The Armenia–Georgia border (, ka, სომხეთ-საქართველოს საზღვარი, ') is the international boundary between

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. It is in length and runs from the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

with

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in the west to the tripoint with

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

in the east.

Description

The border starts in the west at the tripoint with Turkey and proceeds overland to the tripoint with Azerbaijan via a series of irregular lines and a small section in the east along the

Debed The Debed () or Debeda ( ka, დებედა) is a river in Armenia and Georgia. It also serves as a natural boundary between Armenia and Georgia at the village Sadakhlo, Georgia. The Debed is long, and has a drainage basin. The river or ...

river. The western, more mountainous section of the boundary contains two lakes situated quite close to the frontier – Madatapa (in Georgia) and

Arpi Arpi (), Argyrippa (), and Argos Hippium () was an ancient city of Apulia, Italy, 16 miles (26 km) west of the sea coast, and 2 miles (3.5 km) north of modern Foggia (next to the modern Arpi Nova). The first name was Argos Hippium then ...

(in Armenia).

History

During the 19th the Caucasus region was contested between the declining

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, which was expanding southwards. Russia formally annexed the eastern Georgian Kingdom of Kartli and Kakheti in 1801, followed by the western Georgian

Kingdom of Imereti The Kingdom of Imereti ( ka, იმერეთის სამეფო, tr) was a Georgian monarchy established in 1455 by a member of the house of Bagrationi when the Kingdom of Georgia was dissolved into rival kingdoms. Before that time, I ...

in 1804. Over the course of the 1800s Russian pushed its southern frontier southwards, at the expense of the Persian and Ottoman Empires. By the

Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) The Russo-Persian War of 1804–1813 was one of the many wars between the Persian Empire and Imperial Russia, and, like many of their other conflicts, began as a territorial dispute. The new Persian king, Fath Ali Shah Qajar, wanted to co ...

and the subsequent

Treaty of Gulistan The Treaty of Gulistan (also spelled Golestan: ; ) was a peace treaty concluded between the Russian Empire and Qajar Iran on 24 October 1813 in the village of Gülüstan, Goranboy, Gulistan (now in Goranboy District, the Goranboy District of Azerb ...

, Russia acquired the bulk of what is now Azerbaijan and the southern Syunik region of modern Armenia. Following the

Russo-Persian War (1826–1828) The Russo-Persian War of 1826–1828 was the last major military conflict between the Russian Empire and Qajar Iran, which was fought over territorial disputes in the South Caucasus region. Initiated by Russian expansionist aims and intensifie ...

and the

Treaty of Turkmenchay The Treaty of Turkmenchay (; ) was an agreement between Qajar Iran and the Russian Empire, which concluded the Russo-Persian War (1826–1828). It was second of the series of treaties (the first was the 1813 Treaty of Gulistan and the last, the ...

Persia was forced to cede the area of Nakhchivan and the rest of modern Armenia. Russia organised its Georgian and Armenian territories into the governorates of

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Kutaisi Kutaisi ( ; ka, ქუთაისი ) is a city in the Imereti region of the Georgia (country), Republic of Georgia. One of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, it is the List o ...

and

Erivan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

. Following the

1917 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a civil war. It ...

, the peoples of the southern Caucasus had declared the

Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR; 22 April – 28 May 1918) was a short-lived sovereign state, state in the Caucasus that included most of the territory of the present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia (coun ...

(TDFR) in 1918 and started

peace talks A peace process is the set of sociopolitical negotiations, agreements and actions that aim to solve a specific armed conflict. Definitions Prior to an armed conflict occurring, peace processes can include the prevention of an intrastate or inte ...

with the Ottomans. (Armenian Perspective) (Turkish Perspective) Internal disagreements led to

leaving the federation in May 1918, followed shortly thereafter by

and

, however the borders between the three republic were contested. The June 1918

Treaty of Batum The Treaty of Batum was signed in Batumi on 4 June 1918, between the Ottoman Empire and the three Transcaucasian states: the First Republic of Armenia, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic of Georgia. It was the first ...

ended hostilities between the TDFR and the Ottoman Empire. When the Ottomans pulled out of the area of modern

Lori Province Lori (, ) is a provinces of Armenia, province (''Administrative divisions of Armenia, marz'') of Armenia. It is located in the north of the country, bordering Georgia (country), Georgia. Vanadzor is the capital and largest city of the province. ...

in October 1918 the area became disputed between Armenia and Georgia, the bulk of which had been the

Borchalo The Borchaly ''uezd'' was a county (''uezd'') of the Tiflis Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, and later of the independent and Soviet republics of Georgia. Its administrative center was the town of Shulavery (present- ...

and Akhalkalaki

uyezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd or uiezd; rus, уе́зд ( pre-1918: уѣздъ), p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context () was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the R ...

s of the former Tiflis governorate. Georgia stated that the southern limits of the former Tiflis governorate should form the border, whereas Armenia said that the boundary should be redrawn so as to reflect the ethnic situation on the ground. After failed peace talks to settle the frontier issue, clashes broke out in October, followed by more stalled peace talks and a short war in December. A ceasefire was brokered by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

under

William Montgomerie Thomson Lieutenant General Sir William Montgomerie Thomson (2 December 1877 – 23 July 1963) was a senior British Army officer who became military governor of Baku in 1918. Military career Born on 2 December 1877, William Thomson was the fourth son ...

on 17 January 1919 and the disputed area was declared a neutral zone pending further peace talks. Thereafter, both Armenia and Georgia pushed into the Kars area of modern eastern Turkey, annexing lands and causing further disputes between over ownership of territory. The issue was rendered moot when in 1920 Russia's

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

invaded Azerbaijan and

, ending the independence of both, followed in February–March 1921 by Georgia. Turkey took the opportunity to wrest back lands in the east from Armenia, and Georgia occupied the Lori neutral zone with Armenian approval, so as to prevent it falling into Turkish hands. The USSR's border with Turkey was finalised in October 1921 via the

Treaty of Kars The Treaty of Kars, , was a treaty that established the borders between Turkey and the three Transcaucasian Soviet republics, which are now the independent republics of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The treaty was signed in the city of Ka ...

, thus fixing the western limit of the Armenia–Georgia border. When the Soviets had established a degree of firm control in the area in early 1921 they sponsored a final border delimitation between Armenia and Georgia, splitting the Lori neutral zone in two (mostly in Armenia's favour) and fixing the border at its current location, an arrangement finalised on 6 November 1921. In 1922 all three states were incorporated into the

Transcaucasian SFSR , image_flag = Flag of the Transcaucasian SFSR (variant).svg , flag_type = Flag(1925–1936) , image_coat = Emblem of the Transcaucasian SFSR (1930-1936).svg , symbol_type = Emblem(1930–1936) ...

within the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, before being separated in 1936. The boundary became an international frontier in 1991 following the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

and the independence of its constituent republics. In 1994 the two countries began work on delimiting their border. There is a large Armenian minority in Georgia, concentrated especially in the border province of

Samtskhe–Javakheti Samtskhe–Javakheti ( ka, სამცხე-ჯავახეთი, , ) is a region (mkhare) in southern Georgia with a population of 147,400 (2023) and an area of . The region has Akhaltsikhe as its administrative center. Samtskhe–Javakheti ...

where they form an at times aggrieved

majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

. However neither the Armenian or Georgian government have pressed for a rectification of the old Soviet-era border between them.

Settlements near the border

Armenia

Bavra Bavra () is a village in the Ashotsk Municipality of the Shirak Province of Armenia. The Statistical Committee of Armenia reported its population was 490 as per the 2011 census, down from 538 reported at the 2001 census. The inhabitants of the v ...

Tashir Tashir () is a town and urban municipal community located in Lori Province at the north of Armenia. It is located north of the provincial centre Vanadzor and north of the capital Yerevan. As per the January 2023 official estimate, the populatio ...

* Dzyunashogh * Metsavan * Gogavan * Apaven * Sarchapet * Alaverdi * Jiliza *

Ayrum Ayrum () is a town and urban community in the Noyemberyan Municipality of the Tavush Province of Armenia, located at a road distance of northeast of the capital Yerevan and north of the provincial capital Ijevan. It is situated on the shore ...

* Haghtanak *

Ptghavan Ptghavan () is a village in the Noyemberyan Municipality of the Tavush Province of Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and ...

Bagratashen Bagratashen (, ''Bagratašen''; ka, ბაგრატაშენი, ''Bagrathasheni'') is a village in the Noyemberyan Municipality of the Tavush Province of Armenia. The village is located near the border to Georgia, with the Georgian villag ...

Debetavan Debedavan () is a village in the Noyemberyan Municipality of the Tavush Province of Armenia, located near the Armenia–Georgia border. The village was populated by Azerbaijanis Azerbaijanis (; , ), Azeris (, ), or Azerbaijani Turks (, ) ...

Georgia

* Gorelovka * Irganchai *

Dmanisi Dmanisi ( ka, დმანისი, tr, , ) is a town and archaeological site in the Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia (country), Georgia approximately 93 km southwest of the nation’s capital Tbilisi in the river valley of Mashavera. Abandoned i ...

Akhkerpi Akhkerpi ( ka, ახკერპი) is a village in Georgia (country), Georgia’s Kvemo Kartli region, located in the extreme southwestern part of Marneuli Municipality at the Armenia–Georgia border, border with Armenia. The village is about ...

Sadakhlo Sadakhlo ( Georgian: სადახლო, ) is a village in Georgia located in the southern part of country in the administrative territory of Marneuli Municipality (Kvemo Kartli Region) at the border with Armenia. The village is about south o ...

Shaumiani Shaumiani ( ka, შაუმიანი, ) is village in the Marneuli Municipality, Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia. Until 1925 it was named Shulaveri or Shulaver (), later being renamed after Stepan Shahumyan. As of 2014, when it was downgraded f ...

Border crossings

The following border crossings operate between Armenia and Georgia: *

(ARM) –

(GEO) * Gogavan (ARM) – Guguti (GEO) * Privolnoye (ARM) -

(GEO) *

(ARM) –

Ninotsminda Ninotsminda ( Georgian: ნინოწმინდა ; Armenian: Նինոծմինդա) is a town and a center of the Ninotsminda Municipality located in Georgia's southern district of Samtskhe-Javakheti. According to the 2014 census the tow ...

(GEO)President Serzh Sargsyan attends opening of refurbished Bavra border checkpoint
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armenia-Georgia border

Borders of Georgia (country) Armenia–Georgia (country) relations Internal borders of the Soviet Union International borders