Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი) is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

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 ...

situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the

Rioni River The Rioni ( ka, რიონი, ; , ) is the main river of western Georgia. It originates in the Caucasus Mountains, in the region of Racha and flows west to the Black Sea, entering it north of the city of Poti (near ancient Phasis). The city o ...

. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 municipalities and the city of

Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbil ...

, which is the capital of the region.

Subdivisions

The Imereti region has one self governing city (

) and 11 municipalities with 163 administrative communities (temi), totalling to 549 populated settlements: * Eleven cities:

Baghdati Baghdati ( ka, ბაღდათი, tr) is a town of 3,700 people in the Imereti region of western Georgia, at the edge of the Ajameti forest on the river Khanistsqali, a tributary of the Rioni. Geography The town is located at the edge of th ...

Chiatura Chiatura () is a city in the Imereti region of Western Georgia. In 1989, it had a population of about 30,000. The city is known for its system of cable cars connecting the city's center to the mining settlements on the surrounding hills. The city ...

Khoni Khoni ( ka, ხონი) is a town in the Western Georgian region (mkhare) of Imereti with the population of 8987 (2014 Georgia census). It is situated on the left bank of the Tskhenistkali River in the north-west of Imereti, close to the bord ...

Sachkhere Sachkhere ( ka, საჩხერე) is a town at the northern edge of the Imereti Province in Western Georgia. It is the center of the Sachkhere Municipality. Farming is a major contributor to the economy of Sachkhere. Alva LLC estimates th ...

Samtredia Samtredia ( ka, სამტრედია ) is a town in Imereti, Georgia, lying in a lowland between the rivers Rioni and Tskhenis-Tsqali, west of the capital Tbilisi, and west of Georgia's second largest city Kutaisi. Georgia’s most impo ...

Terjola Terjola ( ka, თერჯოლა) is a town in Imereti, Georgia, serving as an administrative center of the homonymous district. Terjola is situated in the Imereti Lowlands in western Georgia, on the right bank of the Chkhara river.

, Tqibuli,

Tsqaltubo Tskaltubo ( ka, წყალტუბო in English also commonly referred to as "Tskaltubo") is a spa resort in west-central Georgia. It is the main town of the Tsqaltubo Municipality of the Imereti province. It is known for its radon-carbona ...

Vani Vani ( ka, ვანი) is a town in Imereti region of a western Georgia, at the Sulori river (a tributary of the Rioni river), 41 km southwest from the regional capital Kutaisi. The town with the population of 3,744 (2014) is an administr ...

and Zestafoni; * Three dabas:

Kharagauli Kharagauli ( ka, ხარაგაული) is an administrative center of Kharagauli district in Georgia. It is situated on both banks of river in a narrow and deep gorge, 280-400m above the sea level. Founding It was founded as a railway s ...

Kulashi Kulashi ( ka, კულაში) is a small town ('' daba'') in Imereti, Georgia with the population of around 1,702 as of 2014. It is located 5 km from the town of Samtredia. It first appears in the 16th century records as a fief of the Mikelad ...

and

Shorapani Shorapani ( ka, შორაპანი) is a small Georgian town, situated in the Zestafoni District, part of the region of Imereti. Founded in the 3rd century BC, it served as a residence of the ''eristavi'' (dukes) of Argveti (also known as t ...

(; * Villages: 535

Economy

Aside from the capital

, significant towns and regional centres include

(manganese production centre),

Tkibuli Tkibuli or Tqibuli ( ka, ტყიბული) is a town in west-central Georgia (country), Georgia of 8,620 residents (2022). located in the Imereti region at the foot of the Racha Range and the Nakerala limestone cliff, which marks the boundary ...

(

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

mining centre), Zestafoni (known for metals production),

, and

. Traditionally, Imereti is an agricultural region, known for its

mulberries ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

and

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...

Demographics

The 800,000 Imeretians speak a Georgian

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...

; they are one of the local culture-groups of the ethnically subdivided

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, ...

Demographic

History

In late

antiquity Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to: Historical objects or periods Artifacts *Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures Eras Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...

and early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

the ancient western Georgian kingdom of Egrisi existed on the territory of Imereti. Its king declared

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

as an official religion of Egrisi in 523 AD. In 975-1466 Imereti was part of the united Georgian Kingdom. Since its disintegration in the 15th century, Imereti was an independent kingdom. In the 17th-18th centuries, the kingdom of Imereti experienced frequent invasions by the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

and paid patronage to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

until 1810, when it was invaded and annexed by 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 ...

. The last King of Imereti was Solomon II (1789-1810). From 1918 to 1921, Imereti was part of the independent

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა ') was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to F ...

. Within the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

, the region was part of the

Transcaucasian SFSR , conventional_long_name = Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , common_name = Transcaucasian SFSR , p1 = Armenian Soviet Socialist RepublicArmenian SSR , flag_p1 = Flag of SSRA ...

from 1922–1936, and part of the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц� ...

from 1936–1991. Since Georgian independence in 1991, Imereti has been a region of Georgia with Kutaisi as the regional capital.

Notes

References

External links

Imereti.com - The Guide to Imereti, Georgia, Sakartvelo

Official website

Civil.GE
{{coord, 42, 10, N, 42, 59, E, display=title, region:GE_type:adm1st_source:GNS-enwiki Regions of Georgia (country) Former provinces of Georgia (country) Historical regions of Georgia (country)