Batumi is the second-largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest, 20 kilometers north of the border with Turkey. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of the Caucasus. Much of Batumi's economy revolves around tourism and gambling, but the city is also an important seaport and includes industries like shipbuilding, food processing and light manufacturing. Since 2010, Batumi has been transformed by the construction of modern high-rise buildings, as well as the restoration of classical 19th-century edifices lining its historic Old Town.
Adjara or Achara, officially known as the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, is a political-administrative region of Georgia. Located in the country's southwestern corner, Adjara lies on the coast of the Black Sea near the foot of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, north of Turkey. It is an important tourist destination and includes Georgia's second most populous city of Batumi as its capital. About 350,000 people live on its 2,880 km2 (1,110 sq mi).
Aslan Abashidze is the former leader of the Ajarian Autonomous Republic in western Georgia. He served in this capacity from 18 August 1991 to May 5, 2004. He resigned under the pressure of the central Georgian government and mass opposition rallies during the 2004 Adjara crisis, and has since lived in Moscow, Russia. On January 22, 2007, the Batumi city court found him guilty of misuse of office and embezzlement of GEL 98.2 million in state funds, and sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment in absentia. He also faces a charge of murder of his former deputy, Nodar Imnadze, in 1991.
Levan Varshalomidze is a Georgian politician and the Chairman of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara from 2004 to 2012. He assumed office on 20 July 2004, following the resignation of Aslan Abashidze—who had run the region in defiance to the central government of Georgia—during the 2004 Adjara crisis.
The flag of Adjara is a flag of Georgia's autonomous republic of Adjara. It displays seven dark blue and white stripes, with the national flag of Georgia shown in canton. The flag was adopted on 20 July 2004 by the Supreme Council of Adjara. It also bears some similarities to the Flag of Greece.
The Adjara crisis, also known as the Adjarian revolution or the Second Rose Revolution, was a political crisis in Georgia's Adjaran Autonomous Republic, then led by Aslan Abashidze, who refused to obey the central authorities after President Eduard Shevardnadze's ouster during the Rose Revolution of November 2003. The crisis threatened to develop into military confrontation as both sides mobilized their forces at the internal border. However, Georgia's post-revolutionary government of President Mikheil Saakashvili managed to avoid bloodshed and with the help of Adjaran opposition reasserted its supremacy. Abashidze left the region in exile in May 2004 and was succeeded by Levan Varshalomidze.
Gela Shekiladze is a football coach and former football defender from Batumi, Georgia. He currently works as assistant coach for the Tajikistan national football team.
FC Dinamo Batumi is a Georgian professional football club based in Batumi, Adjara that competes in the Erovnuli Liga, the top division of Georgian football system.
Amiran Mujiri is a former Georgian footballer who played as a central midfielder. Currently he is the head coach of Betlemi Keda.
Memed Abashidze was a Georgian politician, writer and public benefactor. An eminent leader of Muslim Georgian community of Adjarians, he was a major proponent of pro-Georgian orientation in Adjara and one of the architects of the region's autonomy within Georgia. He became a victim of Joseph Stalin’s Great Purge.
The Batumi Mosque is a mosque in Batumi, Adjara, Georgia, which is a home to a sizable Muslim community. It was commissioned by the family of Aslan Beg Khimshiashvili, a Muslim Georgian nobleman in 1866. The walls of the mosque were painted by the Laz brothers. The mosque is popularly known as the "Jamia in the middle" for it once stood in between two other mosques which have not survived.
Belarus–Georgia relations are foreign relations between Belarus and Georgia. Before 1918, both countries were part of the Russian Empire and both were part of the USSR until 1991. Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1992.
Aslan-Beg Abashidze (1877–1924) was a Muslim Georgian nobleman and general in the service of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Like his brother Memed Abashidze, he was one of the principal champions of pro-Georgian orientation in the largely Muslim region of Adjara, heavily contested during and immediately after World War I. After Soviet takeover of Georgia in 1921, Abashidze fled to Turkey, where he died in unclear circumstances.
Mamuka Kobakhidze is a Georgian professional football player. He plays for FC Dinamo Batumi.
Giga Tkhilaishvili is a Georgian rugby union player. His position is flanker, and he currently plays for Batumi RC in the Georgia Championship and the Georgia national team.
The Georgian national beach soccer team represents Georgia in international beach soccer competitions and is controlled by the Georgian Football Federation, the governing body for football in Georgia. The team has played competitively in two World Cup qualifiers, in 2008 and 2016, but have yet to win a match. The majority of the current squad also plays for club team FC Dinamo Batumi in Georgia who have competed in the Euro Winners Cup.
The 43rd Chess Olympiad, organised by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) and comprising open and women's tournaments, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, was an international team chess event held in Batumi, Georgia, from 23 September to 6 October 2018. This was the first Chess Olympiad to take place in Georgia with the Georgian Chess Federation also hosting the Chess World Cup 2017 in Tbilisi.
Otar Kiteishvili is a Georgian professional footballer who plays for Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, also known as Kvara, is a Georgian professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Serie A club Napoli and the Georgia national team.
The Batumi Municipal Assembly is a representative body in the city of Batumi, Georgia. Currently consisting of 35 members; of these, 28 are proportional representatives and 7 are elected through single-member districts, representing their constituencies. During the 1990s, the city council did not function as a self-governing body and decisions in the city were made individually by authorities. At this period, the leader of the autonomous republic was Aslan Abashidze, whose authoritarian ruling ended after the Adjara’s Rose Revolution, on May 6, 2004. On October 5, 2006 the first local self-governmental election of the representative body took place. The council is assembled into session regularly, to consider subject matters such as code changes, utilities, taxes, city budget, oversight of city government, and more. Batumi sakrebulo members are being elected every four years. Currently, the city council has 5 committees. The last election was held in October 2021. The current Chairperson of the Batumi City Assembly is Ramaz Jincharadze.
