General Information:
   
Geographical location: south Caucasus; in the longitude of 40o-47o in the latitude 41o-44o (Map 1, Map2)
Area: 69,700 sq. km (26,911 sq. miles).
Official name: Sakartvelo.
Government: Republic gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Population: 5,399,000 (official estimate 1999), including an estimated 250,000 Internally Displaced Persons.
Population density: 77.5 per sq. km.
Capital: Tbilisi.
Principal Towns: Kutaisi-(241.100), Rustavi-(158.000), Batumi-(137.100), Zugdidi-(105.000 including idp from Abkhazia), Chiatura-(70.000), Gori-(70.000), Poti-(50.900)
Administrative-Territorial units: the country is divided into 9 districts, 65 regions and 2 two autonomous republics Ajaria and Abkhazia.

Main Rivers: Mtkvari (Kura) - 1515km (351km in Georgia), Alazani - 407km (390km in Georgia), Rioni (333km).

Main Lakes:Paravani (38 sq.km, depth - 3.3m, 2073m above sea-level), Tabatskuri (14 sq.km, depth - 40m, 2000m above sea-level), Keli (1,3 sq.km. depth - 63m, 2900m above sea-level), Ritsa (1,5 sq.km. depth - 101m, 880m above sea-level).
Head of State and Government: President Michael Saakashvili since 2004.
Language: the official language is Georgian, the only language in the Iberia-Caucasian family written in ancient script, with its own unique alphabet. Russian, Ossetian and Abkhazian languages are also spoken.
Religion: Christian majority, mainly Greek orthodoxy, other confessional groups include Shiite and Sunni Muslims, Armenian Gregorian, Catholics, Baptists, Judaists
Mortality rate: 7.7% (1998)
Birth rate: 11.2% (1998)
Time: GMT + 3.

Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50 Hz. European-type, two-pin plugs are used. 
Telephone: IDD is available. Country code: 995. Outgoing international codes: 8-07 or 8-10, 8-18 
Mobile telephone: GSM 900 and 1800 networks. Main operators include Geocell Ltd (www.geocell.com.ge) and Magti Com (www.magtigsm.com). Coverage extends nearly all over the country, except a few lowland areas and some high mountain regions. 
TBS Airport: 20 km from Tbilisi centre
Famous For: The Golden Fleece, possibly inventing wine, Stalin, Hospitality, mountains, Folkloric songs and dancing.
Patron saint: St George.