Georgia - "Strength in unity"
Georgia is a modern state in the South Caucasus situated on the Black Sea coast between south slopes of the major Caucasus range, forming the north border of the country and north slopes of the Little Caucasus. The Georgians constitute a majority of the population. It’s a nation of the Kartvelian group living in the Central and Western part of the Caucasus between mountain ranges of Kavkasioni and Trialeti. The official language of Georgia is Georgian, which is one of the most ancient actively used or "living" languages on the planet; more than 5 million people speak this language all over the world. Georgian is considered to have remained almost unchanged for more than 1200 years.
The history of Georgia numbers several thousand years, starting with the Early Paleolithic Age and finishing with events of modernity. The first state mentioned on the territory of Georgia is the Kolkhid kingdom situated on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and played a significant role in forming the Georgian nation. Kolkhid and the Caucasus were the world’s end which is difficult of access in works of Greek chroniclers in the middle of the 1st millennium BC – Argonauts went to look for the Golden Fleece exactly to Kolkhid. At present Georgia along with other regions of the Caucasus is included in the number of places where the most ancient memorials of human civilization were found and it is considered to be a place of metallurgy origin.
At present Georgia is a democratic presidential republic with one-chamber parliament. The statehood of Georgia is significantly consolidated by the feelings of deep patriotism and cultural unity of the Georgian nation. A motto on the emblem of Georgia says "Strength in unity".
An official state religion of Georgia is Orthodox Christianity; there are a lot of Christian sacred places where thousands of tourists accomplish the pilgrimage on the territory of the country. According to legend, Georgia was just that place where Madonna ought to go for an apostolic sermon, carrying the teachings of Jesus to new lands, that’s why Georgia is considered to be a selected country of Holy Mother who is a patron of the country. In spite of enormous worship of Christianity that had been engaged in public awareness activities throughout all history of the state, they treat members of other religions patiently and with proper respect in Georgia.
The capital and the largest city of Georgia is Tbilisi (Tiflis), it is the most important industrial, social and cultural centre of the country and a spectacular example of mixture of nations and cultures, religions and ethnic groups. Tbilisi is one of the few places in the world where synagogues, churches and mosques are situated near each other. The city got its name thanks to warm source of sulfur – translated from Georgian "Tbilisi" means "warm". The history of the city can be learnt by its architecture – tremendous architecture of historical old city with its narrow streets and numerous churches, National Park of Tbilisi, Turkish sulfur sauna, thousands of sculptures and monuments are organically close to such modern buildings as a Cathedral of Holy Trinity and the World’s Bridge.
Georgia is a country of ancient and distinctive culture – music, songs, architecture, painting and literature of the Georgian nation are truly unique cultural achievements of world history, and famous Georgian hospitality and high spirituality of every Georgian make sojourn in Georgia unforgettable for the whole life!