strongly opposed by Russia. In Nov., 2014, tensions within the government, ostensibly over progress toward Western integration, led to the withdrawal of one of the parties in the coalition, leaving Georgian Dream with a minority government. In 2014 and 2015 Abkhazia and South Ossetia, respectively, signed treaties with Russia that called for integrating the regions' militaries and economies with Russia's. Garibashvili's government was re-formed in May, 2015, after several ministers resigned. In December the prime minister resigned and was replaced by Giorgi Kvirikashvili, the foreign minister.
Parliamentary elections in Oct., 2016, resulted in a sizable majority for Georgian Dream. The party subsequently (2017) amended the constitution to end direct election of the president, reduce the president's powers, and switch entirely to proportional representation in parliament. Antigovernment protests that began in May, 2018, preceded the prime minister's resignation in June, though he said he had resigned due to disagreements with Ivanishvili, who had again become Georgian Dream's leader. Mamuka Bakhtadze, the finance minister, was named to succeed Kvirikashvili. Salome Zurabishvili, a French-born former foreign minister backed by Georgian Dream, was elected president (to a six-year term as a transition to the new constitution) after a runoff in Nov., 2018.
Bibliography
See D. M. Lang, The Last Years of the Georgian Monarchy, 1658–1832 (1957) and A Modern History of Soviet Georgia (1962); W. E. Allen, A History of the Georgian People (repr. 1978); R. G. Suny, Sakartvelo (1987); D. Rayfield, Edge of Empires (2012); E. Lee, The Experiment: Georgia's Forgotten Revolution 1918–1921 (2017).
See also: National Parks and Monuments (table)National Parks and Monuments
National Parks
Name Type1 Location Year authorized Size
acres (hectares)
Description
Acadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.
..... Click the link for more information.
Georgia
(jôr`jə), state in the SE United States, the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be founded. It is bordered by Florida (S), Alabama (W), Tennessee and North Carolina (N), and South Carolina (across the Savannah River) and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Facts and Figures
Area, 58,876 sq mi (152,489 sq km). Pop. (2010) 9,687,653, an 18.3% increase since the 2000 census. Capital and largest city, Atlanta. Statehood, Jan. 2, 1788 (4th of the original 13 states to ratify the Constitution). Highest pt., Brasstown Bald, 4,784 ft (1,459 m); lowest pt., sea level. Nickname, Empire State of the South. Motto, Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation. State bird, brown thrasher. State flower, Cherokee rose. State tree, live oak. Abbr., Ga.; GA
Geography
Georgia is the largest state E of the Mississippi River and has three main topographical areas. Extending inland from the coast is a low coastal plain that covers the southern half of the state. In mountainous N Georgia are the Appalachian Plateau, the valley and ridge province, and the Blue Ridge province. Bridging these two sections and embracing about one third of the state is the Piedmont foothill region in central Georgia. A number of islands, part of the Sea Islands chain, lie off Georgia's coastline.
The state is well drained by many rivers, including the Savannah, which forms the boundary with South Carolina; the Ocmulgee and the Oconee, which merge in the southeast to form the Altamaha; the Chattahoochee, which forms part of the Alabama boundary and joins with the Flint in the extreme southwest corner of the state to form the Apalachicola; and the Saint Marys, which rises in the large Okefenokee Swamp and forms part of the Georgia-Florida line. The most important cities are AtlantaAtlanta
, city (1990 pop. 394,017), state capital and seat of Fulton co., NW Ga., on the Chattahoochee R. and Peachtree Creek, near the Appalachian foothills; inc. 1847. It is Georgia's largest city and one of the leading cities of the South.
..... Click the link for more information. , ColumbusColumbus.
1 City (1990 pop. 178,681), seat of Muscogee co., W Ga., at the head of navigation on the Chattahoochee River; settled and inc. 1828 on the site of a Creek village.
..... Click the link for more information. , SavannahSavannah,
city (1990 pop. 137,560), seat of Chatham co., SE Ga., a port of entry on the Savannah River near its mouth; inc. 1789. A rail, fishing, and industrial center, it is a leading southern port for the import and export of a wide variety of manufactured goods; the port's
..... Click the link for more information. , MaconMacon
, city (1990 pop. 106,612), seat of Bibb co., central Ga., at the head of navigation on the Ocmulgee River; inc. 1823. It is the industrial, processing, and shipping center for a farm area that produces cotton, peanuts, soybeans, poultry, and dairy products.
..... Click the link for more information. , and AlbanyAlbany
. 1 Residential city (1990 pop. 16,327), Alameda co., W Calif., on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay; inc. 1908. The city has varied manufacturing; Tilden Regional Park is nearby.
2 City (1990 pop. 78,122), seat of Dougherty co., SW Ga.
..... Click the link for more information. .
Economy
Although the trade and service sectors supply the majority of jobs in Georgia, manufacturing and agriculture remain important to the state's economy. In addition, federal facilities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, near Atlanta; Fort Benning, near Columbus; and the Kings Bay naval base, contribute to the economy.
Cotton, once Georgia's most valuable crop, has declined in importance; in the 1990s it was rivaled by peanuts, tobacco, and corn. Georgia is easily the nation's largest producer of peanuts. Tobacco is the principal crop in the central and southern sections of the state, peanuts in the southwest. Livestock and poultry raising account for the largest share of farm income; broilers, eggs, and cattle are major products.
The manufacture of textiles and textile products has long been Georgia's leading industry, centering mainly around Columbus, Augusta, Macon, and Rome. Other major manufactures include transportation equipment, foods, paper products, and chemicals. Automobile manufacturing is important around Atlanta. Much of Georgia is heavily forested with pine, and the state is a leading producer of lumber and pulpwood. Although the state is rich in minerals, mining is not as important as manufacturing and agriculture. The most valuable minerals produced are clays, stone, kaolin, iron ore, sand, and gravel. Georgia is famous for its fine marble.
With its moderate winter climate and its Southern charm and beauty, the state is a popular vacation area. The Sea Islands are especially noted for their scenery and resorts. Warm Springs, established with the help of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the treatment of poliomyelitis, is now a historical landmark. Georgia's other attractions include Okefenokee Swamp, a large wilderness area; Chattahoochee and Oconee national forests, with facilities for hunting and fishing; Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park; Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park (see National Parks and MonumentsNational Parks and Monuments
National Parks
Name Type1 Location Year authorized Size
acres (hectares)
Description
Acadia NP SE Maine 1919 48,419 (19,603) Mountain and coast scenery.
..... Click the link for more information. , table); and Stone MountainStone Mountain Memorial,
memorial to the Confederacy, consisting of the equestrian figures of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis carved on the northern face of Stone Mt., a granite dome 650 ft (198 m) high in NW Ga., NE of Atlanta.
..... Click the link for more information. , near Atlanta, on which is carved a Confederate memorial.
Government, Politics, and Higher Education
Georgia's constitution provides for an elected governor who serves for a term of four years. The legislature, called the general assembly, is made up of a senate with 56 members and a house of representatives with 180 members. Members of both houses are elected to terms of two years. Georgia sends 14 representatives and 2 senators to the U.S. Congress and has 16 electoral votes. Zell Miller, elected governor in 1990 and reelected in 1994, was succeeded by another Democrat, Roy E. Barnes, elected in 1998, but Barnes lost his 2002 reelection bid to Republican Sonny Perdue. Perdue was reelected in 2006. Republican J. Nathan Deal was elected governor in 2010 and 2014, and Republican Brian Kemp was elected in 2018.
Leading educational institutions include the Univ. of Georgia, at Athens; Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State Univ., Emory Univ., Clark College, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Morris Brown College, all at Atlanta; Agnes Scott College, at Decatur; and Mercer Univ. and Wesleyan College, at Macon.
History
Early Exploration and Conflicting Claims
The Creek and Cherokee inhabited the Georgia area when Hernando De Soto and his expedition passed through the region c.1540. The Spanish later established missions and garrisons on the Sea Islands. In 1663, Charles II of England made a grant of land that included Georgia to the eight proprietors of Carolina. However, Spain claimed the whole eastern half of the present United States and protested the grant. The English ignored the protest, and the English-Spanish contest for the territory between Charleston (S.C.) and St. Augustine (Fla.) continued intermittently for almost a century. England became interested in settling Georgia as a buffer colony to protect South Carolina from Spanish invasion from the south.
Oglethorpe's Colony
In June, 1732, the English philanthropist James E. OglethorpeOglethorpe, James Edward
, 1696–1785, English general and philanthropist, founder of the American colony of Georgia. He had some military experience before being elected (1722) to the House of Commons, where he held a seat for 32 years.
..... Click the link for more information. received a charter from George II (for whom the colony was named) to settle the colony of Georgia and form a board of trustees to manage it. Oglethorpe planned to settle Georgia as a refuge for debtors in England. The first colonists, led by Oglethorpe, reached the mouth of the Savannah River in Feb., 1733. On a bluff c.18 mi (29 km) upstream, the colonists laid out the first town, Savannah. In 1739 war broke out between Spain and England. Fighting occurred in Georgia, and in 1742, near Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island, Oglethorpe defeated the Spanish in the battle of Bloody Marsh, thereby effectively ending Spain's claim to the land N of the St. Marys River.
Georgia's early settlers included English, Welsh, Scots Highlanders, Germans, Italians, Piedmontese, and Swiss. Jews, Catholics, and settlers from other American colonies were at first barred. Immigrants fell generally into two groups: charity settlers, who were financed by the trustees, and adventurers, who paid their own way and came to receive the best land grants. The trustees had hoped that the colony would produce silk to send back to England, and early colonists were required to plant a specific number of mulberry trees for the cultivation of silkworms. The scheme, however, came to nothing. At first slavery was prohibited, but this and other restrictions impeded the colony's growth, and by the time Georgia became a royal colony in 1754, most of the restrictions had been abolished.
Georgia flourished as a royal colony. It fitted well into the British mercantile system, exporting rice, indigo, deerskins, lumber, naval stores, beef, and pork to England and buying there the manufactured articles it needed. Georgia's citizens were slower to resent those acts of the crown that exasperated the other colonies, but by June, 1775, Georgian patriots had begun to organize, and the following month delegates were elected to the Second Continental Congress. Georgia's colonists were about equally divided into Loyalists and patriots during the American Revolution, but the patriots, exposed to Loyalist Florida on the south and Native American tribes on the west, fared badly. In Dec., 1778, the British captured Savannah, and by the end of 1779 they held every important town in Georgia.
Statehood
After American independence had been won, Georgia was the first Southern state to ratify (1788) the Constitution. Georgia came into conflict with the federal government over states' rights when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in Chisholm v. Georgia (1793), that an individual could sue a state, a decision equally distasteful to other states as well as to Georgia. (This decision was later nullified by the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.)
Further difficulties with the federal government stemmed from the related issues of the removal of Native Americans and land speculation centering around the Yazoo land fraudYazoo land fraud,
name given to the sale in 1795 by an act of the Georgia legislature of vast holdings in the Yazoo River country to four land companies following the wholesale bribery of the legislators; the territory comprised most of present Alabama and Mississippi.
..... Click the link for more information. . In the midst of the Yazoo controversy, Georgia ceded (1802) its western lands to the United States in return for $1,250,000 and a pledge that the Native Americans would be removed from Georgia lands. By 1826 the Creek had yielded their lands, but in 1827, the CherokeeCherokee
, largest Native American group in the United States. Formerly the largest and most important tribe in the Southeast, they occupied mountain areas of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee.
..... Click the link for more information. set themselves up as an independent nation. The U.S. Supreme Court held (1832) that the state had no jurisdiction over the Cherokee, but President Jackson declined to support the chief justice, and in 1838 the Cherokee were forced to migrate west to government land in present day Oklahoma. The path of their journey is known as the Trail of Tears.
Cotton and the Confederacy
With the invention of the cotton gin (1793) by Eli Whitney, Georgia began to prosper as a cotton-growing state. Cotton was grown under the plantation system with labor supplied by slaves. By the 1840s a textile industry was established in the state. Although Georgia was committed to slavery before the Civil War, state leaders opposed secession. However, successive defeats on the national scene, culminating in the election of Lincoln as president, fostered separatist sentiment in the state.
On Jan. 19, 1861, Georgia seceded from the Union and shortly afterward joined the ConfederacyConfederacy,
name commonly given to the Confederate States of America
(1861–65), the government established by the Southern states of the United States after their secession from the Union.
..... Click the link for more information. . The coast was soon blockaded by the Union navy, and in Apr., 1862, Fort Pulaski (which had been seized by the state in Jan., 1861) was recaptured by Union forces. Georgia became a major Civil War battlefield when, in 1864, Union Gen. W. T. Sherman launched his successful Atlanta campaignAtlanta campaign,
May–Sept., 1864, of the U.S. Civil War. In the spring of 1864, Gen. W. T. Sherman concentrated the Union armies of G. H. Thomas, J. B. McPherson, and J. M. Schofield around Chattanooga.
..... Click the link for more information. . On Nov. 15, 1864, Sherman set fire to Atlanta, and his subsequent march through Georgia to the sea, culminating in the fall (Dec.) of Savannah, left in its path a scene of great destruction.
The Long Aftermath of the Civil War
During ReconstructionReconstruction,
1865–77, in U.S. history, the period of readjustment following the Civil War. At the end of the Civil War, the defeated South was a ruined land. The physical destruction wrought by the invading Union forces was enormous, and the old social and economic
..... Click the link for more information. , Georgia at first refused to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment and was consequently placed under military rule. During the period of military rule Rufus B. Bullock, a radical Republican, was elected governor. Corruption prevailed during Bullock's administration (1868–71), but after the legislature approved the Fifteenth Amendment (the Thirteenth and Fourteenth having been ratified earlier), Georgia was readmitted (1870) to the Union, and Bullock resigned. Georgia's Democratic party has dominated the state's politics since the end of Reconstruction.
The textile industry recovered from the effects of the war and was expanding by the 1880s. Atlanta, which had succeeded Milledgeville as the capital in 1868, grew into a thriving industrial city, largely due to its importance as the center of an expanding regional railroad network.
The effect of the war on agriculture—which had formerly been dependent on slave labor—was more serious. The breakup of large plantations resulted in the rise of tenant farming and sharecropping, systems often accompanied by poverty and abuse. After World War I agriculture suffered further setbacks as the boll weevil caused great destruction to cotton crops and the soil became exhausted through erosion and overuse. A farm depression began in Georgia long before the general depression of the 1930s. The state weathered the depression, but its subsequent history was marked by political and racial conflict.
The Struggle for Racial Equality
In 1941, Gov. Eugene Talmadge caused nationwide commotion by discharging three educators in the state university system alleged to have advocated racial equality in the schools. The state university system lost its accreditation for a time as a result of Talmadge's action. Talmadge was defeated in the 1942 Democratic primary by Ellis G. Arnall.
Under Arnall's administration, Georgia became the first state to grant the vote to 18-year-olds, and in 1946 (on the strength of a U.S. Supreme Court decision) blacks voted for the first time in the Georgia Democratic primary. Among Arnall's other administrative acts was the adoption of a new constitution in Aug., 1945. The 1945 constitution, which, in amended form, is still in effect in the state, contained a provision for Georgia's notorious county-unit system. This system for nominating state officials in Democratic primaries led to the political control of urban areas by sparsely populated rural areas.
The integration of public schools, following the 1954 Supreme Court decision, was strenuously opposed by many Georgians. However, in 1961 the legislature abandoned a "massive resistance" policy, and Georgia became the first state in the deep South to proceed with integration without a major curtailment of its public school system. Racial tensions persisted, however, and in May, 1970, racial disorders broke out in Augusta.
Georgia's county-unit system (held constitutional by the Supreme Court in Apr., 1950) was abolished by federal court order in 1962. In 1972, the Georgian Andrew Young became the first African American elected to the U.S. Congress; he later became mayor of Atlanta. Jimmy CarterCarter, Jimmy
(James Earl Carter, Jr.), 1924–, 39th President of the United States (1977–81), b. Plains, Ga, grad. Annapolis, 1946.
Carter served in the navy, where he worked with Admiral Hyman G. Rickover in developing the nuclear submarine program.
..... Click the link for more information. , a Democrat and the 39th president of the United States (1977–81), had been governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975; his administration brought attention to the state, whose urban centers, especially Atlanta, were beginning to experience rapid growth. Today, roughly one half of the jobs in Georgia are in the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is sprawling into formerly rural districts, highlighting the cultural and economic gaps between Georgia's rural and urban areas.
Bibliography
See H. E. Bolton, The Debatable Land (1968); R. H. Shyrock, Georgia and the Union in 1850 (1926, repr. 1968); R. M. Myers, ed., The Children of Pride (1972); J. Crutchfield, ed., Georgia Almanac, 1989–90 (1990); N. V. Bartley, The Creation of Modern Georgia (2d ed. 1990).