Georgian people

For the population of Georgia (country), see Demographics of Georgia (country).

Georgians
ქართველები
Kartvelebi

David IV Tamar of Georgia George V Petre Bagrationi Mary Eristavi Joseph Stalin Ekaterine Dadiani Konstantine Abkhazi Lamara Chkonia George Balanchine Rustaveli E. Shevardnadze John Shalikashvili Katie Melua Ambrosius I. Chavchavadze
Total population
c. 4.3 — 5 million
Regions with significant populations
Georgia 3,661,173 — 3,956,000
Russia 198,944 European Union 250,000[citation needed] United States 200,000[citation needed] Israel 72,000 Turkey 91,500 Ukraine 34,199 Greece 23,159 Brazil 20,750[citation needed] Azerbaijan 14,900 Japan 14,000 Italy 12,670 Kazakhstan 4,990 Singapore 3,500 France 2,500 Canada 2,500 Armenia 1,105 Argentina 1,050 Mexico 1,000 United Kingdom 3500
Languages
Georgian (including Mingrelian and Svan), Russian (about 10% of the population)
Religion
Predominantly † Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Georgian Orthodox Church) (83.9%) also some Georgiano-Latin, Greek, and Armenian rites of the Roman Catholic Church (0.8%). Muslim minority (9.9%), chiefly Sunnis of the Hanafi school. In diaspora (Chveneburis, Saingilo and Fereydanians) mainly Islam
Related ethnic groups
Laz

Part of a series on
Georgians ქართველები
The Kartvelian people
Nation
Georgia
Ancient Georgians
Iberians · Colchians
Subgroups
Zans · Svans
Culture
Georgian music Georgian media Georgian sport Georgian cinema Georgian cuisine Georgian dances Georgian costume Georgian calendar Georgian surnames Georgian mythology Georgian architecture
Language
Georgian language Georgian dialects Georgian grammar
Alphabet
Georgian alphabet Georgian calligraphy
Religion
Georgian Orthodoxy Adopted in 319 AD
Symbols
Borjgali Saint Nino Saint Mary Saint George Cross of Bolnisi Cross of Saint Nino Cross of Saint George
History
History of Georgia

The Georgians (Georgian: ქართველები, kartvelebi) are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America.

The majority of Georgians are Eastern Orthodox Christian and largely adhere to the national autocephalous Georgian Orthodox Church, which originated in the 4th century. There are also Georgian Catholic and Muslim communities in Tbilisi and Adjara.

The Georgian people went through a complex process of nation-formation and currently comprise a diverse set of geographic subgroups, each with its characteristic traditions, manners, dialect and, in the case of Mingrelians and Svans, language. The Georgian language, with its own alphabet and long written tradition going back to the 5th century, is the language of literacy and education of all Georgians living in Georgia as well as the official language of the country. Georgian, Mingrelian and Svan, together with Laz spoken by the related Laz people form the Kartvelian language family.

Located at the edge of Europe, the Georgian people have fought to protect their Christian identity in the face of immense pressure from the neighboring Muslim empires. By the early 11th century they formed a unified kingdom which emerged as a dominant regional power until it was weakened by internal divisions following the death of George V the Brilliant, the last of the great kings of Georgia. To ensure its survival as a Christian kingdom, the country was soon forced to forge an alliance with the Russian Empire, which was viewed as a replacement for the fallen Eastern Roman Empire, Georgia's traditional ally. Eventually being annexed by Russia in 1801, Georgians briefly regained national independence from 1918 to 1921, and finally, in 1991 from the Soviet Union.

Etymology

Georgians call themselves Kartvelebi (ქართველები), their land Sakartvelo (საქართველო), and their language Kartuli (ქართული). According to The Georgian Chronicles, the ancestor of the Kartvelian people was Kartlos, the great grandson of the Biblical Japheth. Ancient Greeks (Strabo, Herodotus, Plutarch, Homer, etc.) and Romans (Titus Livius, Cornelius Tacitus, etc.) referred to early eastern Georgians as Iberians (Iberoi in some Greek sources) and western Georgians as Colchians.

Origins

Most historians and scholars of Georgia as well as anthropologists, archaeologists and linguists tend to agree that the ancestors of modern Georgians inhabited the southern Caucasus and northern Anatolia since the Neolithic period. Scholars usually refer to them as Proto-Kartvelian (Proto-Georgians such as Colchians and Iberians) tribes. Some European historians of the 19th century (for example, Wilhelm von Humboldt and Paul Kretschmer) as well as Georgian scholars (R. Gordeziani, S. Kaukhchishvili and Z. Gamsakhurdia) came to the conclusion that Proto-Kartvelians might be related linguistically and culturally to the indigenous (pre-Indo-European) peoples of ancient Europe including the Etruscans, Pelasgians and Proto-Basques.

The Georgian people in antiquity have been known to the ancient Greeks and Romans as Colchians and Iberians. East Georgian tribes of Tibarenians-Iberians formed their kingdom in 7th century BCE. However, western Georgian tribes (Moschians, Suanians, Mingrelians and others) established the first Georgian state of Colchis before the foundation of the Iberian Kingdom in the east. According to the numerous scholars of Georgia, the formations of these two early Georgian kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia, resulted in the consolidation and uniformity of the Georgian nation.

Proto-Georgian tribes:

• The ancient Jewish chronicle by Josephus mentions Georgians as Iberes who were also called Thobel (Tubal).

• Daiaeni in Assyrian sources and Taokhoi in Greek, lived in the northeastern part of Anatolia, a region that once was part of Georgia. This ancient tribe is considered by many scholars as ancestors of Georgians. The Georgians of today still refer to this region, which now belongs to present-day Turkey, as Tao-Klarjeti. Some people there still speak Georgian.

• Colchians in the ancient western Georgian (Mingrelian-Laz) Kingdom of Colchis. First mentioned in the Assyrian annals of Tiglath-Pileser I and in the annals of Urartian king Sarduri II. Also included western proto-Georgian tribe of the Meskhetians. However, in the case of many tribes, this is often disputed among scholars, as many claim that many Colchian tribes were ancestors of the modern Abkhaz and Abaza, especially the Abasgoi, and assert that Colchis was an ethnically heterogeneous nation.

• Iberians also known as Tiberians or Tiberanians, in the eastern Georgian Kingdom of Iberia.

Both Colchians and Iberians played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the modern Georgian nation.

According to the scholar of the Caucasian studies Cyril Toumanoff:

“

Colchis appears as the first Caucasian State to have achieved the coalescence of the newcomer, Colchis can be justly regarded as not a proto-Georgian, but a Georgian (West Georgian) kingdom ... It would seem natural to seek the beginnings of Georgian social history in Colchis, the earliest Georgian formation.

”

Appearance

Alpine type of Georgian, Svan. Mestia (1888 -1900)

Georgians are classified as Caucasoids (Europoid or Europid), and are often slender with brown hair and brown eyes. Georgians who have historically lived in alpine areas of less sunny western Georgia — especially Mingrelians and Svans- tend to have lighter features, with higher frequency of blond hair and light blue or green eyes.

Studies of human genetics suggest that Georgian Y-DNA typically belongs to Haplogroup J2, also found in Greece and Italy, as well as Haplogroup G.

Culture

Main article: Culture of Georgia (country)

Language and linguistic subdivisions

Georgian is the primary language for Georgians of all provenance, including those who speak other Kartvelian languages: Mingrelians, Svans, and the Laz. The language known today as Georgian is a traditional language of the eastern part of the country which has spread to most of the present-day Georgia after the post-Christianization centralization in the first millennium AD — today Georgians regardless of their ancestral region use Georgian as their official language. The regional languages — Mingrelian and Svan — are languages of the west that were traditionally spoken in the pre-Christian Kingdom of Colchis, but later lost importance as the unified Georgian Kingdom emerged. Their decline is largely due to the capital of the unified kingdom, Tbilisi, being in the eastern part of the country — known as Iberia — effectively making the language of the east an official language of the Georgian monarch.

All of these languages comprise the Kartvelian language family along with the related language of the Laz people, which has speakers in both Turkey and Georgia.

Dialects of Georgian include Imeretian, Racha-Lechkhumian, Gurian, Adjarian, Imerkhevian (in Turkey), Kartlian, Kakhetian, Ingilo (in Azerbaijan), Tush, Khevsur, Mokhevian, Pshavian, Fereydan dialect in Iran in Fereydunshahr and Fereydan, Mtiuletian, Meskhetian.

Religion

Wall Painting in Georgia's ancient Monastery, Shio-Mghvime

Christianity, first preached by the Apostles Simon and Andrew in the 1st century, became the state religion of the Eastern Georgian Kingdom of Iberia in 327, although most of the Georgian population was already christian. The final conversion of Georgia to Christianity in 327 is credited to a Roman woman St. Nino of Cappadocia, a relative of the great martyr St. George, and Susanna, sister of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Georgians' new faith, which replaced pagan beliefs, allied them permanently with the Eastern Roman Empire, while placing them on the front line of conflict between the Christian and Islamic worlds. As was true elsewhere, the Christian church in Georgia was crucial to the development of a written language, and most of the earliest written works were religious texts.Medieval Georgian culture was greatly influenced by Eastern Orthodoxy and the Georgian Orthodox Church, which promoted and often sponsored the creation of many works of religious devotion. These included churches and monasteries, works of art such as icons, and hagiographies of Georgian saints. In addition, many secular works of national history, mythology and hagiography were also written. Today, 83.9% of the Georgian population, most of whom are ethnic Georgian, practices Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

Cuisine

The Georgian cuisine is specific to the country, but also contains some influences from other European culinary traditions, as well as those from the surrounding Western Asia. Each historical province of Georgia has its own distinct culinary tradition, such as Megrelian, Kakhetian, and Imeretian cuisines. In addition to various meat dishes, Georgian cuisine also offers a variety of vegetarian meals.

The importance of both food and drink to Georgian culture is best observed during a feast, or supra, when a huge assortment of dishes is prepared, always accompanied by large amounts of wine, and dinner can last for hours. In a Georgian feast, the role of the tamada (toastmaster) is an important and honoured position.

In countries of the former Soviet Union, Georgian food is popular due to the immigration of Georgians to other Soviet republics, in particular Russia. In Russia all major cities have many Georgian restaurants and Russian restaurants often feature Georgian food items on their menu.

Geographic subdivisions and subethnic groups

Geographical subdivisions

Georgian youth in traditional costumes

The Georgians have historically been classified into various subgroups based on the geographic region which their ancestors traditionally inhabited.

Even if a member of any of these subgroups moves to a different region, they will still be known by the name of their ancestral region. For example, if a Gurian moves to Tbilisi (part of the Kartli region) he will not automatically identify himself as Kartlian despite actually living in Kartli. This may, however, change if substantial amount of time passes. For example, there are some Mingrelians who have lived in the Imereti region for centuries and are now identified as Imeretian or Imeretian-Mingrelians.

Last names from mountainous eastern Georgian provinces (such as Kakheti, etc.) can be distinguished by the suffix –uri (ური), or –uli (ული). Most Svan last names typically end in –ani (ანი), Mingrelian in –ia (ია), -ua (უა), or -ava (ავა), and Laz in –shi (ში).

Name	Name in Georgian	Geographical region	Dialect or Language
Imeretians	იმერელი imereli	Imereti	Imeretian dialect
Kartlians	ქართლელი kartleli	Kartli	Kartlian dialect
Megrelians	მეგრელი megreli	Megrelia	Megrelian language
Svans	სვანი svani	Svaneti	Svan language
Gurians	გურული guruli	Guria	Gurian dialect
Adjarians	აჭარელი achareli	Adjara	Adjarian dialect
Meskhetians	მესხი meskhi	Meskheti (Samtskhe)	Meskhian dialect
Lechkhumeli	ლეჩხუმელი lechkhumeli	Lechkhumi	Lechkhumian dialcet
Rachveli	რაჭველი rachveli	Racha	Rachian dialect
Kakhetians	კახელი kakheti	Kakheti	Kakhetian dialcet
Khevsurians	ხევსური khevsuri	Khevsureti	Khevsurian dialect
Tushi	თუში tushi	Tusheti	Tushetian dialect
Pshaveli	ფშაველი pshaveli	Pshavi	Pshavian dialect
Mokhevians	მოხევე mokheve	Khevi	Mokhevian dialect
Javakhians	ჯავახი javakhi	Javakheti	Javakhian dialect

The 1897 Russian census (which accounted people by language), had Imeretian, Mingrelian and Svan languages separate from Georgian. During the 1926 Soviet census, Mengrelians and Svans were accounted separately from Georgian. Mingrelian and Svan languages are both Kartvelian languages and are closely related to the national Georgian.

Outside of modern Georgia

Laz people also may be considered Georgian based on their geographic location and religion. According to the London School of Economics' anthropologist Mathijs Pelkmans, Lazs residing in Georgia frequently identify themselves as "first-class Georgians" to show pride, while considering their Muslim counterparts in Turkey as "Turkified Lazs".

Subethnic groups	Name in Georgian	Settlement area	Language (other than Georgian)	Approximate number	Difference(s) from mainstream Georgians (other than location)
Shavshians	შავში shavshi	Shavsheti	Imerkhevian dialect ?
Klarjians	კლარჯი klarji	Klarjeti	Imerkhevian dialect ?
Lazs	ლაზი lazi	Chaneti (Lazistan)	Laz language	50,000 (1970 est.)	Religion: Muslim
Chveneburi	ჩვენებური chveneburi	Black Sea coast, Northwestern Turkey		60,000 (1979)	Religion: Muslim
Ingilo	ინგილო ingilo	Saingilo	Ingiloan dialect	12,000	Religion: Muslim[citation needed]
Pereidneli (Fereydan Georgian)	ფერეიდნელი pereidneli	Pereidani	Fereidanian dialect

Linguistic subdivisions

The language known today as Georgian is a traditional language of the eastern part of the country which has spread to most of the present-day Georgia after the post-Christianization centralization in the first millennium AD — today Georgians regardless of their ancestral region use Georgian as their official language. The regional languages — Mingrelian and Svan — are languages of the west that were traditionally spoken in the pre-Christian Kingdom of Colchis, but later lost importance as the unified Georgian Kingdom emerged. Their decline is largely due to the capital of the unified kingdom, Tbilisi, being in the eastern part of the country — known as Iberia — effectively making the language of the east an official language of the Georgian monarch.

All of these languages comprise the Kartvelian language family along with the related language of the Laz people, which has speakers in both Turkey and Georgia.

See also

• Georgia
• Culture of Georgia
• Georgian language
• Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church
• History of Georgia
• Demographics of Georgia
• European American
• Georgian American
• List of Georgians
• Peoples of the Caucasus
• Chveneburi — Georgians in Turkey
• Georgians in Iran