Ethnic composition and demographics
According to the last census in Georgia in 2014 (sometimes random figures), the population would decline as follows:
Urban population: 58.6%.
Density: 65.1 inhabitants per square kilometre.
It is estimated that there are approximately - a disputed figure - 51,000 inhabitants living in South Ossetia and 241,000 in Abkhazia (a very random figure). The majority group is 87.8 per cent Georgian.Ethnic composition, excluding "occupied" regions (Abkhazia and South Ossetia)
Georgians according to the 2014 census: 87.8 per cent, Armenians 4.5 per cent (168,000), Azerbaijanis 6.8 per cent.
Population living in Georgia less than 1%: Mingrelians, Greeks, Ossetians (14,000), Yezidis, Svanes, Kists (Chechens), Belarusians, Assyrians, Kurds, Judeo-Georgians, Dagestanians (Avars and Lezgins), Germans, Ukrainians, Tatars, Kists, Roma.A real demographic crisis
Since 1991, when Geography finally regained its independence, its population growth rate began to decline, and year after year, until 2020, it will show a constant annual decrease of just over 1%. In twenty years, the country loses one tenth of its population. The country is indeed subject to massive emigration, selective abortions and a very sharp decline in the birth rate.
The country has thus fallen below the critical threshold of population renewal - only 1.9 children per woman. Since independence, living conditions in Georgia have deteriorated significantly. After the implosion of the USSR, Georgia lost 70% of its GDP and is now one of the poorest of the former satellite countries of the Soviet bloc. According to a UN report, the population in 2019 will be 1% lower than in the previous year. If emigration continues at the same rate (126 people per day leaving Georgia), it will continue to fall by 1.21% this year in 2020.Roots that you don't forget
In Georgia, the regional identities are so strong that they are imposing themselves even within the paternal geological tree. If a family of Imeretian or Kazakh origin has been settled in Tbilisi for three generations, it will nevertheless not forget to specify its origins. The east and west of the country have their own specificities in terms of the characters of their inhabitants - and clichés are still widely used, if not exacerbated. Thus, Georgians emphasize the main characteristics of people living in the east or west of the country.
On the immortality and absurdity of clichés
In the west, the Imérétiens are supposed to be talkative, joking, extroverted, excessively well-mannered, bordering on hypocrisy. The Gurians are said to be intelligent, fast and active.
In the East, the Kakhetians are said to be sober and proud, warm-blooded, with a sense of partying - through wine and supra
. The Kartlians are supposed to be rough and tough, the inhabitants of the Khazbegui region are, in the eyes of the rest of the country, rough mountain dwellers, while the Touches de Touchétie are shepherds of great transhumance. Indelible labels are put on minorities. But no stereotypes are attached to the inhabitants of Tbilisi or Mtskheta. Like Paris, almost everyone comes from elsewhere. In the 19th century, Georgia experienced a great rural exodus to Tbilisi. Thus, the clichés of the capital's residents about the regional are exacerbated, and vice versa. As everywhere in the world, labels are always difficult to peel off. But the main victims of stereotypes are minorities, who already have a hard time, and against whom stereotypes are fierce, even though everyone has contributed to the cultural richness of this country.Coming from the ends of many worlds, they had an appointment in Georgia
Throughout history, Georgia has been a true multi-ethnic mosaic. Until the advent of the nation-state in the 19th century, collective identities were primarily social and religious. The Caucasus region has had a particularly turbulent history over the centuries. It has shaped a territory characterized by a very heterogeneous population. From the end of the 19th century, Georgia wanted to build a nationalist state against the Tsarist Empire and then the Soviet bloc. At the very beginning of the 20th century, nationalist movements gave birth to national and territorial identities. The Georgian identity was born and at the time of the country's independence between 1918 and 1921. In Georgia, history and nationalism could become one! During the Soviet period, Stalinist policy on minorities, based on ethnic benchmarks, created spaces where minorities recognized themselves more in their ethnicity than in their region. Thus, Armenians were pushed to go to Yerevan, Azeris to Baku, Georgians to Tbilisi. Moreover, members of these minorities were encouraged to speak their mother tongue first, with Georgian being taught only as a second language. This does not facilitate the integration of some at present who do not speak or understand Georgian.
During the collapse of the USSR, ethnic diversities were therefore less marked.Distribution of ethnic minorities
Armenians are the second largest group living in Georgia. Equivalent to about 5 per cent of the population, they are concentrated in the south of the country, in the Samtskhe-Djavakhetia region on the border with Armenia, but also in Russian-controlled Abkhazia in the north of the country. In Tbilisi in the 19th century, the Armenian community was in the majority. The city preserves large vestiges of the Armenian past. In 2020, as a result of a very turbulent history and consecutive exiles, it was reduced to only 7% of the citizens. Armenians have always been very present throughout the country. Over the centuries, they occupied a more or less important place in the kingdom, holding military or administrative positions, were ploughmen, wine growers, merchants, Famous capitalists pawned money to the kingdom. The Armenian community has long concentrated the economic life of the country.
The Armenians who settled in the southern region are the descendants of the emigrants forced to flee during the Russian-Turkish wars of the 19th century. Others came to Georgia before the First World War. Today, isolated by a mountain range, this community has little economic or social exchange with the authorities in Tbilisi or with the rest of the country. Many non-Georgian-speaking Armenians find themselves in a state of widespread poverty. In 2008, only 8% of Armenians spoke Georgian.
Azeris are concentrated in Kartli and Kakhetia (6.6% of the population) on the border with Armenia and Azerbaijan. They are of the Shiite Muslim faith. 45% of the population of the Kvémo-Kartli provinces is also Azerbaijani, speaks Azerbaijani - a language assimilated to Turkish - and speaks very little Georgian (only 7% of the population speaks it fluently). The community is predominantly rural in this predominantly agricultural region and supplies Tbilisi with potatoes and vegetables. The community is very isolated and inward-looking, with little integration with the rest of Georgia.
These two minorities, in ignorance of the official language, do not have access to adequate information in the media or to the teaching of Georgian. They are therefore unable to find employment or to be active in social fields. This problem is much more acute in these two communities, the largest in the country, than in other minorities.The Russians
The Russians are now a very small community concentrated in Tbilisi and the larger urban centres. By 2002, more than 80% of them had left Georgia. Those who remain do not speak Georgian. This is a real integration problem for them, which is not going to be solved. Russian, a language that used to be spoken in the country, is gradually disappearing. Young Georgians under the age of 25 no longer speak it.
The Yezidi Kurdish community resides mainly in Tbilisi, Rustavi and Batumi. Socially integrated, they have only a low level of education and therefore difficult access to employment. Georgian society, which is clan-based and clientist, keeps them away from the social networks that would facilitate their access to employment. In 2004, 52.4 per cent of the Georgian population lived below the poverty line.Very isolated minorities
In 1991, the slogan chanted by the Georgians at the time of their independence, "Georgia for Georgians", to get rid of Soviet influence, largely scratched its minorities. In the Soviet era, minority languages were privileged, and Georgian was taught as a second language. As a result, after independence, their communication was limited, resulting in minimal representation and difficult access to official positions in the administration or government.
Most minorities speak Russian as a second language, not Georgian, which does not facilitate their integration. This language barrier is compounded by a lack of educational infrastructure and lack of communication. Armenians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and Azerbaijanis suffer from this isolation. However, English is favoured by the younger generation.
Although the Georgian Government had made enormous efforts to integrate its minorities, success had not been forthcoming. There is a huge gap between Georgian society and the very marginalised minorities, who still prefer their mother tongue. The Armenians of Samtskhe-Djavakhetia dreamed of autonomy and of their region becoming part of Armenia. Other members of minorities only think of returning to their countries of origin instead of integrating as full citizens in Georgia.
Thecountry remains divided into clans, minorities, political parties
, etc. The catastrophic economic situation has led many members of minorities and Georgians to look to wider horizons, taking the path of exile.
