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GEORGIA – FACT SHEET
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Location |
South Caucasus |
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Area |
69,500 sq km |
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Capital |
Tbilisi (1.3 mn pop) |
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Neighbours and
Boundaries |
Armenia-164 kms, Azerbaijan – 322 kms, Russia
–723 kms, and Turkey-252 kms |
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Coastline |
310 kms |
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Ports |
Poti, Batumi |
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Land |
Largely Mountainous |
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Land use |
Agricultural 42%, water 2% and forest 34%,
Irrigated land 4000 sq. km |
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Economy |
Traditionally agricultural, producing fruit,
wine, oils, tobacco and spices. Industries
include manganese and coal mines, crude oil
and gas production and food processing. |
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Natural resources |
Hydropower (26,000 rivers), manganese,
non-ferrous and rare metals, minor coal and
oil, forests, coastal climate and soils allow
for important tea and citrus growth |
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Population |
4.4 mn (Urban 2.8 mn), Growth rate: - 0.2 per
thousand. Regular migration abroad. Estimated
280,000 Internally Displaced Persons.
Male/female ratio: 0.9:1.0 |
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Ethnic groups |
Georgians 84%, Armenian 8%, Russian 6%, Azeri
6%, Ossetian 3% |
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Life expectancy |
73 years |
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Literacy rate |
99% |
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Religion
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The Orthodox Church of Georgia is one of the
oldest Christian communities in the world,
dating back to 337. Most Georgians belong to
this faith. There are small communities of
Muslims, Catholics, Slav Orthodox believers,
Armenian Apostolics and Zoroastrians.
Orthodox 75% (Georgian Orthodox 65%, Russian Orthodox 10 %), Islam
11%, Armenian Apostolic 8%, others 6%. |
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Language |
Georgian, with 33 alphabets, written in a
unique rounded alphabet. It is the largest
among the Ibero-Caucasian languages, a
non-Indo-European group. |
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History |
Georgian history dates back over 2,500 years
and Georgian is one of the oldest living
languages. Tbilisi, located in a picturesque
valley divided by the Mtkvari River, is over
1,500 years old. Much of Georgian territory
was besieged by its Persian and Turkish
neighbours along with Arabs and Mongols from 7th
to 18th centuries. After eleven
centuries of mixed fortunes, including a
Golden Age from 11th to 12th
centuries, Georgia turned to Russia for
protection. Russia annexed Georgia and exiled
the royalty in 1801. Pockets of Georgian
resistance to foreign rule continued, and the
first Republic of Georgia was established in
May 1918 after the collapse of Czarist
Russia. By March 1921, the Red Army had
reoccupied the country and Georgia became part
of the Soviet Union.
On 9 April 1991, the Supreme Council of
Georgia declared independence. |
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Political system |
President of Georgia is the head of state and
is elected for a term of 5 years through
universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret
ballot for a maximum of upto two terms. The
Government comprises of three branches:
legislative, executive and judiciary. |
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Head of State: |
Mikheil Saakashvili elected President in
January 2004 |
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Legislative branch |
Unicameral Supreme Council (235 seats); last
elections: March 2004. |
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State structure |
Federal country consisting of 12 regions
divided further into rayons (Abkhazia
and
South Ossetia
broke away and recognized by Russian
Federation as independent countries in
September, 2008.) |
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Independence Day |
9 April 1991 |
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National Holiday
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May 26 (coinciding with establishment of first
Republic of Georgia on 26 May 1918) |
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Constitution: |
Adopted August 1995 |
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Currency |
Georgian Lari ( US$ 1 = 1.65
Lari,
March
2009) |
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GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) |
US$
7.145 million
(January
- March
2008) |
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GDP real growth rate |
8.5% (First
half of
2008) |
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Per capita GDP |
purchasing power parity US$ 1496
(First half of
2008) |
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GDP-composition by sector |
Agriculture:17.7%; Industry:27.5%, Services:
54.8% (January
- March
2008) |
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Unemployment |
13.6%
(2007) |
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External debt (2007) |
US$ 3.362 billion |
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold |
US$ 492 million (2007) |
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Avg. monthly wage (2007) |
US$ 151 |
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Major crops |
livestock Potatoes, hazelnuts, tea, citrus
fruits, grapes (excellent wines) |
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Industry |
Steel, aircraft, machine tools, electrical
appliances, mining (manganese and copper),
chemicals, wood products, wine.
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Transport & Communication |
Railways 1,613 kms, Highways 21,000 kms,
Airport- Tbilisi connected with all major
European Countries |
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Exports
(Jan-
Aug
2008)
1,076,88
million USD |
Russia 18.1%, Turkey 14.3%, Azerbaijan 9.8%,
Turkmenistan 8.9%, Bulgaria 5%, Armenia 4.7%,
Ukraine 4.4%, Canada 4.2%
Scrap metal, machinery, chemicals; fuel
re-exports; citrus fruits, tea, wine |
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Imports
(Jan-Oct
2008)
4,159,48
million USD |
Russia 15.4%, Turkey 11.4%, Azerbaijan 9.4%,
Ukraine 8.8%, Germany 8.3%, US 6% (2005)
Fuels, machinery and parts, transport
equipment, grain and other foods,
pharmaceuticals. |
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Business opportunities for Indian companies |
Pharmaceuticals, small and medium scale
industries, Information Technology and
agriculture (tea, silk farming and meat) are
priority sectors. |
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International Organizations
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Member of the CIS, OSCE, UN, WTO, Black Sea
Economic Cooperation Organization, GUAM, IMF,
World Bank and NATO’s Partnership for Peace
Program. |
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Bilateral trade (US$ mn) |
2002 |
2003 |
2004
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2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
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India’s exports |
4.2 |
5.5 |
5.7 |
2.2 |
8.6 |
32.13
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30.8 |
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India’s imports |
1.9 |
5.9 |
6.3 |
8.3 |
11.8 |
8.14 |
9.1 |
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Total trade |
6.1 |
11.4 |
12.0 |
10.5 |
20.4 |
40.27 |
39.9 |
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Main items of bilateral trade |
India’s major imports are scrap (aluminium and
copper) while major exports are meat of bovine
animals, anti-sprouting products and
plant-growth regulators, disinfectants and
similar, pharmaceuticals, polyesters,
machinery, tobacco, coffee and sugar. |
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