Administrative divisions of Georgia (country)

{{Short description|Overview of the levels of political administration in Georgia (country)}} {{Redirect|Subdivisions of Georgia|subdivisions of the U.S. state|List of counties in Georgia{{!}}List of counties in Georgia (U.S. state)}}

{{Infobox subdivision type | name = Autonomous republics, regions, municipalities | alt_name = | map = {{Georgia Labelled Map}} | category = Unitary state | territory = Georgia | start_date = | current_number = 2 autonomous republics 9 regions 76 municipalities | number_date = | population_range = '''(Regions only)''': 51,000 (Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti) – 487,000 (Imereti) | area_range = '''(Regions only)''': {{Convert|785|sqmi|km2|order=flip|abbr=on}} (Guria) – {{Convert|4393|sqmi|km2|order=flip|abbr=on}} (Kakheti) | government = Municipal bodies, Autonomous Republican government, National government | subdivision = }}

The '''subdivisions of Georgia''' are autonomous republics ({{lang-ka|ავტონომიური რესპუბლიკა}}, ''avt’onomiuri resp’ublik’a''), regions (მხარე, ''mkhare''), and municipalities ({{lang-ka|მუნიციპალიტეტი}}, ''munitsip’alit’et’i'').<ref>Nana Bolashvili, Andreas Dittmann, Lorenz King, Vazha Neidze (eds.): ''National Atlas of Georgia'', 138 pages, Steiner Verlag, 2018, {{ISBN|978-3-515-12057-9}}</ref>

Georgia is a unitary state, whose borders are defined by the law as corresponding to the situation of 21 December 1991. It includes two autonomous republics ({{lang-ka|ავტონომიური რესპუბლიკა}}, ''avt’onomiuri resp’ublik’a''), those of Adjara and Abkhazia, the latter being outside Georgia's effective control. The former Soviet-era autonomous entity of South Ossetia is also not currently under Georgia's ''de facto'' jurisdiction, and has no final defined constitutional status in Georgia's territorial arrangement.<ref name=pres>{{cite web|title=ტერიტორიული მოწყობა და მმართველობა [Territorial Structure and Government]|url=https://president.gov.ge/ge/Georgia/TerritorialStructureAndGovernment|publisher=Administration of the President of Georgia|access-date=9 July 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710064058/https://president.gov.ge/ge/Georgia/TerritorialStructureAndGovernment|archive-date=10 July 2015}}</ref>

The territory of Georgia is currently subdivided into a total of 69 municipalities of which 5 are self-governing cities (ქალაქი, ''kalaki''), including the nation's capital of Tbilisi, and 64 municipalities consisting of multiple urban or rural settlements which are grouped in administrative communities (თემი, temi) within the municipality. The municipalities outside the two autonomous republics and Tbilisi are grouped, on a provisional basis, into nine regions (''mkhare''): Guria, Imereti, Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, and Shida Kartli. Tbilisi itself is divided into ten districts (რაიონი, ''raioni'').<ref name=pres/>

==Autonomous republics== The two autonomous republics, Abkhazia and Adjara, were established during the Soviet era and are recognized by the modern Constitution of Georgia adopted in 1995.<ref name=pres/>

===Abkhazia=== {{Main|Subdivisions of Abkhazia}}

As a result of the military conflicts in 1992–1993 and 2008, Georgia has no effective control over Abkhazia, whose declaration of independence is recognized by Russia and three other UN member states. Georgia considers Abkhazia as its autonomous republic, whose government sits in exile in Tbilisi, and currently an occupied territory. Abkhazia's territory, in the Kodori Valley, which had been under Georgia's control prior to the Russo–Georgian War of 2008, is ''de jure'' the self-governing community of Azhara.<ref name=pres/> Abkhazia's secessionist government divides the entity's territory into seven districts (''raion'').

===Adjara=== Adjara is subdivided into 6 municipalities:

# The self-governing city of Batumi, which is the entity's capital; # The self-governing municipality of Keda; # The self-governing municipality of Kobuleti; # The self-governing municipality of Khelvachauri; # The self-governing municipality of Shuakhevi; # The self-governing municipality of Khulo.

==Former autonomous oblast (Soviet era)== ===South Ossetia=== {{Main|Administrative divisions of South Ossetia}}

South Ossetia enjoyed the status of an autonomous oblast in the Soviet era, until this autonomy was abolished in December 1990. When Georgia became independent, the territory of South Ossetia covered four municipalities that were ''de jure'' in separate present-day Georgian regions (established in 1995): the bulk was assigned to Shida Kartli, the north-western tip to Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, a small western section to Imereti, and the eastern part to Mtskheta-Mtianeti.

After the military conflicts in 1991–1992 and 2008, Georgia considers the former Autonomous Oblast of South Ossetia an occupied territory. Its status is not constitutionally defined by Georgia, but there is an Administration of South Ossetia sitting in exile in Tbilisi. The territory which had been under Georgia's control prior to the Russo–Georgian War of 2008, was organized into four municipalities, which retain their ''de jure'' status.<ref name=pres/> South Ossetia's secessionist government divides the entity's territory into four districts (''raion'').

The laws of Georgia include a notion that the final subdivision and system of local self-government should be established after the restoration of the state's sovereignty in the occupied territories.<ref name=pres/><ref name="1958-IIს">{{cite act |title=ადგილობრივი თვითმმართველობის კოდექსი [Code of Local Self-Government] |type=Organic law |number=1958-IIს |language=ka |date=5 February 2014 |url=https://matsne.gov.ge/ka/document/view/2244429 |access-date=9 July 2015}}</ref>

==Regions== thumb|Map of the historical and geographical provinces of Georgia (provinces outside the borders of modern Georgia are indicated in italics).

Regions (''mkhare'') were established by presidential decrees from 1994 to 1996, on a provisional basis until the secessionist conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia are resolved. They roughly correspond to the traditional principal historical and geographical areas of Georgia. A region is not a self-governing unit; its function is, rather, to coordinate communication of several municipalities (with the exception of the municipalities of Adjara and that of Tbilisi) with the central government of Georgia, which is represented in a region by an official appointed by Prime Minister, the State Commissioner ({{lang|ka|სახელმწიფო რწმუნებული}}), informally known as "governor" ({{lang|ka|გუბერნატორი}}).<ref name=pres/>

{| class="wikitable sortable" |+Population of Regions !Region !Population !Population Density (/km2) !Area of Region (km2) !Zone !Additional Notes |- |Tbilisi |1,241,700 |3,194.38 |504.2 |East | |- |Imereti |463,100 |83 |6,475 |West |Small part ''de facto'' part of South Ossetia, considered occupied by Russia by Georgia |- |Adjara |361,400 |166.72 |2,880 |West | |- |Kvemo Kartli |442,800 |70 |6,072 |East | |- |Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti |299,300 |45 |7,440 |West | |- |Kakheti |306,200 |28 |11,311 |East | |- |Shida Kartli |249,800 |46.2 |5,729 |East |Partially ''de facto'' part of South Ossetia, considered occupied by Russia by Georgia |- |Abkhazia |240,705 |28 |8,660 |West | ''De facto'' independent. Considered occupied by Russia by Georgia. |- |Samtskhe-Javakheti |147,400 |25 |6,413 |East | |- |Guria |104,300 |56 |2,033 |West | |- |Mtskheta-Mtianeti |93,300 |14 |6,786 |East |Small part ''de facto'' part of South Ossetia, considered occupied by Russia by Georgia. |- |Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti |27,100 |6.4 |4,990 |West |Small part ''de facto'' part of South Ossetia, considered occupied by Russia by Georgia. |}

==Municipalities== {{Main|List of municipalities in Georgia (country)}}

thumb|300px|Municipalities and regions of Georgia

According to the Georgian law, a municipality is a settlement or a group of settlements with defined borders and self-government.<ref name="1958-IIს"/> There are two types of municipalities—self-governing cities, five in total, and self-governing communities, 64 in total as of January 2019. The current municipalities were established between 2006 and 2017. Most of the municipalities recapitulate the boundaries and names of earlier subdivisions, known as ''raioni'' (district).<ref name=pres/><ref name=mreg>{{cite web|title=Registry of Municipalities|url=http://mreg.reestri.gov.ge/|publisher=National Agency of Public Registry|access-date=9 July 2015}}</ref>

== References == {{reflist}}

{{Administrative divisions of Georgia}} {{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of Asian countries}} {{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of European countries}} {{Georgia (country) topics}}

Category:Administrative divisions of Georgia (country) Georgia Georgia Category:Georgia (country) geography-related lists