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Georgia Physical Environment
Located in the region known as the Caucasus or Caucasia,
Georgia is a small country of approximately 69,875 square
kilometers--about the size of West Virginia. To the north and
northeast, Georgia borders the Russian republics of Chechnya,
Ingushetia, and North Ossetia (all of which began to seek
autonomy from Russia in 1992). Neighbors to the south are
Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey. The shoreline of the Black Sea
constitutes Georgia's entire western border
(see
fig. 1).
Topography
Despite its small area, Georgia has one of the most varied
topographies of the former Soviet republics
(see
fig. 2). Georgia
lies mostly in the Caucasus Mountains, and its northern boundary
is partly defined by the Greater Caucasus range. The Lesser
Caucasus range, which runs parallel to the Turkish and Armenian
borders, and the Surami and Imereti ranges, which connect the
Greater Caucasus and the Lesser Caucasus, create natural barriers
that are partly responsible for cultural and linguistic
differences among regions. Because of their elevation and a
poorly developed transportation infrastructure, many mountain
villages are virtually isolated from the outside world during the
winter. Earthquakes and landslides in mountainous areas present a
significant threat to life and property. Among the most recent
natural disasters were massive rock- and mudslides in Ajaria in
1989 that displaced thousands in southwestern Georgia, and two
earthquakes in 1991 that destroyed several villages in northcentral Georgia and South Ossetia.
Georgia has about 25,000 rivers, many of which power small
hydroelectric stations. Drainage is into the Black Sea to the
west and through Azerbaijan to the Caspian Sea to the east. The
largest river is the Mtkvari (formerly known by its Azerbaijani
name, Kura, which is still used in Azerbaijan), which flows 1,364
kilometers from northeast Turkey across the plains of eastern
Georgia, through the capital, Tbilisi, and into the Caspian Sea.
The Rioni River, the largest river in western Georgia, rises in
the Greater Caucasus and empties into the Black Sea at the port
of Poti. Soviet engineers turned the river lowlands along the
Black Sea coast into prime subtropical agricultural land,
embanked and straightened many stretches of river, and built an
extensive system of canals. Deep mountain gorges form
topographical belts within the Greater Caucasus.
Data as of March 1994
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