Georgia's population stands at approximately 3.7 million within its internationally recognized borders, not including the Russian-occupied territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Ethnic Georgians comprise about 86.8% of the population according to the 2014 census. Azeri communities form the largest minority at 6.3%, concentrated primarily in Kvemo Kartli region in the southeast. Armenian populations represent 4.5%, mainly residing in Samtskhe-Javakheti region near the Armenian border. Russian, Ossetian, Yazidi, and Greek communities together constitute less than 3%. The Orthodox Church claims adherence from approximately 83% of the population, though church attendance figures vary significantly from declared affiliation. Muslims comprise roughly 10.7% of the population, primarily among Azeris in southeastern regions and Adjarians along the Black Sea coast. The country experienced significant demographic shifts following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, with population declining from approximately 5.4 million in 1989 to current levels due to emigration, economic contraction, and conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The Georgian language belongs to the Kartvelian language family, unrelated to Indo-European, Turkic, or Semitic language groups. The Georgian alphabet contains 33 letters and descends from the Asomtavruli script developed in the 3rd century AD, later evolving through Nuskhuri and finally to the modern Mkhedruli script standardized by the 11th century. Three other Kartvelian languages survive: Mingrelian spoken in Samegrelo region by approximately 300,000 speakers, Svan used in Svaneti region by roughly 30,000 speakers, and Laz spoken primarily across the border in Turkey with approximately 20,000 speakers remaining in Adjara. These languages lack mutual intelligibility with Georgian despite common ancestry. Russian functions as the primary second language for Georgians over 40 who experienced Soviet education, while English increasingly serves this role for younger generations. Tbilisi State University established in 1918 conducts most instruction in Georgian, though some programs operate in English. The 2005 language law designated Georgian as the sole official state language, though Abkhaz holds co-official status in Abkhazia under territorial legislation Georgia does not recognize.
Archaeological evidence places human habitation in the South Caucasus at 1.8 million years before present, documented through Homo erectus remains discovered at Dmanisi in southern Georgia beginning in 1991. These represent the oldest hominin fossils found outside Africa. The Shulaveri-Shomu culture occupying the Kura-Araxes river valleys from approximately 6000 to 5000 BC demonstrates early agricultural settlement. Excavations at Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora beginning in 2012 revealed ceramic vessels containing tartaric acid residues indicating wine production dated to 6000 BC, establishing the earliest confirmed evidence of viticulture globally. The Trialeti culture flourished between 3000 and 2000 BC, known from burial kurgan excavations revealing sophisticated metalwork including gold and silver vessels. The Colchis civilization emerged along the Black Sea coast by the 13th century BC, identified in Assyrian records and Greek texts including the Argonautica. The kingdom of Colchis controlled territory from the Greater Caucasus to modern Turkey and traded extensively with Greek city-states establishing colonies at Phasis, Gyenos, and Dioscurias between the 8th and 6th centuries BC.
The kingdom of Iberia developed in eastern Georgia by the 4th century BC, with its capital at Mtskheta. Iberia appeared in Roman sources from the 1st century BC, when Pompey campaigned in the Caucasus in 65 BC. King Pharnavaz I, traditionally dated to 302-237 BC though precise chronology remains uncertain, unified the eastern Georgian territories. Greco-Roman geographers including Strabo distinguished between Colchis in the west and Iberia in the east. The Roman Empire established protectorate relationships with Iberia during the 1st century AD, with periods of Parthian and later Sasanian Persian influence alternating through the 3rd and 4th centuries. King Mirian III converted to Christianity in 326 AD according to Georgian chronicles, though some historians place this event closer to 337 AD. Saint Nino of Cappadocia receives credit in Georgian tradition for converting the royal court, though specific biographical details derive from hagiographies written centuries later. Christianity became the state religion, making Georgia among the first polities to adopt Christianity officially, alongside Armenia.
The Sassanid Empire and Byzantine Empire competed for control over Georgian territories between the 4th and 7th centuries. The Principate of Iberia emerged under Byzantine suzerainty in 588 AD following the Treaty of Batum between Emperor Maurice and Khosrow II. Arab armies conquered Tbilisi in 645 AD under Habib ibn Maslama, establishing the Emirate of Tbilisi which controlled eastern Georgia until 1122. Western Georgian territories formed the Kingdom of Abkhazia by the 780s under Leon II, who declared independence from Byzantine authority. The Bagrationi dynasty, claiming descent from the biblical King David through Bagrat of Jerusalem, gained control of Tao-Klarjeti region in southwestern Georgia by 813 AD. Bagrat III united the kingdoms of Abkhazia and Iberia in 1008, creating a unified Georgian monarchy for the first time. His reign marked the beginning of Georgia's medieval golden age, though full territorial consolidation required another century.
King David IV, called the Builder, ruled from 1089 to 1125 and transformed Georgia into a regional power. He reorganized the military by settling 40,000 Kipchak families in Georgia and recruiting them into the army between 1118 and 1120. David captured Tbilisi from the Seljuk Turks in 1122, moving the capital from Kutaisi. He defeated a much larger Seljuk coalition army at the Battle of Didgori in 1121, chroniclers numbering the Georgian force at 56,000 against 250,000 to 400,000 Seljuks, though modern historians consider these figures exaggerated. David established the Gelati Academy near Kutaisi as a center of theology, philosophy, and science, bringing Byzantine and Near Eastern scholars including Ioane Petritsi, who translated Neoplatonist texts into Georgian. The kingdom expanded to control territory from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, incorporating Shirvan, Hereti, and parts of Armenia.
Queen Tamar ruled from 1184 to 1213, the only female monarch in Georgian history to hold full royal authority rather than regency. Her reign represents the apex of Georgian political and cultural influence. Georgian armies commanded by generals Zakare and Ivane Mkhargrdzeli captured Kars in 1206, Ani in 1199, and pushed into northern Persia. The Battle of Basian in 1202 saw Georgian forces defeat the Seljuk Sultan Rukn ad-Din. Shota Rustaveli composed "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" during Tamar's reign, producing the defining work of Georgian literature. The poem contains 1,576 quatrains in the Georgian shairi meter. Tamar's government minted gold coins and maintained diplomatic relations with the Byzantine Empire, demonstrated through marriages arranged between Georgian nobility and Byzantine aristocracy. The kingdom's territorial extent reached approximately 180,000 square kilometers, though exact borders fluctuated with seasonal campaigns.