Abkhazia
| |||||
 Map of Abkhazia  Location of Abkhazia from Georgia | |||||
| Administration | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political Status | Autonomous region of Georgia. Self-proclaimed republic, recognized by Russia , the Nicaragua , the Venezuela and Nauru | ||||
| Capital | Sukhumi 43 01'N 41 02'E / 43,017, 41,033 | ||||
| Government - Govt. separatist * Current Chairman First Minister Govt. in exile: . Supreme Council . Cabinet of Ministers | Sergei Bagapsh Aleksandr Ankvab Temur Mjavia Irakli Alassania | ||||
| Geography | |||||
| Area | 8 653 km 2 | ||||
| Demography | |||||
| Population (2008) | 250 000 inhabitants. | ||||
| Density | 29 inhabitants / km 2 | ||||
| Language (s) | Abkhaz , Georgian , Russian 1 , Armenian | ||||
| Economy | |||||
| Currency | Russian Ruble | ||||
| Other | |||||
| Time Zone | UTC 3 | ||||
| Hymn | Aiaaira | ||||
| Currency | \ | ||||
| 1. The Abkhaz is the official language in the constitution of Georgia, Russian is de facto used by the separatist government. | |||||
The Abkhazia, Abkhaz in Georgia in Russian , is an internationally unrecognized state located between the mountains of the Caucasus and the shores of the Black Sea , bordering Georgia and Russia. The country declared its independence from Georgia in 1992 , , the Russian Federation and Venezuela have recognized the independence of Abkhazia, after the Second War in South Ossetia 2008. Georgia considers this state as a province in its own right, although there has no control since 1992.
Summary |
Abkhazia covers an area of about 8600 km 2. It is located at the extreme western Georgia, on the north coast of the Black Sea. The mountains of Caucasus , north and north-west, separating Abkhazia from Circassia. At Southeast, it is limited by the Mingrelia and southwest by the Black Sea.
The republic is very mountainous (nearly 75% of its area is considered as mountains or foothills). Human settlements are virtually confined to the coast and in well-watered valleys. The climate is very mild ( humid subtropical climate ), which made of Abkhazia a popular destination known by the Soviets as the "Georgian Riviera". It is also known for its agricultural production: tea , tobacco , wine and fruit.
Abkhazian mountains are home now (since 2004) the natural cavity deepest in the world: the chasm Krubera-Voronja whose depth exceeds 2000 meters. The cavers around the world participate in the exploration of the gulf, including Russians and Ukrainians.
It has 215 km of coastline, 98 kilometers of land borders and 39 kilometers of river border.
Administrative divisions
Abkhazia is divided into seven districts, those of:
There are nine cities in order of importance: Sukhumi (the capital), Gagra, Gali, Gudauta, Goulrypch the New Athos , the port of Ochamchira , the seaside resort of Pitsunda Tckouartchal and in the mountains, and 29 villages or towns.
Demographics
The demography of Abkhazia has undergone profound changes since the 1990s. In the last Soviet census in 1989 , the population stood at 500,000 inhabitants, 48% of Georgians (mostly Mingrelia ) and only 17% of Abkhazians.
In 1993, Abkhazia seceded from Georgia. During these troubled times, the Georgian population (approximately 250,000 people) was deported, a qualified transaction by the Georgians of ethnic cleansing. This dispute is not settled in 2008.
After the war 1,992 - 1993 , the Abkhaz accounted for 29% of the population, as the Georgians. The Armenians make up 20% and Russians 16%. There are also Greeks and other Caucasian peoples. The majority religion is Christian Orthodox.
2003 Census
- Total population: 215,275
- Abkhaz: 94 606 (43.947%)
- Georgia: 45 953 (21.346%)
- Armenian 44,870 (20.843%)
- Russian: 23 420 (10.879%)
- Greek: 1486 (0.690%)
- Estonian: 300 (0.139%)
60% of the citizens of Abkhazia say they are Orthodox Christians and Sunni Muslims 16%, 8% and the rest are undecided or indifferent atheists.
History
Prehistory
The earliest archaeological evidence of human settlement in the western Caucasus back to about 4000 BC
First millennium BC
From ninth to sixth centuries BC. AD, the territory of modern Abkhazia is part of the ancient kingdom of Colchis.
In 63 BC, it was incorporated into the kingdom containing dust. Greek traders established ports along the shore of the Black Sea (Euxine then called). They founded the city of Dioscurias , which later became the modern city of Sukhumi , the historic capital of Abkhazia.
Roman and Byzantine
The Egris was conquered by the Roman Empire in the first century, and was a member until the sixth century.
From the sixth century, it gained more autonomy while remaining incorporated into the Byzantine Empire.
The Abkhaz are converted to Christianity during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in the middle of the sixth century. Abkhazia became an autonomous principality of the Byzantine Empire in the seventh century.
From the ninth to the nineteenth century
In the ninth century, the autonomous status of Abkhazia within the Byzantine Empire ends when it joins the Georgian kingdom of Imereti and became the Kingdom of Abkhazia. Bagrat III of Georgia met the various Georgian kingdoms to form the first kingdom of Georgia.
In the sixteenth century, the kingdom is torn between the main noble families and was conquered by the Ottoman Empire under which a Part of the Abkhazians converted to Islam. The Ottomans were driven out by the Georgians, who establish the autonomous principality of Abkhazia Dynasty Sharvashidze, according to a transcript or Charvachidz traditional French.
Abkhazia Russian
In the nineteenth century the Russian Empire conquered the Caucasus after fierce resistance from Muslim populations such as Balkars , the Karachay or Chechens. Christian, Prince of Abkhaz appealed to the Russians in 1810 to liberate the region from Turkish rule, but the Russians gradually seize Abkhazia between 1829 and 1842 , as many Muslims oppose their lords. The Russians do not really control the region until 1864 , when the Abkhazian principality is absorbed by Georgia, already Russia since 1810. Many Abkhazians A Turkish after the sixteenth century and therefore Muslims (who constitute 60% of the population of the region according to the census at the time) migrate to the Ottoman Empire between 1864 and 1878.
Abkhaz contemporary historians argue that this massive exodus has left many unsettled areas and that they are then populated by Armenians , the Georgians , the Pontic from Anatolia and Russians. However, for historians Georgian, Abkhaz modern descendants of Adygeya and Abaza later descended to populate the Caucasus Abkhazia where Georgians were already (mostly Mingrelia and Svan ) since the time of the kingdom of Colchis . Anyway the Abkhaz are a minority in the region in the early twentieth century and in 1990, they comprise only 17% of the Abkhazian population (against 44% Georgian) .
Under the Russian Empire, Abkhazia is part of the District of Georgia Kutaisi.
The Soviet Abkhazia
After the Russian Revolution of 1917 , Abkhazia is part of the Georgian republic proclaimed in June 1918 (and recognized by the Allies in January 1920) , prior to obtaining a Georgia once conquered by the Red Army in January 1921, a union republic status within the new Transcaucasian SFSR.
When the Transcaucasian SFSR is divided into three, the Soviet power in Abkhazia practice a pro-Georgia: In 1931, Stalin , himself a Georgian, is a republic of Abkhazia Autonomous Soviet Socialist subject to the Georgian SSR , firm Abkhaz schools, is to write the Georgian and Abkhaz alphabet requires the use of the Georgian language teaching. Encouraged by Lavrenty Beria , then secretary of the Communist Party of Georgia, many Russians and Georgians in Abkhazia immigrate. Abkhazians protested against this "gorgisation" of Abkhazia during demonstrations in 1932, 1957, 1964 and 1967 and 1978, which are all failures whose most immediate effect is to send participants and their families in exile .
After the death of Stalin and Beria , political power, this time looking for Abkhazians: schools reopen, the language is now written in Cyrillic script (adapted), their own radio and television broadcasting in ethnic Abkhaz and their representation in the apparatus of ASSR increases. This development can strengthen the "ethnic consciousness" Abkhaz .
War in Abkhazia
While the Soviet Union began to disintegrate in the late 1980s, he performed in Georgia with Abkhazia and South Ossetia , the same phenomenon in Azerbaijan with Nagorno-Karabakh , in Ukraine with the Crimea or in Moldova with Transnistria and Gagauzia : facing the centrifugal and separatist movements unionalis Republics (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Moldova), the Russian government encourages and supports the autonomy of local minorities (Abkhaz and Ossetian Georgia, Azerbaijan in Armenian, Russian, Ukraine and Moldova). This has the effect of keeping the people against each other, and ask the Soviet army as an arbiter.
Ethnic tensions are rising in all regions. When in 1989 the Georgians demonstrate in Tbilisi demanding the independence of Georgia (Abkhazia included) Many Abkhaz opposed, fearing that an independent Georgia n'inaugure a new period of "gorgisation" and calling the independence of Abkhazia. The dispute became violent when riots broke out between Georgians and Abkhazians in Sukhumi on 16 July 1989. There are at least 18 dead and 137 injured following the opening of a branch of the Tbilisi University in Sukhumi. After several days of violence, Soviet troops entered the city of militias and nationalists accuse of provoking the clashes.
Georgia declares independence April 19, 1991, and former Soviet dissident Zviad Gamsakhurdia becomes chairman in May. Gamsakhurdia defended a line nationalist and centralist in respect of national minorities (Ossetians, Abkhazians, Ajaria, Avars, Russians). In December the Georgian National Guard under the command of warlord Tengiz Kitovani , besieged the offices of Gamsakhurdia in Tbilisi. After two months of fighting and paralysis of the state, Gamsakhurdia left power and fled in his region, the Mingrelia region of Abkhazia.
On 21 February 1992 , the Military Council of Georgia who governs the country announced that it abolishes the Soviet constitution and he restores the constitution of the democratic republic of Georgia in 1920. Many Abkhaz interpreted this as an abolition of their autonomous status. In response, 23 July 1992, the Abkhaz government declares independence, although it is not recognized internationally. The Georgian government accused Gamsakhurdia's supporters of kidnapping the Georgian interior minister and hold him captive in Abkhazia. The Abkhazian authorities rejected the government's claims, saying it was only a pretext for the invasion.
Shevardnadze , former Soviet Foreign Minister was appointed president in March 1992 by the Military Council.
On 14 August 1992 , the Georgian government sent 3,000 troops to the region. After a brief cease-fire reached by the Russians, the Georgians continued their offensive into northern and occupy Abkhazia Sukhumi. The front was stabilized between October 1992 and March 1993. Hundreds of volunteers from Russia (primarily Caucasians, Cossacks, Ossetians, Chechens (including Basayev ) joined the Abkhaz separatists to fight the Georgian government forces.
In July 1993 , Abkhaz and Russian paramilitaries launched a major offensive. Sukhumi is surrounded and heavily bombarded, Shevardnadze himself being stuck in the city. A truce was concluded under the auspices of Russia on July 27.
The Georgian government must face a second threat: an uprising by supporters of deposed leader Zviad Gamsakhurdia in the province of Mingrelia.
Taking advantage of this second front, the Abkhazians broke the truce in mid-September and control Sukhumi on September 27. The President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze narrowly escaped death: when he vowed to stay in the city regardless of the circumstances, he is finally forced to flee when separatist snipers reach the hotel where he resides. Shevardnadze must rely on the Russian Navy to evacuate from Sukhumi.
The Abkhaz rejected the Georgian forces out of much of the territory of the republic. Shevardnadze's government accused Russia of providing logistical support to the separatists with the aim of "detaching from Georgia territory and move the historic Georgian-Russian border." At the end of the year, the independence of Abkhazia controlled west of Sukhumi.
Nearly 100,000 Georgians and Abkhazians about 200,000 Russians and Armenians left Abkhazia during the war.
Postwar
The position of the Abkhaz leadership has changed with Governments: Some leaders want full independence and another, an association with Russia. The Russian government has always avoided this last proposal, fearing the negative effect of such action on its relations with Georgia. On 28 November 2003, the Russian parliamentary Zhirinovsky has proposed such a resolution to the Duma , but it is rejected. Yet many citizens of Abkhazia have Russian citizenship, and the Abkhaz, unlike Georgians from Russia, do not need a visa. .
On 17 February 2010 , an agreement perpetuates the presence of the Russian Army , 1700 military at that time, for 49 years
Recognition of Independence
After an attack by Georgia on South Ossetia, the Parliament of the Russian Federation passed a motion calling on Moscow to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia 25 August 2008. The next day, President Dmitry Medvedev signed decrees recognizing the independence of these two countries .
The Belarus announced in 2008 that it would soon recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia , it was not the end of 2010. The CSTO , the SCO , the ALBA and Serbia , she announced that she supports the decision of Russia without her suit. For Serbia, the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are comparable to that of Kosovo.
The Western powers, France in the first place, immediately responded by announcing they did not recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. For its part, Georgia has denounced the "annexation" by Russia.
Countries that have recognized the independence
States acting on independence
Entities not recognized by the international community has recognized the independence
The Russian economy under dependence 
The NBS Abkhaz Sukhumi. The tourism is at the heart of the effort to revive the economy by the Abkhaz government.
Tourists come since 2004, and 97% are Russians, representing 400,000 visitors. The volume of overnight stays increased from 220,000 in 2004 to 900,000 in 2007, partly due to the rapid improvement of living conditions in Russia and especially the lifting of the total economic blockade imposed by Georgia before .
The prospect of the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 , allows Abkhazia to improve its tourist facilities.
Besides tourism, Abkhazia is a country wine , since at least the third century BC. AD at the time of the Greeks Pontine and Romans. Strabo mentions Dioskuria (now Sukhumi) as a region of viticulture. Roman times then its semi-sweet wine was celebrated.
In the nineteenth century, Prince Nicolas Atchba Abkhaz had large areas producing wine. Today among the Abkhaz wines include the red Radeda, resulting from the Isabella grape Vitis labrusca , operated since 2002 and the Bouquet of Abkhazia red semi-sweet, grown since 1929 from the Isabella grape, the Lykhny half mild; the Apsny mixture of Saperavi and cabernet , etc. ... among whites include the Psoou semi-sweet. Wine production has been completely reoriented in 2002 to lead to better wines vinified corresponding to a better quality .
The agriculture is present with the production of mandarins , to orange , the lemon , of tea , of tobacco , the nuts of corn ...
However 60% of the Abkhazian economy comes from the retail trade.
Energy resources are not commensurate with needs because of the recent blockade, but still a dam on the river electric Inguri works. 50% of its energy goes to Georgia and 50% in Abkhazia which sells 20% in Krasnodar Krai in Russia.
A source of oil was discovered offshore Abkhaz .
Abkhazia has two airports, one in Sukhumi and of Bombora near Gudauta.
References
- The declaration of independence of Abkhazia parliament dated 23 July 1992, but must await the complete military victory of the Abkhaz forces on Georgian forces in September 1993 to actually talk of independence on the territory of Abkhazia.
- a and b " The island of Nauru recognizes Abkhazia ", The Journal Sunday , December 15, 2009.
- " Nauru, Pacific micro-state, recognized the independence of Abkhazia "Le Monde 15 December 2009
- "Russia recognizes independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia" , Le Point , August 26, 2008.
- Ossetia-Abkhazia: Caracas help expand recognition (Chavez) , RIA Novosti , September 10, 2009.
- Mostly immigrants from Anatolia in the nineteenth century. Many of them relocated to Greece (including the North-East) after 1992.
- (en) Site of the Government of Abkhazia
- Lortkipanidze M., The Abkhazian and Abkhazia, Tbilisi 1990.
- The city of Sukhumi has only one third of Abkhazians in the early twentieth century by the Encyclopdia Britannica of 1911.
- a and b Vyacheslav Avioutskii, Geopolitics of the Caucasus, Armand Colin , 2005.
- Andr & Jean Sellier, Atlas of Peoples of the East, Discovery, p. 102, 7071-2222 ISBN2-X-
- Nikolai Feodorovitch Buga, , ocka, 1992 (Trancaucasie Deportation of Peoples, Moscow 1992); ( 30 - 40- ) ocka, 1994 (Deportation of people between the late 30 and the mid-'40s, Moscow 1994); , : -, 1995 (Stalinism and the crisis in the Caucasus, Baden-Baden, Germany, 1995).
- Helene Carrere d'Encausse : The Glory of nations or the end of the Soviet empire, Paris, Fayard, 1990, and Victorious Russia, Paris, Fayard, 1992.
- (en) Georgia The fighting spread to Abkhazia, 11 August 2008
- (en) The Russian military roots , Courrier International , 19 February 2010
- a and b "Moscow recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia" , Le Figaro , August 26, 2008.
- Ria Novosti
- Nicaragua: President Ortega recognizes South Ossetia and Abkhazia , AFP , 3 September 2008.
- Venezuela recognizes Abkhazia and South Ossetia , RIA Novosti , September 10, 2009.
- Belarus
- Ecuador
- http://themoscowtimes.com/news/article/370554.html
- Transdniestria recognizes South Ossetia and Abkhazia , Le Point , August 31, 2008.
- http://www.regnum.ru/news/1057659.html Gagauzia
- http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=151456&bolum=102
- Fabrice Node-Langlois, "In Abkhazia, a Cote d'Azur in a state of war" , Le Figaro, 12 August 2008 ; by Tengiz Laguerba figures, the Tourism Committee of Sukhumi.
- cf Wines Abkhazia
- "Abkhazia into an agreement for the exploitation of oil on the coast of Abkhazia"
See also
Related articles
-
- War in South Ossetia
- Abkhaz army
- Dmitri Iosifovitch Gulya , Abkhaz writer.
- Dominos Abkhaz variant of dominoes game played in Abkhazia.
- Abkhazian presidential election of 2009
- in Abkhazian
External Links
- (Ab) (en) (ru) Presidency of the Republic of Abkhazia
- (En) Site General on Abkhazia
- (En) Special Report on Abkhazia on Caucaz.com
- (In) sheet on the BBC website
- (In) Abkhazia on the website of the Georgian National Library
Bibliography
- (En) Balivet Thomas, The Geopolitics of Georgia: sovereignty and territorial control, L'Harmattan, Paris, Turin, 2005, 180 p. ( ISBN 2-7475-8384-8 )
- (En) Pierre Binette, "The crisis in Abkhazia: actors and dynamics", International Studies, December 1998, p. 831-865
- (En) and Ren Gent Damoisel Matilda, "Neither war nor peace in Abkhazia," Le Monde Diplomatique, October 2003
- (En) Michel Gunec, "Abkhazia, an autonomous republic of Georgia, drifts between mafia and ethnic conflict," Letters to the countries of Eastern Europe, No. 1018, September 2001
- (En) Liudmila Khroushkova, Christian monuments on the east coast of the Black Sea: Abkhazia: IV - XIV centuries , Brepols, Turnhout, 2006, 340 p. ( ISBN 2-503-52387-0 )
Countries and regions of the Caucasus North Caucasus ( Russia ) Adygea Dagestan Ingushetia Kabardino-Balkaria Karachay-Cherkessia Krasnodar Krai North Ossetia-Alania Stavropol Krai Chechnya Transcaucasia Abkhazia 1Armenia Azerbaijan Georgia Nagorno-Karabakh 2South Ossetia 1 1: breakaway republic of Georgia 2: breakaway republic of Azerbaijan
Portal Caucasus
- The declaration of independence of Abkhazia parliament dated 23 July 1992, but must await the complete military victory of the Abkhaz forces on Georgian forces in September 1993 to actually talk of independence on the territory of Abkhazia.
- a and b " The island of Nauru recognizes Abkhazia ", The Journal Sunday , December 15, 2009.
- " Nauru, Pacific micro-state, recognized the independence of Abkhazia "Le Monde 15 December 2009
- "Russia recognizes independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia" , Le Point , August 26, 2008.
- Ossetia-Abkhazia: Caracas help expand recognition (Chavez) , RIA Novosti , September 10, 2009.
- Mostly immigrants from Anatolia in the nineteenth century. Many of them relocated to Greece (including the North-East) after 1992.
- (en) Site of the Government of Abkhazia
- Lortkipanidze M., The Abkhazian and Abkhazia, Tbilisi 1990.
- The city of Sukhumi has only one third of Abkhazians in the early twentieth century by the Encyclopdia Britannica of 1911.
- a and b Vyacheslav Avioutskii, Geopolitics of the Caucasus, Armand Colin , 2005.
- Andr & Jean Sellier, Atlas of Peoples of the East, Discovery, p. 102, 7071-2222 ISBN2-X-
- Nikolai Feodorovitch Buga, , ocka, 1992 (Trancaucasie Deportation of Peoples, Moscow 1992); ( 30 - 40- ) ocka, 1994 (Deportation of people between the late 30 and the mid-'40s, Moscow 1994); , : -, 1995 (Stalinism and the crisis in the Caucasus, Baden-Baden, Germany, 1995).
- Helene Carrere d'Encausse : The Glory of nations or the end of the Soviet empire, Paris, Fayard, 1990, and Victorious Russia, Paris, Fayard, 1992.
- (en) Georgia The fighting spread to Abkhazia, 11 August 2008
- (en) The Russian military roots , Courrier International , 19 February 2010
- a and b "Moscow recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia" , Le Figaro , August 26, 2008.
- Ria Novosti
- Nicaragua: President Ortega recognizes South Ossetia and Abkhazia , AFP , 3 September 2008.
- Venezuela recognizes Abkhazia and South Ossetia , RIA Novosti , September 10, 2009.
- Belarus
- Ecuador
- http://themoscowtimes.com/news/article/370554.html
- Transdniestria recognizes South Ossetia and Abkhazia , Le Point , August 31, 2008.
- http://www.regnum.ru/news/1057659.html Gagauzia
- http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=151456&bolum=102
- Fabrice Node-Langlois, "In Abkhazia, a Cote d'Azur in a state of war" , Le Figaro, 12 August 2008 ; by Tengiz Laguerba figures, the Tourism Committee of Sukhumi.
- cf Wines Abkhazia
- "Abkhazia into an agreement for the exploitation of oil on the coast of Abkhazia"
Portal Caucasus 
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