Changes

==History==

==History==

Georgia's recorded history dates back more than 2,500 years. Georgian, a South Caucasian (or "Kartvelian") language unrelated to any other outside the immediate region, is one of the oldest living languages in the world, and has its own distinctive alphabet. [[Tbilisi]], located in the picturesque Mtkvari River valley, is more than 1,500 years old. In the early 4th century Georgia adopted [[Christianity]], the second nation in the world to do so officially after [[Armenia]]. Georgia has historically found itself on the margins of great empires, and Georgians have lived together in a unified state for only a small fraction of their existence as a people. Much of Georgia's territory was fought over by [[Persian Empire|Persian]], [[Roman Empire|Roman]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]], Arab invaders under [[Islam]], [[Mongol]], and [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish]] armies from at least the 1st century B.C. through the 18th century. The zenith of Georgia's power as an independent kingdom came in the 11th and 12th centuries, during the reigns of King David the Builder and Queen Tamara, who still rank among the most celebrated of all Georgian rulers. In 1783 the king of Kartli (in eastern Georgia) signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with the [[Russia]]ns, by which Russia agreed to take the kingdom as its [[protectorate]]. In 1801, the Russian empire began the piecemeal process of unifying and annexing Georgian territory, and for most of the next two centuries (1801-1991) Georgia found itself ruled from [[St. Petersburg]] and [[Moscow]]. Exposed to modern European ideas of nationalism while under Russian rule, Georgians like the writer Ilya Chavchavadze began calling for greater Georgian independence. In the wake of the collapse of [[tsar]]ist rule in Russia due to the [[October Revolution]], the first Republic of Georgia was established on May 26, 1918, and the country enjoyed a brief period of independence under the Menshevik president, Noe Zhordania. However, in March 1921, the [[Communist]] Russian Red Army re-occupied the country, and Georgia became a republic of the [[Soviet Union]]. Several of the Soviet Union's most notorious leaders in the 1920s and 1930s were Georgian, such as [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Sergo Orjonikidze]], and [[Lavrenti Beria]]. In the postwar period, Georgia was perceived as one of the wealthiest and most privileged of Soviet republics, and many Russians treated the country's [[Black Sea]] coast as a kind of Soviet Riviera. On April 9, 1991, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia declared independence from the U.S.S.R. as one of a string of former Soviet republics to do so after the fall of Communism in Russia.  

Georgia's recorded history dates back more than 2,500 years. Georgian, a South Caucasian (or "Kartvelian") language unrelated to any other outside the immediate region, is one of the oldest living languages in the world, and has its own distinctive alphabet. [[Tbilisi]], located in the picturesque Mtkvari River valley, is more than 1,500 years old. In the early 4th century Georgia adopted [[Christianity]], the second nation in the world to do so officially after [[Armenia]]. Georgia has historically found itself on the margins of great empires, and Georgians have lived together in a unified state for only a small fraction of their existence as a people. Much of Georgia's territory was fought over by [[Persian Empire|Persian]], [[Roman Empire|Roman]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]], Arab invaders under [[Islam]], [[Mongol]], and [[Ottoman Empire|Turkish]] armies from at least the 1st century B.C. through the 18th century. The zenith of Georgia's power as an independent kingdom came in the 11th and 12th centuries, during the reigns of King David the Builder and Queen Tamara, who still rank among the most celebrated of all Georgian rulers. In 1783 the king of Kartli (in eastern Georgia) signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with the [[Russia]]ns, by which Russia agreed to take the kingdom as its [[protectorate]]. In 1801, the Russian empire began the piecemeal process of unifying and annexing Georgian territory, and for most of the next two centuries (1801-1991) Georgia found itself ruled from [[St. Petersburg]] and [[Moscow]]. Exposed to modern European ideas of nationalism while under Russian rule, Georgians like the writer Ilya Chavchavadze began calling for greater Georgian independence. In the wake of the collapse of [[tsar]]ist rule in Russia due to the [[October Revolution]], the first Republic of Georgia was established on May 26, 1918, and the country enjoyed a brief period of independence under the Menshevik prime-minister, Noe Zhordania. However, in March 1921, the [[Communist]] Russian Red Army re-occupied the country, and Georgia became a republic of the [[Soviet Union]]. Several of the Soviet Union's most notorious leaders in the 1920s and 1930s were Georgian, such as [[Joseph Stalin]], [[Sergo Orjonikidze]], and [[Lavrenti Beria]]. In the postwar period, Georgia was perceived as one of the wealthiest and most privileged of Soviet republics, and many Russians treated the country's [[Black Sea]] coast as a kind of Soviet Riviera. On April 9, 1991, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia declared independence from the U.S.S.R. as one of a string of former Soviet republics to do so after the fall of Communism in Russia.  

Beset by ethnic and civil strife from independence in 1991, Georgia began to stabilize in 1995. The separatist conflicts in Georgia's regions of [[Abkhazia]] and [[South Ossetia]] remain unresolved, although cease-fires were in effect for more than a decade. In Abkhazia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (in fact, only Russian forces) maintained a peacekeeping force, and the United Nations maintains an Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), both of which monitor compliance with the 1994 cease-fire agreement. In South Ossetia, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had the prime role in monitoring the 1992 cease-fire and facilitating negotiations.

Beset by ethnic and civil strife from independence in 1991, Georgia began to stabilize in 1995. The separatist conflicts in Georgia's regions of [[Abkhazia]] and [[South Ossetia]] remain unresolved, although cease-fires were in effect for more than a decade. In Abkhazia, the Commonwealth of Independent States (in fact, only Russian forces) maintained a peacekeeping force, and the United Nations maintains an Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), both of which monitor compliance with the 1994 cease-fire agreement. In South Ossetia, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had the prime role in monitoring the 1992 cease-fire and facilitating negotiations.