History of Georgia
Skulls found in the Dmanisi region (Georgia) and thoroughly studied in France prove that the first Europeans came from this territory around 1.7 million years ago. This fact is accepted and acknowledged by scholars and scientists all over the world. The people who inhabit this area are now called Georgians, although the original name of Georgia is Sakartvelo and that of Georgian Kartveli. Russians call the country Gruzia, and the people Gruzini; Turks call the country Gjurdjistan, people, Gjurdji. Georgia has a very favorable geographic location. A mild subtropical climate, natural resources, glorious mountains, and sunny seaside make Georgia a very attractive tourist site. One can ski in the mountains and swim in the Sea on the very same day in Georgia. Iron ore and coal, copper and manganese are mined, oil is extracted, and marble quarried here.
There are numerous healing mineral springs; gushing rivers represent a huge hydroelectric potential; and the landscape, amazing in its diversity, is yet another valuable asset. Here we have the palms, eucalyptus and liana-entwined jungles of Colchis; snowy mountain peaks; pine and beech clad slopes of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus ranges; steppes of the Yori Plateau, covered with beard grass; the orchards of Kartl; the world-famous vineyards of Kakheti, Imereti and Samegrelo and the alpine pastures of the upland regions of Svaneti, Tusheti and Khevsureti. Mountains and plateaus cover four-fifths of Georgia's territory. Ridges of mountains divide the country into regions, each of which have a distinctive landscape and microclimate, and characteristic architecture, costumes, folklore, traditions and customs. Archaeologists and historians have established that Georgia was one of the main regions which saw the emergence and development of primitive man and the origins of civilization. Stone implements fashioned during the Paleolithic Age have been found here. The people of Georgia were amongst the first in the Caucasus to master the smelting and casting of metals; first copper and bronze, then, as early as the 9th-7th centuries BC, iron. During the Bronze Age, large tribal confederations were formed here, the basis of the first Georgian states: Colchis (6th century B.C.) in Western Georgia, and Kartli (4th century B.C.) in the east.
The desire for a unified state persevered in subsequent centuries, all throughout the Middle Ages, with old cities formed during the Hellenistic period continuing to grow, and new centers of culture appearing -Mtskheta, Uplistsikhe, Vani, Gori, Shorapani and others. Even before 337, when Christianity was made the official religion in the Kingdom of Kartli (and subsequently in the entire territory of Georgia), an alphabet had been developed and a written language had appeared. Georgia's path through the centuries and the millennia was arduous and troubled. Like a magnet, its lands attracted hordes of conquerors. The Georgians had to fight for their independence against the Greeks and Romans, Parthia and Byzantium, Khazars and Arabs, the hordes of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane and the armies of Persia and Turkey. Thousands of Georgians perished in burning cities, and tens of thousands were driven into slavery. Churches were desecrated, crops destroyed, vineyards cut down. Georgia is the home of an ancient people and culture about which next to nothing is known.
Therefore, Georgia is a country for you to discover!
We thank BVT Georgia for their kind information support!
