|
|
Georgia (transliterated as Sakartvelo) is a country to the southeast of Continental Europe at the east coast of the Black Sea. It is bordered on the west by the Black Sea, on the north by Russia, on the south by Turkey and Armenia, and on the east by Azerbaijan.
Georgia has one of the world’s richest and oldest histories and cultures, stretching back to the prehistoric times. The classical antiquity saw the rise of the early Georgian states of Colchis and Iberia, which laid foundation of the unique Georgian culture and statehood. In 1008 Iberia incorporated Georgian speaking Kingdoms and Principalities and fromed a unified Georgian Kingdom during the reign of Bagrat III. In addition, Iberia recognized Christianity as a state religion in 327, making Georgia one of the oldest Christian nations in the world and the Bible was translated in the 5th century. Georgian language is the most unique among the Caucasian languages with its alphabet, which was used only by the Georgian civilization.
Georgia is a representative democracy, organized as a unitary, semi-presidential republic. After independence Georgia has sought integration with the European Union and NATO. Georgia is currently a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the Commonwealth of Independent States (initially refused to join in 1991), the World Trade Organization and the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
Georgia attracts many tourists, because of the mixture of Alpine zone in the Caucasus mountains and the subtropical Black Sea coast of western Georgia. Georgia has one of the oldest wine-making traditions in the world and has been called the birthplace of wine, due to archaeological findings which indicate wine production back to 5000 BC.
The landscape within the nation's boundaries is quite varied. Western Georgia's landscape ranges from low-land marsh-forests, swamps, and temperate rain forests to eternal snows and glaciers, while the eastern part of the country even contains a small segment of semi-arid plains characteristic of Central Asia. Forests cover around 40% of Georgia's territory while the alpine/subalpine zone accounts for roughly around 10% of the land.
Much of the natural habitat in the low-lying areas of Western Georgia has disappeared over the last 100 years due to the agricultural development of the land and urbanization. The large majority of the forests that covered the Colchis plain are now virtually non-existent with the exception of the regions that are included in the national parks and reserves (i.e. Paleostomi Lake area). At present, the forest cover generally remains outside of the low-lying areas and is mainly located along the foothills and the mountains. Western Georgia's forests consist mainly of deciduous trees below 600 meters (1,968 ft.) above sea level and comprise of species such as oak, hornbeam, beech, elm, ash, and chestnut. Evergreen species such as box may also be found in many areas. There are significant concentrations of endemic species of plants as well. The west-central slopes of the Meskheti Range in Ajaria as well as several regions in Samegrelo and Abkhazia are covered by temperate rain forests. Between 600–1,500 meters (1,968-4,920 ft.) above sea level, the deciduous forest becomes mixed with both broad-leaf and coniferous species making up the plant life. The zone is made up mainly of beech, spruce, and fir forests. From 1,500-1,800 meters (4,920-5,904 ft.), the forest becomes largely coniferous. The tree line generally ends at around 1,800 meters (5,904 ft.) and the alpine zone takes over, which in most areas, extends up to an elevation of 3,000 meters (9,840 ft.) above sea level. The eternal snow and glacier zone lies above the 3,000 meter line.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|