Georgia is a country of ancient traditions with a rich historical and cultural heritage.

Several mandibles, 5 skulls, and many post cranial bones found in Dmanisi and dating 1.8 million years are the earliest known evidence of human presence in Eurasia. These are the first traces of humans or the “First Europeans” discovered in Georgia.

Middle Paleolithic cave sites situated along the Black Sea Coast of Georgia prove the presence of an indigenous population around 100,000 B.C. A great deal of archeological evidence attests to a flourishing Neolithic culture in Georgia between 6 and 5 millennia B.C.

Metallurgy and pottery of the Early Bronze Age show a highly developed culture. The Georgian tribes, especially Tubals, Khalibs, Meskhi, and Mossiniks are considered to be the first metallurgists in the world.

The beginning of the 2nd millennium B.C. was marked by the creation of the world famous mythical kingdom of Colkheti (Colchida in Greek and Kilkhi Kingdom in Assyrian clay tablet inscriptions dated by 12th century BC.). In Colkheti the mighty king Aeetes ruled in 16th century B.C. His wealth and power are reflected in the ancient Greek myth of the Argonauts.

Homer’s “Odyssey” and “Argonautica” of Apollonius of Rhodes tell us how Jason stole the Golden Fleece from the King of Colkhis - Aeetes, and sailed away with the Colkheti Princess Medea. Strabo describes Colkhis and tells the legend of the Golden Fleece in his Geography.

Later, in the 1st millennium B.C., two Kingdoms were created on the basis of Ancient Colkhida: the Kingdom of Egrisi – Lazika, and the Kingdom of Kartli - Iberia.

According to the phonetic rules of the Georgian language, the names Egrisi, Lazika, Kartli, and Iberia were derived from the names of Georgian tribes Lazs, Karts, Tubals, Meskhi, Tibareni, etc. These tribes created the ethnic basis of modern Georgians.

The ethnical name of Georgians KARTVELI, and the country name of Georgia SAKARTVELO derive from the name of the Georgian tribe of Karts and their Kingdom Kartli. Every representative of the ethnos is called KART-VELI, and the land is named SA- KARTVELO.

In the 4th c. B.C. King Parnavaz fortified the Armazi Acropolis and Mtskheta, the capital of the Kartli Kingdom. He turned the country into a strong state and divided it into principalities governed by appointed rulers. He unified Kartli (East Georgia) and Egrisi (West Georgia) Kingdoms and introduced very important political and cultural reforms. King Parnavaz carried out the first language and alphabet reform in Georgia making the Kartuli dialect a state language of the country, the status it still enjoys today. 

The 1st century saw the introduction and spread of Christianity in Georgia. The first Gospel readers in Georgia were the apostles of Christ –Andrew and Simon the Zealot. In the 330-ies, the King of Georgia Mirian II declared Christianity the state religion of Georgia.

In the fifth century King of Kartli Vakhtang Gorgasali strengthened the Georgian church and made it independent. Since then the Georgian Church has maintained its autocephaly with “Catholicos Patriarch of all Georgia” at its head.

The 630-ies saw Arabs appearing on the international scene. In 645 they conquered Tbilisi but failed to invade western Georgia and the mountainous provinces of eastern Georgia, thus, ruling only the central area of Kartli.

David III, the King of Tao-Klarjeti freed most Georgian provinces from the Arab yoke, helped Byzantine emperor Basil against the rebellion of Bardas Sclerus in 979 and received back a number of Georgian provinces up to Lake Van. Using his power and authority, David III began the unification of Georgian lands. He raised his adopted son Bagrat Bagrationi to the throne of Kartli and Abkhazeti. After the death of David III, Bagrat added Tao-Klarjeti to Kartli, joined Kakheti and Hereti to his Kingdom, and completed the unification of the Georgian territories (except Tbilisi). The city of Kutaisi was the capital of the kingdom.

But unfortunately, the new invaders Turk-Seljuks appeared on the scene. They conquered Persia, Armenia, and devastated Georgian provinces of Kartli in 1068. Being nomads, the Turks turned the lands they captured into pastures depriving the feudal economy of the country of its basis and jeopardizing the very existence of Georgia.

In 1089, King Giorgi II resigned and gave his throne to his 16-year-old son David, known as David IV Aghmashenebeli, one of the greatest Kings in Georgian history. Under his personal military guidance the royal forces defeated Turkish invadors in every battle (more than 100). On August 12, 1121 a decisive battle was fought in Didgori where  King David IV gained a fabulous victory. His 56 000 soldiers gained a victory over 600 000 strong Turkish coalition forces sent to Georgia by Sultan Mahmud. Consequently, in 1122, David IV liberated Tbilisi, and restored it its old status of the capital of Georgia.

During the reign of David IV and his successors, the borders of the Georgian Kingdom expanded almost to its historically known ethnical borders including Nicopsia (near modern Tuapse on the Black Sea) in the northwest, Derbent (on the Caspian Sea) in the northeast, the area from North Caucasus to Erzurum, and Nakhchevan and Ardebil in the south and southeast. The official title of Georgian Kings was “By the will of Lord, The King of Kings, The Sword of the Messiah, the King of Abkhazs, Kartvels, Rans, Kakhs and Armenians, Shirvan-Shah and Shah-in-Shah and Rruler of all East and West”.

1235 witnessed the Mongol invasion of Georgia. It was the beginning of the end of the Golden Age. Mongol domination of Georgia lasted about 80 years leading both to the division of the kingdom, and its gradual decline. But at the beginning of the 14th century, King of Georgia Giorgi V (1314-1346), called Brtskinvale (the Brilliant), drove the Mongols out, united Georgia once again, revived its economy, and regained a century-lost fame and importance of Georgian kingdom in the world.

But the second Golden Age lasted only till 1386, Tamerlane's first invasion of Georgia. Later in 1453, Ottoman Turks occupied Constantinople making Georgia the only citadel of Christianity in the East.
In the 2nd half of the 15th century three independent kingdoms of Kartli, Kakheti, Imereti, and the principality of Samtskhe emerged on the territory of the Kingdom of Georgia.

The divided Kingdom of Georgia started its centuries-long defensive struggle against the Ottoman and Iranian Empires. The heroism of Georgians had saved the Georgian statehood till 19th century.

The King of Georgia Erekle II unified eastern Georgia and also protected Armenia and eastern Caucasus from invaders. But on July 24, 1783, he signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with Russia choosing the Russian Empire as the country’s ally. This was a fatal mistake.

Consequently, Russian Empire did not fulfill the conditions of the treaty, betrayed Georgia and occupied it in 1801. It was the end of the independent existence of the Georgian Kingdom. Later, in 1811, under Russian rule the Georgian church lost its autocephaly and was included into the Russian Synod.

On May 26, 1918, the National Council of Georgia declared independence of Georgia. Soviet Russia recognized the independence and sovereignty of the Georgian Democratic Republic. But as always, in February of 1921, Soviet Russia violated the treaty signed by Georgia and Soviet Russia on May 7, 1920 and occupied Georgia. Again Georgia lost its independence.

During the Soviet rule more than half a million Georgians were killed by the Communist regime. More than three hundred thousand Georgian soldiers fell in the Second World War. But Georgian struggle for independence never stopped.

In 1991, the national-liberation movement led by the well-know dissident of the Communist Era, Zviad Gamsakhurdia brought victory to the freedom-loving, Georgian nation. On the 9th of April, the Parliament declared the independence of Georgia.

In the winter of 1991-1992, a military junta led by communist revanchist forces overthrew elected president Gamsakhurdia and invited Eduard Shevardnadze, the former First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party and former Soviet Foreign Minister, to Georgia. Together with Eduard Shevardnadze the Russian influence came back to Georgia.

Despite myriad problems, some progress on market reforms and democratization has been made since then. An attempt by the government to manipulate legislative elections in November 2003 touched off widespread protests that led to the resignation of the president Eduard Shevardnadze.

In 2004 Mikheil Saakashvili was elected President of Georgia. Restoring Georgia's territorial integrity, reversing the effects of ethnic cleansing and returning refugees to their home places were the main principles of Mikheil Saakashvili's pre-election campaign.  

Today Georgia is a presidential democracy.