Abkhazia by Levan Urushadze
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See also Abkhazia
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Abkhazia is a region of 8,600 sq km in the Caucasus. It is a rebellious part of the Republic of Georgia. The capital is Sokhumi. Abkhazia (Abkhazeti in Georgian) is a part of Georgia from ancient times. Georgians and Abkhazs are the indigenous peoples of Abkhazia.
The Caucasus mountains on the north and northeast divides it from Circassia; on the southeast it is bounded by Samegrelo (Mingrelia); and on the southwest by the Black Sea. Largely associated with Western Georgia. In the 6th century BC-7th century AD Abkhazia was a part of the west-Georgian Kingdoms of Kolkha (Colchis) and Egrisi, In 978-1446 part of the united Georgian Kingdom. In the begining of the 17th century in Abkhazeti was established the Principality under the ruling of the Georgian feudal family Sharvashidze (Abkhazian form: Chachba). In the 17th century Sokhumi was occupied by the Ottoman Empire. In 1810 this city was occupied by the Tsarist Russian Empire. The Russians acquired possession of it piecemeal between 1829 and 1842, but their power was not firmly established until after 1864. Large numbers emigrated to the Turkish empire in 1864 and 1878 as a result of Russian oppression. In 1918-1921 the region was a part of the Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG), in 1921-1990 of the Georgian SSR (with the status of the Autonomous Republic). Since 1990 the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia is a part of the Republic of Georgia.
Before the Abkhazian-Georgian war (really Russian-Georgian war) in 1992-1993, Abkhazia was inhabited by indigenous Georgians (48% of its 500,000 population ) and Abkhazians (17%). Abkhazia declared independence from the Republic of Georgia on July 23, 1992, though this was not internationally recognized. Civil strife followed in 1992-1993, in which Abkhazian guerilla forces helped by Russian regular forces drove out newly estabilished Georgian National Guard units. This led to a campaign of ethnic cleansing directed against the Georgian population, resulting in some 10 thousand casualties and 250 thousand more people fleeing their homes.
On 15 May 1994 a ceasefire agreement and Russian troops provided a so-called "peace-keeping force".
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "Abkhazia" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abkhazia, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
