Samtskhe Javakheti
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სამცხე-ჯავახეთი Samtskhe |
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| Region within Georgia | |
Coat of arms of Georgia |
Flag of Georgia |
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| National languages | Georgian |
| ethnicities |
Armenians (50.5%) Georgians (48.3%) Russians (0.4%) Greeks (0.3%) Ossetians (0.2%) (as of 2014) |
| Religions |
Orthodox (45.6%) Armenian Apostolic (40.3%) Catholic (9.4%) Muslim (3.8%) none (0.6%) (as of 2014) |
| Capital | Akhaltsikhe |
| Biggest cities |
Achalziche (17,903 inhabitants.) Bordschomi (10,546 inhabitants.) Akhalkalaki (8,295 inhabitants.) |
| Status within Georgia | region |
| surface | 6,412.9 km 2 |
| Total population | 160,504 (2014) |
| Population density | 25.0 inhabitants / km 2 |
| governor | Akaki Machutadze |
| website | samtskhe-javakheti.gov.ge |
Samtskhe-Javakheti ( Georgian სამცხე-ჯავახეთი Samtskhe -Javakheti , completely სამცხე-ჯავახეთის მხარე Samtskhe -Javakhetis mchare ; Armenian Սամցխե-Ջավախք Samts'khe-Javakhk ' ) is a region in southern Georgia formed in 1995 . It borders Armenia and Turkey in the south . The capital is Akhaltsikhe .
geography
The region comprises the six municipalities (munizipaliteti) Akhalkalaki , Akhaltsikhe , Adigeni , Aspindsa , Borjomi and Ninozminda ( Rajons of the same name until 2006 ). The administrative headquarters of the municipalities are the cities of the same name Akhalkalaki , Akhaltsikhe (it does not belong to the municipality itself, but is directly subordinate to it as the capital of the region), Borjomi and Ninozminda and the minor cities (Georgian daba , დაბა ) Adigeni and Aspindsa . Another city is Wale , other minor cities are Abastumani , Achaldaba , Bakuriani , Bakurianis Andesiti and Zaghweri .
The southeastern part of the region around the cities of Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda corresponds to the historical province of Javakheti (English transcription Javakheti ), the Northwest of the historical region Meskhetia (Meßchetien / Mes'chetien), the Georgian and Samtskhe called. After the name of this region, in addition to the Georgian dialect Mes'chisch, the Turkish-speaking ethnic group of the Mescheten , who were deported to Central Asia under Stalin in 1944, is named. The northeast, roughly today's Borjomi municipality , corresponds to the historic Georgian region of Tori .
The Javakheti National Park extends along the state border in the south of the region, and part of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park in the north .
population
Samtskhe-Javakheti is the only region in Georgia - with the exception of the de facto independent Abkhazia since the 1990s, as a result of the Abkhazia conflict - in which the ethnic Georgians do not have the majority: Armenians made up 50.5% of the population in the 2014 census, with a downward trend (in 2002 it was still 54.4%), Georgians on the other hand 48.3%. In the southeastern municipalities of Akhalkalaki and Ninozminda, Armenians make up over 90%; in the municipalities of Akhaltsikhe and Aspindsa, their share is also well above the national average at around a third and a sixth, respectively; among the rural population their share is almost 60%. Even so, the Armenian language is not the region's official language; this is only the Georgian language in all of Georgia . There is also a small number (less than 0.5% each) of Russians , Greeks , Ossetians and others.
A large part of the Armenian population can trace its origin to two waves of immigration: a smaller wave after the Russo-Turkish War of 1828/29 and a larger one after the genocide of the Armenians and the accompanying expulsion of the Armenians from the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Currently of the war between the Democratic Republics of Armenia and Georgia, which were proclaimed after the end of the Russian Empire, the Javakheti part of today's region is one of the points of contention, next to the province of Lori , today in Armenia, and Bortschali , the area around today's city of Marneuli in the Georgian Lower Cartlia .
One nationalist Armenian movement that has been active in the region since the 1990s is the United Democratic Alliance Javakhet. In 2008 there was a bomb attack in the southern Javakheti city of Akhalkalaki, as a result of which several key members of the movement were arrested. In the course of the Crimean crisis in 2014, there were reports that ethnic Armenians living in Georgia had applied for Russian passports en masse .
Web links
- Official website of the region (Georgian, partly English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ 2014 census: Total population by regions and ethnicity at GeoStat (Excel file, English)
- ↑ mainly members of the Georgian Orthodox Apostle Church
- ↑ mainly members of the Armenian Catholic Church
- ↑ 2014 census: Population by regions and religion at GeoStat (Excel file, English)
- ↑ 2014 census: Number of population by administrative-territorial units and sex at GeoStat (Excel file, English)
- ^ A b Jonathan Wheatley: Obstacles Impeding the Regional Integration of the Javakheti Region of Georgia. ECMI (European Center for Minority Issues) Working Paper # 22, 2004. Online (PDF; 163 kB)
- ↑ Paul Rimple / Justyna Mielnikiewicz: Post-Crimea, Phantom of Armenian Separatism Haunts Georgia , eurasianet.org April 9, 2014.
- ↑ Robin Forestier-Walker: Georgia wary of Russia 'expansion plans' , aljazeera.com, April 6, 2014.
Coordinates: 41 ° 37 ' N , 43 ° 10' E