Western Asia · GEO

Georgia

The story · 10 chapters

How it was drawn

Early humans, then the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia; medieval Georgia rose between Byzantium, Persia and the Turks, split apart, fell to Russia and became independent again in 1991.

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Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Georgia fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Kingdom of Urartu800 BC to 750 BC
Urartian kings, ruling from Lake Van, campaigned north against Diauehi and Colchis in the eighth century BC. Their inscriptions boast of burned towns, captives and tribute taken from these lands.
Roman Republic65 BC
Pompey, pursuing Mithridates of Pontus, marched into Iberia in 65 BC and defeated King Artoces. Iberia and Colchis became client kingdoms of Rome, which kept a strong interest in the region for centuries.
Sasanian Empire363 to 628
Persia and Rome fought over the Caucasus for centuries. After 363 Persia dominated Iberia and abolished its monarchy around 580. In Lazica, Persians fought Byzantines from 541 to 562 before withdrawing. Emperor Heraclius's war ended Persian power here in 628.
Arab Caliphate645 to 1122
Arab armies reached Tbilisi in the 640s. Marwan ibn Muhammad, later caliph, ravaged Georgia in the 730s, and the Emirate of Tbilisi became an Arab outpost that lasted almost four centuries, until David IV took the city in 1122.
Byzantine Empire1021 to 1022
Emperor Basil II claimed the lands of Tao, left to Byzantium by a Georgian prince. He fought King George I in 1021 and 1022 and forced him to give up several provinces and send his son as a hostage.
Great Seljuk Empire1064 to 1122
Seljuk Turks under Alp Arslan raided Georgia from 1064, and in the 1080s Turkic tribes settled its pastures, a time Georgians called the Great Turkish Onslaught. David IV the Builder beat a large Muslim army at Didgori in 1121.
Mongol Empire1220 to 1335
The Mongol generals Jebe and Subutai crushed a Georgian army in 1220 or 1221. From the 1230s Georgia paid tribute and sent troops to Mongol wars. George V the Brilliant stopped paying tribute and restored independence in the 1330s.
Timurid Empire1386 to 1403
Timur took Tbilisi in 1386 and captured King Bagrat V. He returned again and again until 1403, burning towns, churches and monasteries and leaving the kingdom in ruins.
Safavid Persia1541 to 1736
Shah Tahmasp invaded Kartli several times from 1541. Shah Abbas I crushed Kakheti in 1614 and 1616, deporting tens of thousands of Georgians to Iran. Persian control of eastern Georgia lasted, with breaks, until the 1730s.
Ottoman Empire1555 to 1878
The Peace of Amasya in 1555 gave western Georgia to the Ottoman sphere. The Ottomans annexed Samtskhe in the southwest and held Adjara and the coast. Russia took Batumi and Adjara from them in 1878.
Qajar Persia1795
Agha Mohammad Khan demanded that Erekle II give up his alliance with Russia. When he refused, the shah's army won at Krtsanisi in September 1795 and sacked Tbilisi, killing or enslaving thousands.
Soviet Russia1921
Soviet Russia had recognised the Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1920, but in February 1921 the Red Army invaded. Tbilisi fell on 25 February, and the Menshevik government fled into exile.
Russian FederationSince 1992Still open
Russia backed separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the 1990s. In August 2008 the two countries fought a five-day war, after which Russia recognised both regions and kept troops there. Georgia and most countries regard them as occupied.

Today

Georgia now

The region of present-day Georgia once contained the ancient kingdoms of Colchis (known as Egrisi locally) and Kartli-Iberia. , and Christianity became the state religion in the 330s. Persian, Arab, and Turk domination was followed by a Georgian golden age (11th-13th centuries) that was cut short when the Mongols invaded in 1236. Subsequently, the Ottoman and Persian empires competed for influence in the region. Georgia was absorbed into the Russian Empire in the 19th century.

Capital: Tbilisi
Government: semi-presidential republic
Head of government: Irakli Kobakhidze
Head of state: Mikheil Kavelashvili
Languages: Georgian
Area: 69,700 km²

Through time

Then and now

Population3.8 million2023 · 3.5 million in 1950
Life expectancy74.5 years2023 · 57.7 years in 1950
GDP per person$14,3602022
Living in cities61%2025 · 36% in 1950
Literacy100%2024
Political regimeElectoral autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950
Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
Military spending1.8% of GDP2025
War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Close partners

Turkiye
United States

Tensions

Russian Federation

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Georgia fought or stood against, from the first to today.

Kingdom of Urartu800 BC to 750 BC

Urartian kings, ruling from Lake Van, campaigned north against Diauehi and Colchis in the eighth century BC. Their inscriptions boast of burned towns, captives and tribute taken from these lands.

Roman Republic65 BC

Pompey, pursuing Mithridates of Pontus, marched into Iberia in 65 BC and defeated King Artoces. Iberia and Colchis became client kingdoms of Rome, which kept a strong interest in the region for centuries.

Sasanian Empire363 to 628

Persia and Rome fought over the Caucasus for centuries. After 363 Persia dominated Iberia and abolished its monarchy around 580. In Lazica, Persians fought Byzantines from 541 to 562 before withdrawing. Emperor Heraclius's war ended Persian power here in 628.

Arab Caliphate645 to 1122

Arab armies reached Tbilisi in the 640s. Marwan ibn Muhammad, later caliph, ravaged Georgia in the 730s, and the Emirate of Tbilisi became an Arab outpost that lasted almost four centuries, until David IV took the city in 1122.

Byzantine Empire1021 to 1022

Emperor Basil II claimed the lands of Tao, left to Byzantium by a Georgian prince. He fought King George I in 1021 and 1022 and forced him to give up several provinces and send his son as a hostage.

Great Seljuk Empire1064 to 1122

Seljuk Turks under Alp Arslan raided Georgia from 1064, and in the 1080s Turkic tribes settled its pastures, a time Georgians called the Great Turkish Onslaught. David IV the Builder beat a large Muslim army at Didgori in 1121.

Mongol Empire1220 to 1335

The Mongol generals Jebe and Subutai crushed a Georgian army in 1220 or 1221. From the 1230s Georgia paid tribute and sent troops to Mongol wars. George V the Brilliant stopped paying tribute and restored independence in the 1330s.

Timurid Empire1386 to 1403

Timur took Tbilisi in 1386 and captured King Bagrat V. He returned again and again until 1403, burning towns, churches and monasteries and leaving the kingdom in ruins.

Safavid Persia1541 to 1736

Shah Tahmasp invaded Kartli several times from 1541. Shah Abbas I crushed Kakheti in 1614 and 1616, deporting tens of thousands of Georgians to Iran. Persian control of eastern Georgia lasted, with breaks, until the 1730s.

Ottoman Empire1555 to 1878

The Peace of Amasya in 1555 gave western Georgia to the Ottoman sphere. The Ottomans annexed Samtskhe in the southwest and held Adjara and the coast. Russia took Batumi and Adjara from them in 1878.

Qajar Persia1795

Agha Mohammad Khan demanded that Erekle II give up his alliance with Russia. When he refused, the shah's army won at Krtsanisi in September 1795 and sacked Tbilisi, killing or enslaving thousands.

Soviet Russia1921

Soviet Russia had recognised the Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1920, but in February 1921 the Red Army invaded. Tbilisi fell on 25 February, and the Menshevik government fled into exile.

Russian FederationSince 1992Still open

Russia backed separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the 1990s. In August 2008 the two countries fought a five-day war, after which Russia recognised both regions and kept troops there. Georgia and most countries regard them as occupied.

Georgia now

Capital

Tbilisi

Government

semi-presidential republic

Head of government

Irakli Kobakhidze

Head of state

Mikheil Kavelashvili

Languages

Georgian

Area

69,700 km²

Then and now

Population3.8 million2023 · 3.5 million in 1950

Life expectancy74.5 years2023 · 57.7 years in 1950

GDP per person$14,3602022

Living in cities61%2025 · 36% in 1950

Literacy100%2024

Political regimeElectoral autocracy2025 · Closed autocracy in 1950

Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950

Military spending1.8% of GDP2025

War deathsNone2025