Gulripshi District ( ka, გულრიფშის რაიონი, ab, Гәылрыҧшь араион) is a district of Abkhazia, one of

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 ...

’s breakaway republics. It corresponds to the eponymous Georgian district. Its capital is

Gulripshi Gulripshi ( ab, Гәылрыҧшь, ''Gwylryphsh''; ka, გულრიფში, ; russian: Гульрыпш, ''Gulrypsh'') is an urban settlement in Abkhazia. It is located 12 km from Sukhumi, and is the capital of Gulripshi District. Nik ...

, the town by the same name. Until the August 2008

Battle of the Kodori Valley The Battle of the Kodori Valley was a military operation during the Russo-Georgian War in the Upper Kodori Valley of Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia. It was the only part of Abkhazia under Georgian control before this military conflict. ...

, the north-eastern part of Gulripshi district was part of

Upper Abkhazia Upper Abkhazia ( ka, ზემო აფხაზეთი, romanized: ''Zemo Apxazeti''; ab, Аҧсны хыхьтәи, Apsny xyxjtwj) is a term introduced in 2006, to denote the northeastern part of the disputed territory of Abkhazia, that h ...

, the corner of Abkhazia controlled by Georgia until the

during the August 2008 South Ossetia War. Upper Abkhazia was home to 1,956 of the district's 19,918 inhabitants, most of whom were ethnic Svans (a subgroup of the Georgian people).2003 (2002) Census results
/ref> Most of these fled before the battle and have not yet returned. Of note is the

Dranda Cathedral Dranda Cathedral ( ab, Нанҳәа иазку Дранда-ныха, ka, დრანდის ტაძარი) is a Georgian Orthodox Cathedral located in , in the Gulripshi District of the de facto independent Republic of Abkhazia, intern ...

sitting over a shrine built by Justinian in 551. The medieval principality of Dal-Tsabal was centered in the district. Abkhazia's main airport, Sukhumi Dranda Airport, is also located in Gulripshi district.

Administration

Adgur Kharazia was reappointed as Administration Head on 10 May 2001 following the March 2001 local elections. On 18 December 2002, President Ardzinba released Kharazia as Administration Head and appointed him as Minister for Agriculture and Food. On 16 June 2003, President Ardzinba appointed Tamaz Gogia as Administration Head. In the beginning of 2004, district officials stayed away from work in protest of what they perceived as rudeness from Gogia. In response, Gogia applied for resignation which President Ardzinba granted on 9 February, appointing First Deputy Head Aslan Baratelia as acting Head. On 24 March 2005, newly elected President

Sergei Bagapsh Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh, ka, სერგეი ბაგაფში, russian: Сергей Васильевич Багапш, translit=Sergey Vasilyevich Bagapsh (4 March 1949 – 29 May 2011) was an Abkhaz politician who served as th ...

replaced Administration Head Aslan Baratelia with Mikhail Logua. In the 2011 Presidential election, Logua successfully ran for Vice President alongside

Alexander Ankvab Aleksandr Zolotinskovich Ankvab ( ; ab, Алықьсандр Золотинска-иԥа Анқәаб, ka, ალექსანდრე ზოლოტინსკის ძე ანქვაბი, russian: Алекса́ндр Золот� ...

. He was succeeded on 14 December by

Timur Eshba Timur Eshba is a former Minister for Agriculture of Abkhazia. He was appointed by President Raul Khajimba Raul Jumkovich Khajimba ( ab, Рауль Џьумка-иҧа Ҳаџьымба, ka, რაულ ჯუმკას-ძე ჰაჯიმ� ...

, who had previously been Deputy Head. Following the May 2014 Revolution and the election of

Raul Khajimba Raul Jumkovich Khajimba ( ab, Рауль Џьумка-иҧа Ҳаџьымба, ka, რაულ ჯუმკას-ძე ჰაჯიმბა; born 21 March 1958) is an Abkhazian politician, and served as President of Abkhazia from 25 September ...

as President, on 23 September 2014 he replaced Eshba with Aslan Baratelia.

List of Administration Heads

Demographics

At the time of the 2011 census, the population of the district was 18 032 people, consisting of: *

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 diasp ...

(46.8%) * Abkhazians (33.6%) *

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

(11.4%) * Georgians (4.6%) *

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

(0.9%) *

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 ...

(0.7%)

Settlements

The district's main settlements are: *

Tsebelda 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 Tsebeld ...

* Dranda * Babushera * Chkhalta (the main village of what used to be

)

References

{{Authority control Districts of Abkhazia Districts of Georgia (country)

Administration

List of Administration Heads

Demographics

Settlements

See also

References