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Communications

Airports [time series]

NA total, NA usable; NA with permanent-surface runways; NA with runways over 3,659 m; NA with runways 2,440-3,659 m; NA with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Civil air [time series]

NA major transport aircraft

Roadways (Highways) [time series]

33,900 km total; 29,500 km hard surfaced, 4,400 km earth (1990)

Waterways (Inland waterways) [time series]

NA km perennially navigable

Merchant marine [time series]

54 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 715,802 GRT/1,108,068 DWT; includes 16 bulk cargo, 34 oil tanker, 2 chemical tanker, and 2 specialized liquid carrier

Pipelines [time series]

crude oil NA km, refined products NA km, natural gas NA km

Ports [time series]

maritime - Batumi, Poti; inland - NA

Railways (Railroads) [time series]

1,570 km, does not include industrial lines (1990)

Telecommunication systems (Telecommunications) [time series]

poor telephone service; 339,000 unsatisfied applications for telephones (31 January 1992); international links via landline to CIS members and Turkey; low capacity satellite earth station and leased international connections via the Moscow international gateway switch

Defense Forces

Military and security forces (Branches) [time series]

Republic Security Forces (internal and border troops), National Guard; CIS Forces (Ground, Navy, Air, and Air Defense)

Military expenditures (Defense expenditures) [time series]

$NA, NA% of GNP

Manpower availability [time series]

males 15-49, NA fit for military service; NA reach military age (18) annually

Economy

Agricultural products (Agriculture) [time series]

accounted for 97% of former USSR citrus fruits and 93% of former USSR tea; berries and grapes; sugar; vegetables, grains, and potatoes; cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and poultry

Budget [time series]

revenues $NA; expenditures $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA million (1991)

Exchange rates (Currency) [time series]

as of May 1992, retaining ruble as currency

Economic aid [time series]

US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $NA billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-86), $NA million; Communist countries (1971-86), $NA million

Electricity [time series]

4,575,000 kW capacity; 15,300 million kWh produced, about 2,600 kWh per capita (1991)

Exchange rates [time series]

Exports [time series]

$176 million (f.o.b., 1990) commodities: citrus fruits, tea, other agricultural products; diverse types of machinery; ferrous and nonferrous metals; textiles partners: NA

Debt - external (External debt) [time series]

$650 million (1991 est.)

Fiscal year [time series]

calendar year

Real GDP (purchasing power parity) (GDP) [time series]

purchasing power equivalent - $NA; per capita $NA; real growth rate - 23% (1991)

Illicit drugs [time series]

illicit producers of cannabis and opium; mostly for domestic consumption; status of government eradication programs unknown; used as transshipment points for illicit drugs to Western Europe

Imports [time series]

$1.5 billion (c.i.f., 1990) commodities: machinery and parts, fuel, transport equipment, textiles partners: NA

Industrial production growth rate (Industrial production) [time series]

growth rate - 19% (1991)

Industries [time series]

Heavy industrial products include raw steel, rolled steel, cement, lumber; machine tools, foundry equipment, electric mining locomotives, tower cranes, electric welding equipment, machinery for food preparation, meat packing, dairy, and fishing industries; air-conditioning electric motors up to 100 kW in size, electric motors for cranes, magnetic starters for motors; devices for control of industrial processes; trucks, tractors, and other farm machinery; light industrial products, including cloth, hosiery, and shoes

Inflation rate (consumer prices) [time series]

approximately 90% (1991)

Economic overview (Overview) [time series]

Among the former Soviet republics, Georgia is noted for its Black Sea tourist industry, its large output of citrus fruits and tea, and the amazing diversity of an industrial sector that accounted, however, for less than 2% of the USSR's output. Another salient characteristic of the economy has been a flourishing private sector (compared with the other republics). Almost 30% of the labor force is employed in agriculture and 18% in industry. Mineral resources consist of manganese and copper, and, to a lesser extent, molybdenum, arsenic, tungsten, and mercury. Except for very small quantities of domestic oil, gas, and coal, fuel must be imported from neighboring republics. Oil and its products are delivered by pipeline from Azerbaijan to the port of Batumi for export and local refining. Gas is supplied in pipelines from Krasnodar and Stavropol'. Georgia is nearly self-sufficient in electric power, thanks to abundant hydropower stations as well as some thermal power stations. The dismantling of central economic controls is being delayed by political factionalism, marked by armed struggles between the elected government and the opposition, and industrial output seems to have fallen more steeply in Georgia in 1991 than in any other of the former Soviet republics. To prevent further economic decline, Georgia must establish domestic peace and must maintain economic ties to the other former Soviet republics while developing new links to the West.

Unemployment rate [time series]

NA%

Geography

Climate [time series]

warm and pleasant; Mediterranean-like on Black Sea coast

Coastline [time series]

310 km

Area - comparative (Comparative area) [time series]

slightly larger than South Carolina

Disputes - international (Disputes) [time series]

none

Environment - current issues (Environment) [time series]

air pollution, particularly in Rustavi; heavy pollution of Kura River, Black Sea

Area (Land area) [time series]

69,700 km2

Land boundaries [time series]

1,461 km; Armenia 164 km, Azerbaijan 322 km, Russia 723 km, Turkey 252 km

Land use [time series]

NA% arable land; NA% permanent crops; NA% meadows and pastures; NA% forest and woodland; NA% other; includes 200,000 hectares irrigated

Maritime claims [time series]

Contiguous zone: NA nm Continental Shelf: NA meter depth Exclusive economic zone: NA nm Exclusive fishing zone: NA nm Territorial sea: NA nm, Georgian claims unknown; 12 nm in 1973 USSR-Turkish Protocol concerning the sea boundary between the two states in the Black Sea

Natural resources [time series]

forest lands, hydropower, manganese deposits, iron ores, copper, minor coal and oil deposits; coastal climate and soils allow for important tea and citrus growth

Terrain [time series]

largely mountainous with Great Caucasus Mountains in the north and Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the south; Colchis lowland opens to the Black Sea in the west; Kura River Basin in the east; good soils in river valley flood plains, foothills of Colchis lowland

Area (Total area) [time series]

69,700 km2

Government

Administrative divisions [time series]

2 autonomous republics (avtomnoy respubliki, singular - avtom respublika); Abkhazia (Sukhumi), Ajaria (Batumi); note - the administrative centers of the autonomous republics are included in parentheses; there are no oblasts - the rayons around T'bilisi are under direct republic jurisdiction; also included is the South Ossetia Autonomous Oblast

Capital [time series]

T'bilisi (Tbilisi)

Constitution [time series]

adopted NA, effective NA

Diplomatic representation in the US (Diplomatic representation) [time series]

Ambassador NA, Chancery at NA NW, Washington, DC 200__; telephone (202) NA US: Ambassador NA; Embassy at NA (mailing address is APO New York 09862)

Executive branch (Elections) [time series]

Georgian Parliament: last held November 1990; results - 7-party coalition Round Table - Free Georgia 62%, other 38%; seats - (250) Round Table - Free Georgia 155, other 95 President: Zviad GAMSAKHURDIYA, 87% of vote

Executive branch [time series]

State Council, chairman of State Council, Council of Ministers, prime minister

Flag [time series]

maroon field with small rectangle in upper left corner; rectangle divided horizontally with black on top, white below

Independence [time series]

9 April 1991 (from Soviet Union); formerly Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic

Judicial branch [time series]

Supreme Court

Executive branch (Leaders) [time series]

Chief of State: Chairman of State Council Eduard SHEVARDNADZE (since March 1992) Head of Government: Acting Prime Minister Tengiz SIGUA (since January 1992); First Deputy Prime Minister Otar KVILITAYA (since January 1992); First Deputy Prime Minister Tengiz KITOVANI (since March 1992)

Legal system [time series]

Legislative branch [time series]

unicameral Supreme Soviet

Country name (Long-form name) [time series]

Republic of Georgia

International organization participation (Member of) [time series]

CSCE, IMF, World Bank

National holiday [time series]

Independence Day, 9 April 1991

Political parties (Other political or pressure groups) [time series]

Political parties (Political parties and leaders) [time series]

All-Georgian Merab Kostava Society, Vazha ADAMIA, chairman; All-Georgian Tradionalists' Union, Akakiy ASATIANI, chairman; Georgian National Front - Radical Union, Ruslan GONGADZE, chairman; Social-Democratic Party, Guram MUCHAIDZE, chairman; All-Georgian Rustaveli Society, Akakiy BAKRADZE, chairman; Georgian Monarchists' Party, Teymur JORJOLIANI, chairman; Georgian Popular Front, Nodar NATADZE, chairman; National Democratic Party, Georgiy CHANTURIA, chairman; National Independence Party, Irakliy TSERETELI, chairman; Charter 1991 Party, Tedo PAATASHVILI, chairman; Democratic Georgia Party, Georgiy SHENGELAYA, Chairman

Suffrage [time series]

universal at age 18

Government type (Type) [time series]

republic

People

Birth rate [time series]

17 births/1,000 population (1992)

Death rate [time series]

9 deaths/1,000 population (1992)

Ethnic groups (Ethnic divisions) [time series]

Georgian 68.8%, Armenian 9.0%, Russian Azari 5.1%, Ossetian 3.2%, Abkhaz 1.7%, other 4.8%

Infant mortality rate [time series]

34 deaths/1,000 live births (1992)

Labor force [time series]

2,834,000; agriculture 29.1% (1988), government NA%, industry 17.8%, other 53.1%

Languages [time series]

Georgian (official language) 71%, Russian 9%, other 20% - Armenian 7%, Azerbaijani 6%

Life expectancy at birth [time series]

67 years male, 75 years female (1992)

Literacy [time series]

NA% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can read and write

Nationality [time series]

noun - Georgian(s); adjective - Georgian

Net migration rate [time series]

1 migrant/1,000 population (1992)

Organized labor [time series]

Population [time series]

5,570,978 (July 1992), growth rate 0.8% (1992)

Religions [time series]

Russian Orthodox 10%, Georgian Orthodox 65%, Armenian Orthodox 8%, Muslim 11%, unknown 6%

Total fertility rate [time series]

2.2 children born/woman (1992)