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Georgia is situated in the western and
central parts of Transcaucasia. It is surrounded by the main Caucasian
mountain range on the North and by the branches of the main range on the
East and the South and the Black Sea on the West. The whole history of
the country mostly lived on this territory. The state borders of Georgia
have been changing, expanding and In inking for centuries. The central
region of Georgia is Kartli. The name of the people "Kartveli" and the
name of the country "Sakartvelo" have originated from this word.
The Georgians are one of the most ancient
peoples in the world. In the third millennium BC there existed a single
pre-Georgian language. The spoken languages Svanuri (in the second
millennium BC) and Megruli (in the first millennium BC) were separated
from the main language. The Georgian literary language was based on and
developed from the Georgian language proper.
The favorable natural conditions,
diversity of her rich nature and the location on the cross-road of
different great civilizations in different epochs. The routes connecting
the East and the West, the South and the North functioned with various
intensity at different stages of history. The geopolitical location was
favorable for the contacts with other civilized countries on the one
hand, but on the other brought country into the sphere of interests of
great Empires.
North Caucasian nomadic peoples also
created great difficulties for Georgia, ravaging the country and
settling on its territory during centuries. |