GEORGIA, A COUNTRY PROFILE

Georgia is a country of extremely diverse terrain, with high mountain ranges and fertile coastal lowlands. Ethnic Georgians constitute a majority of the population. Georgia was made a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1922. After Georgia gained independence in 1991, the country was plagued by civil war and political upheaval. The economy suffered from these events and from severed trading ties with other former Soviet republics, but in the mid-1990s it stabilized when the political strife ebbed and free market reforms were instituted. Georgia's first post-Soviet constitution was adopted in August 1995.

The breakup of the Soviet Union severely dislocated the economy of Georgia by disrupting established trade patterns. Three separate armed conflicts and several years of political instability created even more serious damage. The country's gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the total value of goods and services produced, declined between 1990 and 1995 by the greatest amount of any former Soviet republic. Georgia became increasingly dependent upon foreign financial and humanitarian aid. But beginning in the mid-1990s, increasing political stability allowed Georgia to make significant progress toward renewing economic growth.

Nevertheless, considerable dissatisfaction with the state of politics and the economy led, in November 2003, to a peaceful "Rose Revolution" which displaced the government of Edward Shevardnadze. Following democratic elections, a new government was formed by Mikhail Saakashvili, the current president. The Prime Minister of Georgia is Zurab Zvania. Georgia has a democratically-elected national parliament and locally-elected councils called "sakrebulos".

Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia and Kutaisi is the second-largest city, located in the Imereti Region. Georgia has 11 regions, including Tbilisi. Within each region there are a variable number of administrative districts (called "rayons"), headed by elected governors. The Healthy Women in Georgia (HWG) Program is based in Kutaisi, and works in selected facilities and communities in that city and the districts of Zestaphoni and Chiatura.

Source: Excerpts from Microsoft Encarta Dictionary.