Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti (

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

: სამეგრელო-ზემო სვანეთი) is a region (

Mkhare A ''mkhare'' ( ka, მხარე, ''mxare'') is a type of administrative division in the country of Georgia (country), Georgia. It is usually translated as "region". According to presidential decrees in 1994 and 1996, Georgia's division into ...

) in western

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

with a population of 308,358 (2021) and a surface of . The region has

Zugdidi Zugdidi ( ka, ზუგდიდი; xmf, ზუგდიდი or ზუგიდი) is a city in the western Georgian historical province of Samegrelo (Mingrelia). It is situated in the north-west of that province. The city is located 318 kil ...

as its administrative center, while Giorgi Guguchia is governor of the region since June 2021. Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti is compiled of the historical Georgian provinces of Samegrelo ( Mingrelia) and Zemo

Svaneti Svaneti or Svanetia (Suania in ancient sources; ka, სვანეთი ) is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia (country), Georgia. It is inhabited by the Svans, an ethnic subgroup of Georgians. Geography Situated o ...

(i.e., Upper Svaneti).

Subdivisions

The region has one self governing city (

Poti Poti ( ka, ფოთი ; Mingrelian: ფუთი; Laz: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near t ...

) and 8 municipalities with 143 administrative communities (temi), totalling to 531 populated settlements: * Eight cities:

Abasha Abasha ( ka, აბაშა) is a town in western Georgia with a population of 4,941. It is situated between the rivers of Abasha and Noghela, at 23m above sea level and is located some to the west of Tbilisi. The settlement of ''Abasha'' acq ...

Khobi Khobi ( ka, ხობი) is a town in western Georgia with a population of 4,242. The settlement of Khobi acquired the status of a town in 1981 and currently functions as an administrative center of the Khobi District within the Samegrelo-Zem ...

Martvili Martvili ( ka, მარტვილი) is a small town in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti province of Western Georgia. Its monastery was Samegrelo's clerical centre in the Middle Ages. Under Soviet rule, from 1936 to 1990, it was named Gegechkori after ...

, Jvari,

Senaki Senaki ( ka, სენაკი; xmf, სანაკი) is a town in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, western Georgia. It is located at around between the rivers Tekhura/i and Tsivi, at an elevation of 28–38 meters above sea level. Senaki is ...

and

Tsalenjikha Tsalenjikha ( ka, წალენჯიხა, also transliterated as Tsalendjikha and Tzalenjikha) is a town in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region of western Georgia (country), Georgia with the population of 3,847 (2014). It is located on the river Cha ...

. * Two dabas:

Mestia Mestia ( ka, მესტია ) is a highland townlet ('' daba'') in northwest Georgia, at an elevation of in the Caucasus Mountains. General information Mestia is located in the Svaneti region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti province (''mkhare''), ...

Chkhorotsku Chkhorotsqu ( ka, ჩხოროწყუ, Mingrelian for "nine springs") is a townlet in western Georgia, located in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti and functioning as the administrative center of the homonymous district. Its population was ...

* Villages: 521

Geography

Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti is traversed by two sections of the northeasterly line of equal

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

and

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east–west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek letter l ...

. The Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Mkhare can be split into two historical regions. Svaneti and Samegrelo. In the northern part of Samegrelo lie the Egrisi mountains. The municipalities of Chkorotskhu, Martvili, and Tsalenjikha are located right next to the Egrisi mountain range in Samegrelo. On the southern side of Samegrelo lies the Kolkheti valley, which is a mostly flat region. The municipalities that lie in the valley are Zugdidi, Khobi, Senaki, Abasha, and the city of Poti. The west side of Samegrelo borders Apkhazeti right on the Enguri river. The other region - Zemo Svaneti is located right on the Northern Caucasus mountains. Its only municipality is the Mestia municipality. Svaneti has the tallest mountain in Georgia, Mt. Shkhara at 5,193 meters, or 17,037 feet.

Demographic

Ethnic groups

According to the Georgian census of 2014, 99.37% of the population is

and 0.35% is

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 ...

. Other ethnic groups living in the region include

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian language, Ukrainian. The majority ...

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

Abkhazians Abkhazians (russian: Абхазы), or Abkhazs ( ab, Аԥсуаа, Aṕswaа, ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. A l ...

and

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

Languages

is spoken by the entire population of the region and by the ethnic minorities like

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

and others.

Mingrelian Mingrelian may refer to: *the Mingrelians *the Mingrelian language Mingrelian or Megrelian (, ) is a Kartvelian language spoken in Western Georgia (regions of Mingrelia and Abkhazia), primarily by the Mingrelians. The language was also called kol ...

is a Kartvelian language spoken by the

Mingrelians The Mingrelians ( xmf, მარგალეფი, margalefi; ka, მეგრელები, tr) are an indigenous Kartvelian-speaking ethnic subgroup of Georgians that mostly live in the Mingrelia ( xmf, სამარგალო, sam ...

, a sub-group of

Georgian people The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...

and native to Mingrelia. Svan is also a Kartvelian language, spoken by the

Svans , native_name = , native_name_lang = , image = File:Kartvelian languages.svg , caption = Distribution of the Svan language in relation to other Kartvelian (South Caucasian) languages. , population = –80,00 ...

, a sub-group of

native to

Religion

About 99% of the population identifies as

Orthodox Christians Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...

. A little minority of

Armenian Christians , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

and

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

also exist.

References

External links

Official web-site Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
* Regions of Georgia (country) {{Georgia-geo-stub