Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
სამეგრელო-ზემო სვანეთი
Mkhare (region)
From the top to bottom right: Enguri River, Dadiani Palace, Mestia at night, Tetnuldi, Martvili Monastery
Country Georgia
CapitalZugdidi
Subdivisions1 city, 8 municipalities[1]
Government
 • GovernorGiorgi Guguchia (2 June 2021)
Area
[2]
 • Total7,468 km2 (2,883 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)
 • Total308,358[3]
Time zoneUTC+4 (Georgian Time)
ISO 3166 codeGE-SZ
HDI (2017)0.757[4]
high · 5th

Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti (Georgian: სამეგრელო-ზემო სვანეთი) is a region (Mkhare) in western Georgia with a population of 308,358 (2021[3]) and a surface of 7,468 km2 (2,883 sq mi).[2] The region has Zugdidi as its administrative center, while Giorgi Guguchia is governor of the region since June 2021.[5][6] Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti is compiled of the historical Georgian provinces of Samegrelo (Mingrelia) and Zemo Svaneti (i.e., Upper Svaneti).

Subdivisions

The region has one self governing city (Poti) and 8 municipalities with 143 administrative communities (temi),[2] totalling to 531 populated settlements:

Map Municipality
City of Poti
Abasha Municipality
Zugdidi Municipality
Martvili Municipality
Mestia Municipality
Senaki Municipality
Chkhorotsku Municipality
Tsalenjikha Municipality
Khobi Municipality

Geography

Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti is traversed by two sections of the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude. The Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Mkhare can be split into two historical regions; Svaneti and Samegrelo. In the northern part of Samegrelo lie the Egrisi mountains. The municipalities of Chkhorotsqu, Martvili, and Tsalenjikha are located right next to the Egrisi mountain range in Samegrelo. On the southern side of Samegrelo lies the Kolkheti valley, which is a mostly flat region. The municipalities that lie in the valley are Zugdidi, Khobi, Senaki, Abasha, and the city of Poti. The west side of Samegrelo borders Apkhazeti right on the Enguri river. The other region - Zemo Svaneti is located right on the Northern Caucasus mountains. Its only municipality is the Mestia municipality. Svaneti has the tallest mountain in Georgia, Mt. Shkhara at 5,193 meters, or 17,037 feet.

Demographic

Population development of the region Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti[7]
19591970197919892002*2002**20142021
Abasha Municipality30,286Increase 30,416Decrease 29,246Decrease 28,219Increase 28,707-Decrease 22,341Decrease 19,560
Khobi Municipality31,280Increase 37,653Increase 38,092Increase 38,939Increase 41,240-Decrease 30,548Decrease 27,806
Martvili Municipality47,777Increase 49,167Decrease 47,797Decrease 46,009Decrease 44,627-Decrease 33,463Decrease 31,495
Mestia Municipality16,311Increase 17,801Decrease 17,442Decrease 14,776Decrease 14,248-Decrease 9,316Increase 9,447
City of Poti48,117Decrease 45,979Increase 48,508Increase 50,922Decrease 47,149-Decrease 41,465Increase 41,536
Senaki Municipality47,553Increase 50,336Increase 50,774Increase 52,681Decrease 52,112-Decrease 39,652Decrease 34,315
Tsalenjikha Municipality29,019Increase 37,813Increase 39,477Decrease 38,643Increase 40,133-Decrease 26,158Decrease 23,296
Chkhorotsku Municipality27,647Increase 30,784Increase 31,404Decrease 29,840Increase 30,124-Decrease 22,309Decrease 21,361
Zugdidi Municipality96,643Increase 112,241Increase 120,217Increase 125,444Increase 167,760-Decrease 105,509Decrease 99,542
Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti374,633Increase 412,190Increase 422,957Increase 425,473466,100Decrease 416,349Decrease 330,761Decrease 308,358
* Research after 2014 census showed the 2002 census was inflated by 8-9 percent.[8]
**Corrected data based on retro-projection 1994–2014 in collaboration with UN[9]

Ethnic groups

According to the Georgian census of 2014,[2] 99.37% of the population is Georgian and 0.35% is Russian. Other ethnic groups living in the region include Ukrainians, Armenians, Abkhazians and Greeks.

Languages

Georgian is spoken by the entire population of the region and by the ethnic minorities like Russians and others. Mingrelian is a Kartvelian language spoken by the Mingrelians, a sub-group of Georgian people and native to Mingrelia.

Svan is also a Kartvelian language, spoken by the Svans, a sub-group of Georgian people native to Svaneti.

Religion

About 99% of the population identifies as Orthodox Christians. Small minorities of Armenian Christians and Roman Catholics also exist.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Regions and municipalities of Georgia" (in Georgian). Georgian Government. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Main Results of the 2014 Census (Publication)" (PDF). Census.ge, National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) (in Georgian). 2016-04-28. p. 229. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  3. 1 2 "Population and Demography - Population as of 1 January by regions and urban-rural settlements". Retrieved 2021-11-23.
  4. ↑ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  5. ↑ "Giorgi Guguchia Appointed Governor of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti". Georgia Today. 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  6. ↑ "State Representative of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti". Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti website (in Georgian). 2021-06-02. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  7. ↑ "Divisions of Georgia". Population Statistics Eastern Europe and former USSR. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  8. ↑ "Population Dynamics in Georgia - An Overview Based on the 2014 General Population Census Data" (PDF). National Statistics Office of Georgia, Geostat. 2017-11-29. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  9. ↑ "Retro-projection of main demographic indicators for the period 1994-2014". National Statistics Office of Georgia, Geostat. 2018-05-18. pp. 3, Table 1. Retrieved 2022-02-04.

42°30′N 41°51′E / 42.5°N 41.85°E / 42.5; 41.85


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