GEORGIA’S ETHNIC HISTORY AND THE PRESENT MIGRATION PROCESSES
Abstract
Georgia’s ethnic composition, which changed from one historical epoch to another, is a product of certain political, social, and economic factors. This led to certain migration trends that changed the size of particular ethnic groups. Georgian academic Vakhtang Jaoshvili identified the major stages in the process that led to changes in Georgia’s ethnic composition: From the Middle Ages to the late 18th century. from the early 19th century to the establishment of Soviet power in 1921, and from 1921 to the Soviet Union’s disintegration.1 Today we can speak about the fourth stage: from 1991, when Georgia became independent, to the present day.
Throughout the Middle Ages Georgia remained the victim of its aggressive neighbors, whose regular inroads led to many deaths among the local residents and to their mass migration to the country’s central areas. The vacated lands were seized by ethnically alien peoples. Muslims moved into Kvemo Kartli in the latter half of the 15th century; during feudalism Ossets left the Northern Caucasus to settle in Eastern Georgia; and Greeks came to some of the Eastern Georgian villages in the latter half of the 18th century. The number of migrating aliens to feudal (normally self-contained) states was negligible, which explains the numerical domination of the Georgians in nearly every province.By the early 19th century, Georgians comprised four-fifths of the local population.2
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See: V. Jaoshvili, Georgia’s Population in the 18th-20th Centuries, Tbilisi, 1984, p. 209 (in Georgian).
See: Ibid., pp. 209-210.
See: Ibid., p. 81.
See: Ibid., pp. 210-211.
See: V. Lordkipanidze, Historical Meskheti—Demographic Problems, Tbilisi, 1988 (in Georgian).
They spoke one of the Turkish Eastern Anatolian dialects and were called Turkic-speaking Urums. The Greeks who later settled along the Black Sea coast use the Greek Pontic dialect. Both groups are Orthodox Christians. For more detail,see: A. Mikaberidze, M. Shakhpazidi, “On the Dialects of the Greeks Living in Georgia,” in: Greeks in Georgia, Tbilisi,2000, pp. 129-177 (in Georgian).
See: I. Garakanidze, “History of Greek Resettlement to Georgia (18th-20th centuries),” in: Greeks in Georgia,pp. 28-70.
For details about German settlements see: A. Songulashvili, Germans in Georgia, Tbilisi, 1995; D. Springhorn,Germans in Georgia, the Tbilisi Goethe Institute, Tbilisi, 2004 (both in Georgian).
See: N. Zakariadze, “Czarist Colonial Policies and the Slavic Population of Georgia,” Demography, No. 1, 2000,pp. 89-90 (in Georgian).
See: V. Kozlov, Russkie starozhily Zakavkaz’ia: Molokane i Dukhobortsy, Moscow, 1995.
See: D. Pirbari, “Kurdy na Iuzhnom Kavkaze,” Vostok i Kavkaz, No. 2, 2004.
See: V. Jaoshvili, op. cit., pp. 139-142.
See: P. Gugushvili, The Problems of Population Reproduction in the Georgian S.S.R., Tbilisi, 1973, pp. 16-17 (in Georgian).
See: V. Jaoshvili, op. cit., pp. 214-215.
See: T. Gugushvili, External Migration and Demographic Problems of Georgia (1990-1998), Tbilisi, 1998, pp. 70-78 (in Georgian).
See: R. Gachechiladze, Population Migration in Georgia and its Socioeconomic Effects. U.N.-Georgia Develop-ment Program, Tbilisi, 1997, pp. 37-38 (in Georgian).
See: G. Svanidze, D. Svanidze, “Emigratsia iz Gruzii i ee prichiny,” in: Migratsia na Kavkaze. Materialy konfer-entsii, Kavkazskiy institut SMI, Erevan, 2003, p. 129.
See: Ibid., p. 130.
In 30 years, the number of Azeris nearly doubled: while in 1959 there were 153,600 of them (3.8 percent of the total population), in 1979 their numerical strength reached 255,700 (5.1 percent), and in 1989, it was 307,600 (5.7 percent)
see: State Department for Statistics. Annual Statistical Survey of Georgia—2001, pp. 37-38).
See: V. Jaoshvili, op. cit., pp. 231-232.
See: A. Totadze, “National Composition of Georgia’s Population,” Eri, 22 May, 1991 (in Georgian).
The toponym Borchalo is derived from the Turkmenian tribe Borchalo, which moved to the Debed Gorge in the Middle Ages.
The Borchalo Autonomy issue first appeared in the late 1980s together with the first signs of ethnic tension. The demand was formulated by the nationalist-minded groups with no wide popular support. As soon as the first waves of en-thusiasm subsided, the issue was dropped for good.
According to the organizations operating in Kvemo Kartli and the Azeri media, the real number of Azeris is much larger, somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000.
This is caused mainly by the outflow of Armenians and Russians. There is emigration among the Azeris as well,but their high birthrate keeps their numerical strength high. According to the 2002 population census, there are 284,761 Azeris (6.5 percent), 248,929 Armenians (5.7 percent), and 67,671 Russians (1.5 percent) (see: State Department for Sta-tistics of Georgia. The Results of the 2002 First National Population Census in Georgia, Vol. 1, Tbilisi. 2003, p. 110).
ccording to the 1989 population census, Armenians came first in numbers (437,200 or 8.1 percent of the total population),then came Russians (341,200 or 6.3 percent) and Azeris (307,600 or 5.6 percent) (see: State Department for Statistics. Annual Statistical Survey of Georgia—2001, pp. 37-38).
See: State Department for Statistics of Georgia, p. 116.
See: Ibidem. The Armenian population is spread throughout four districts: 9,329 Armenians live in the Marneuli District; 3,124, in the Borzhomi District; 2,632 in the Tetri Tskaro District, and 2,273 in the Aspindza District.
See: State Department for Statistics of Georgia, p. 110.
See: Ibid., p. 113.
See: Ibid., p. 116.
See: State Department for Statistics. Annual Statistical Survey of Georgia—2001, p. 37.
It should be said that in the 1989 population census the Yezidi Kurds were lumped together with the Kurds. In 2002,
at the request of the Razibun Center of Yezidic Traditions, they were registered separately. During the latest census, 18,329 Kurds were registered as Yezidis at their request, while 2,514 described themselves as Kurds.
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