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| Georgia 3,661,173[2] — 3,956,000[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Languages | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Georgian (including Mingrelian and Svan), Russian (about 10% of the population)[3] |
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Predominantly † Eastern Orthodox Christianity |
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| Part of a series on |
| Georgians ქართველები |
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| By country or region |
| Georgia Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia Autonomous Republic of Adjara |
| Subgroups |
| Adjarians · Mingrelians · Svans |
| Culture |
| Architecture · Art · Cinema · Cuisine Dance · Dress · Literature · Music Media · Religion · Sport |
| Religion |
| Georgian Orthodox Georgian Catholic Islam (Sunni and Shiite) |
| Languages and dialects |
| Georgian language Dialects · Alphabet |
| History of Georgia |
The Georgians (Georgian: ქართველები, kartvelebi) are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America.
The majority of Georgians are Eastern Orthodox Christian and largely adhere to the national autocephalous Georgian Orthodox Church, which originated in the 4th century. There are also Georgian Catholic and Muslim communities in Tbilisi and Adjara.
The Georgian people went through a complex process of nation-formation and currently comprise a diverse set of geographic subgroups, each with its characteristic traditions, manners, dialect and, in the case of Mingrelians and Svans, language. The Georgian language, with its own alphabet and long written tradition going back to the 5th century, is the language of literacy and education of all Georgians living in Georgia as well as the official language of the country. Georgian, Mingrelian and Svan, together with Laz spoken by the related Laz people form the Kartvelian language family.
Located at the edge of Europe, the Georgian people have fought to protect their Christian identity in the face of immense pressure from the neighboring Muslim empires. By the early 11th century they formed a unified kingdom which emerged as a dominant regional power until it was weakened by internal divisions following the death of George V the Brilliant, the last of the great kings of Georgia. To ensure its survival as a Christian kingdom, the country was soon forced to forge an alliance with the Russian Empire, which was viewed as a replacement for the fallen Eastern Roman Empire, Georgia's traditional ally. Eventually being annexed by Russia in 1801, Georgians briefly regained national independence from 1918 to 1921, and finally, in 1991 from the Soviet Union.
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Georgians call themselves Kartvelebi (ქართველები), their land Sakartvelo (საქართველო), and their language Kartuli (ქართული). According to The Georgian Chronicles, the ancestor of the Kartvelian people was Kartlos, the great grandson of the Biblical Japheth. Ancient Greeks (Strabo, Herodotus, Plutarch, Homer, etc.) and Romans (Titus Livius, Cornelius Tacitus, etc.) referred to early eastern Georgians as Iberians (Iberoi in some Greek sources) and Mingrelians-Lazes as Colchians.[11]
Most historians and scholars of Georgia as well as anthropologists, archaeologists and linguists tend to agree that the ancestors of modern Georgians inhabited the southern Caucasus and northern Anatolia since the Neolithic period.[12] Scholars usually refer to them as Proto-Kartvelian (Proto-Georgians such as Colchians and Iberians) tribes.[13] Some European historians of the 19th century (for example, Wilhelm von Humboldt and Paul Kretschmer) as well as Georgian scholars (R. Gordeziani, S. Kaukhchishvili and Z. Gamsakhurdia) came to the conclusion that Proto-Kartvelians might be related linguistically and culturally to the indigenous (pre-Indo-European) peoples of ancient Europe including the Etruscans, Pelasgians and Proto-Basques.
The Georgian people in antiquity have been known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Colchians and Iberians.[14][15] East Georgian tribes of Tibarenians-Iberians formed their kingdom in 7th century BCE. However, western Georgian tribes (Moschians, Suanians, Mingrelians and others) established the first Georgian state of Colchis before the foundation of the Iberian Kingdom in the east.[16] According to the numerous scholars of Georgia, the formations of these two early Georgian kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia, resulted in the consolidation and uniformity of the Georgian nation.[17]
Proto-Georgian tribes:
Both Colchians and Iberians played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the modern Georgian nation.[21][22]
According to the scholar of the Caucasian studies Cyril Toumanoff:
| “ | Colchis appears as the first Caucasian State to have achieved the coalescence of the newcomer, Colchis can be justly regarded as not a proto-Georgian, but a Georgian (West Georgian) kingdom ... It would seem natural to seek the beginnings of Georgian social history in Colchis, the earliest Georgian formation.[23] | ” |
Georgians are classified as Caucasoids (Europoid or Europid),[24] and are often slender with brown hair and brown eyes.[25] Georgians who have historically lived in alpine areas of less sunny western Georgia — especially Mingrelians and Svans- tend to have lighter features, with higher frequency of blond hair and light blue or green eyes.
Studies of human genetics suggest that Georgian Y-DNA typically belongs to Haplogroup J2, also found in Greece and Italy, as well as Haplogroup G.[26]
Georgian is the primary language for Georgians of all provenance, including those who speak other Kartvelian languages: Mingrelians, Svans, and the Laz. The language known today as Georgian is a traditional language of the eastern part of the country which has spread to most of the present-day Georgia after the post-Christianization centralization in the first millennium AD — today Georgians regardless of their ancestral region use Georgian as their official language. The regional languages — Mingrelian and Svan — are languages of the west that were traditionally spoken in the pre-Christian Kingdom of Colchis, but later lost importance as the unified Georgian Kingdom emerged. Their decline is largely due to the capital of the unified kingdom, Tbilisi, being in the eastern part of the country — known as Iberia — effectively making the language of the east an official language of the Georgian monarch.
All of these languages comprise the Kartvelian language family along with the related language of the Laz people, which has speakers in both Turkey and Georgia.
Dialects of Georgian include Imeretian, Racha-Lechkhumian, Gurian, Adjarian, Imerkhevian (in Turkey), Kartlian, Kakhetian, Ingilo (in Azerbaijan), Tush, Khevsur, Mokhevian, Pshavian, Fereydan dialect in Iran in Fereydunshahr and Fereydan, Mtiuletian, Meskhetian.
| Georgian Statehood |
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Christianity, first preached by the Apostles Simon and Andrew in the 1st century, became the state religion of the Eastern Georgian Kingdom of Iberia in 327, although most of the Georgian population was already christian.[27][28][29][30] The final conversion of Georgia to Christianity in 327 is credited to a Roman woman St. Nino of Cappadocia, a relative of the great martyr St. George, and Susanna, sister of the Patriarch of Jerusalem.[31] The Georgians' new faith, which replaced pagan beliefs, allied them permanently with the Eastern Roman Empire, while placing them on the front line of conflict between the Christian and Islamic worlds. As was true elsewhere, the Christian church in Georgia was crucial to the development of a written language, and most of the earliest written works were religious texts.Mmedieval Georgian culture was greatly influenced by Eastern Orthodoxy and the Georgian Orthodox Church, which promoted and often sponsored the creation of many works of religious devotion. These included churches and monasteries, works of art such as icons, and hagiographies of Georgian saints. In addition, many secular works of national history, mythology and hagiography were also written. Today, 83.9% of the Georgian population, most of whom are ethnic Georgian, practices Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
The Georgian cuisine is specific to the country, but also contains some influences from other European culinary traditions, as well as those from the surrounding Western Asia. Each historical province of Georgia has its own distinct culinary tradition, such as Megrelian, Kakhetian, and Imeretian cuisines. In addition to various meat dishes, Georgian cuisine also offers a variety of vegetarian meals.
The importance of both food and drink to Georgian culture is best observed during a feast, or supra, when a huge assortment of dishes is prepared, always accompanied by large amounts of wine, and dinner can last for hours. In a Georgian feast, the role of the tamada (toastmaster) is an important and honoured position.
In countries of the former Soviet Union, Georgian food is popular due to the immigration of Georgians to other Soviet republics, in particular Russia. In Russia all major cities have many Georgian restaurants and Russian restaurants often feature Georgian food items on their menu.[32]
The Georgians have historically been classified into various subgroups based on the geographic region which their ancestors traditionally inhabited.
Even if a member of any of these subgroups moves to a different region, they will still be known by the name of their ancestral region. For example, if a Gurian moves to Tbilisi (part of the Kartli region) he will not automatically identify himself as Kartlian despite actually living in Kartli. This may, however, change if substantial amount of time passes. For example, there are some Mingrelians who have lived in the Imereti region for centuries and are now identified as Imeretian or Imeretian-Mingrelians.
Last names from mountainous eastern Georgian provinces (such as Kakheti, etc.) can be distinguished by the suffix –uri (ური), or –uli (ული). Most Svan last names typically end in –ani (ანი), Mingrelian in –ia (ია), -ua (უა), or -ava (ავა), and Laz in –shi (ში).
| Name | Name in Georgian | Geographical region | Dialect or Language |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imeretians | იმერელი imereli | Imereti | Imeretian dialect |
| Kartlians | ქართლელი kartleli | Kartli | Kartlian dialect |
| Megrelians | მეგრელი megreli | Megrelia | Megrelian language |
| Svans | სვანი svani | Svaneti | Svan language |
| Gurians | გურული guruli | Guria | Gurian dialect |
| Adjarians | აჭარელი achareli | Adjara | Adjarian dialect |
| Meskhetians | მესხი meskhi | Meskheti (Samtskhe) | Meskhian dialect |
| Lechkhumeli | ლეჩხუმელი lechkhumeli | Lechkhumi | Lechkhumian dialcet |
| Rachveli | რაჭველი rachveli | Racha | Rachian dialect |
| Kakhetians | კახელი kakheti | Kakheti | Kakhetian dialcet |
| Khevsurians | ხევსური khevsuri | Khevsureti | Khevsurian dialect |
| Tushi | თუში tushi | Tusheti | Tushetian dialect |
| Pshaveli | ფშაველი pshaveli | Pshavi | Pshavian dialect |
| Mokhevians | მოხევე mokheve | Khevi | Mokhevian dialect |
| Javakhians | ჯავახი javakhi | Javakheti | Javakhian dialect |
The 1897 Russian census (which accounted people by language), had Imeretian, Mingrelian and Svan languages separate from Georgian.[33] During the 1926 Soviet census, Mengrelians and Svans were accounted separately from Georgian.[34] Mingrelian and Svan languages are both Kartvelian languages and are closely related to the national Georgian.
Laz people also may be considered Georgian based on their geographic location and religion. According to the London School of Economics' anthropologist Mathijs Pelkmans,[35] Lazs residing in Georgia frequently identify themselves as "first-class Georgians" to show pride, while considering their Muslim counterparts in Turkey as "Turkified Lazs".[36]
| Subethnic groups | Name in Georgian | Settlement area | Language (other than Georgian) |
Approximate number | Difference(s) from mainstream Georgians (other than location) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shavshians | შავში shavshi | Shavsheti | Imerkhevian dialect ? | ||
| Klarjians | კლარჯი klarji | Klarjeti | Imerkhevian dialect ? | ||
| Lazs | ლაზი lazi | Chaneti (Lazistan) | Laz language | 50,000 (1970 est.)[37] | Religion: Muslim |
| Chveneburi | ჩვენებური chveneburi | Black Sea coast, Northwestern Turkey |
60,000 (1979)[38] | Religion: Muslim | |
| Ingilo | ინგილო ingilo | Saingilo | Ingiloan dialect | 12,000 | Religion: Muslim |
| Pereidneli (Fereydan Georgian) | ფერეიდნელი pereidneli | Pereidani | Fereidanian dialect |
The language known today as Georgian is a traditional language of the eastern part of the country which has spread to most of the present-day Georgia after the post-Christianization centralization in the first millennium AD — today Georgians regardless of their ancestral region use Georgian as their official language. The regional languages — Mingrelian and Svan — are languages of the west that were traditionally spoken in the pre-Christian Kingdom of Colchis, but later lost importance as the unified Georgian Kingdom emerged. Their decline is largely due to the capital of the unified kingdom, Tbilisi, being in the eastern part of the country — known as Iberia — effectively making the language of the east an official language of the Georgian monarch.
All of these languages comprise the Kartvelian language family along with the related language of the Laz people, which has speakers in both Turkey and Georgia.
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