ZE, president since 1995. New elections in early
2004 swept Mikheil SAAKASHVILI into power along with his National
Movement Party.

Geography Georgia

Location:
Southwestern Asia, bordering the Black Sea, between Turkey and
Russia

Geographic coordinates:
42 00 N, 43 30 E

Map references:
Asia

Area:
total: 69,700 sq km
land: 69,700 sq km
water: 0 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than South Carolina

Land boundaries:
total: 1,461 km
border countries: Armenia 164 km, Azerbaijan 322 km, Russia 723 km,
Turkey 252 km

Coastline:
310 km

Maritime claims:
NA

Climate:
warm and pleasant; Mediterranean-like on Black Sea coast

Terrain:
largely mountainous with Great Caucasus Mountains in the north and
Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the south; Kolkhet'is Dablobi (Kolkhida
Lowland) opens to the Black Sea in the west; Mtkvari River Basin in
the east; good soils in river valley flood plains, foothills of
Kolkhida Lowland

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Black Sea 0 m
highest point: Mt'a Shkhara 5,201 m

Natural resources:
forests, hydropower, manganese deposits, iron ore, copper, minor
coal and oil deposits; coastal climate and soils allow for important
tea and citrus growth

Land use:
arable land: 11.44%
permanent crops: 3.86%
other: 84.7% (2001)

Irrigated land:
4,700 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
earthquakes

Environment - current issues:
air pollution, particularly in Rust'avi; heavy pollution of Mtkvari
River and the Black Sea; inadequate supplies of potable water; soil
pollution from toxic chemicals

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate
Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship
Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
strategically located east of the Black Sea; Georgia controls much
of the Caucasus Mountains and the routes through them

People Georgia

Population:
4,677,401 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 18% (male 444,779/female 398,162)
15-64 years: 65.9% (male 1,480,557/female 1,603,743)
65 years and over: 16% (male 300,859/female 449,301) (2005 est.)

Median age:
total: 37.36 years
male: 34.93 years
female: 39.7 years (2005 est.)

Popul