Georgia, republic in western Asia. Georgia is the westernmost country of the South Caucasus (the southern portion of the region of Caucasus), which occupies the isthmus between the Black and Caspian seas; Azerbaijan and Armenia are also located in the South Caucasus. The name of the republic in Georgian, the official language, is Sakartvelo.

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.