Abzhywa ( ab , Abzhuaa - "middle people" – Абжьыуа, ''Abƶywa''; also transliterates as Abzhua from

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Абжуа, Абжива; ka, აბჟუა) is one of the seven historical regions in

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

, and accordingly one of the seven stars on

Flag of Abkhazia Abkhazia is a region in the Caucasus that is under the effective control of the partially recognised self-declared Republic of Abkhazia. The ''de jure'' majority internationally recognized Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia claims to be its legitimat ...

represents Abzhywa. Local residents belong to

ethnographic group An ethnographic group is a group that has cultural traits that make it stand out from the larger ethnic group it is a part of. In other words, members of an ethnographic group will also consider themselves to be members of a larger ethnic group, bo ...

of (Abzhui Abkhazians).

Territory

Prior to the Russian annexation of the

Principality of Abkhazia The Principality of Abkhazia ( ka, აფხაზეთის სამთავრო, tr) emerged as a separate feudal entity in the 15th-16th centuries, amid the civil wars in the Kingdom of Georgia that concluded with the Triarchy and coll ...

, Abzhywa constituted its separate administrative district. Later, in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

Abzhywa constituted an ''

okrug An ''okrug, ; russian: о́круг, ókrug; sr, округ, okrug, ; uk, о́круг, о́kruh; be, акруга, akruha; pl, okręg; ab, оқрҿс; mhr, йырвел, '' is a type of administrative division in some Slavic states. The ...

'' of Abkhazia. It occupied most of the territory of modern

Ochamchire Ochamchire or Ochamchira ( ka, ოჩამჩირე, ; ab, Очамчыра, ''Ochamchyra''; russian: Очамчира, ''Ochamchira'') is a seaside city on the Black Sea coast of Abkhazia, Georgia, and a centre of an eponymous district. Acc ...

, as well as part of the territory of the

Tkvarcheli District Tkvarcheli District ( ka, ტყვარჩელის რაიონი, ab, Тҟәарчал араион, russian: Ткварчелский район) is one of the districts of Abkhazia. It has no equivalent Georgian district, as it was n ...

of Abkhazia, between the Kodor and Okhurei rivers.

History

Abzhywa got its name from its middle location among the rest of the historical regions of Abkhazia. Some scholars argue that it was part of the principality of

Apsilae The Apsilae were an ancient tribe inhabiting the territory of Apsilia, in modern Abkhazia. Location The tribal territory was located on the Black Sea coast of the northwest Caucasus, between present day town of New Athos and the village of Tsebelda ...

in the ancient period. During the period of Russian rule in Abkhazia up to 1866, Abzhua was called "Abzhuiskiy district", in 1868-1883 - "Kodori district", in 1919-1930 - "Kodori district". Since 1930, Abzhua officially became known as the Ochamchira region (later -

Ochamchire Municipality Ochamchire Municipality ( ka, ოჩამჩირის მუნიციპალიტეტი, ''Očamčiris municip’alit’et’i'') is an administrative unit in the Georgian Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia. The capital of the municipali ...

). The historical centers of Abjua were the villages of

Mokva , ka, მოქვი , other_name = , settlement_type = Village , image_skyline = Mokva_cathedral.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption = Mokvi Cathedral , image_map = , map_caption ...

and . The territory appears as part of Abkhazian principality from the first half of the XVIII century. It was created after the Abkhazian principality annexed the northwestern part of the

Samegrelo Mingrelia ( ka, სამეგრელო, tr; xmf, სამარგალო, samargalo; ab, Агырны, Agirni) is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly known as Odishi. It is primarily inhabited by the Mingrelians ...

principality. The first governor of Abzhua was the son of the Abkhazian prince — , who inherited the middle part of the principality from his father's inheritance, hence the etymology of the toponym.

Literature

Maan O. V. Abzhua. Historical and ethnological sketches of the Ochamchira region of Abkhazia. Sukhum, 2006

References

Regions of Abkhazia Subdivisions of Abkhazia {{Abkhazia-geo-stub