The demographics of Abkhazia include population density, ethnicity, education level, health, socioeconomic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
The exact present size of Abkhazia's population is disputed. According to the 2011 census it measured 240,705 people, [1] [2] but this is contested by Georgian authorities. The Department of Statistics of Georgia estimated Abkhazia's population to be approximately 179,000 in 2003, and 178,000 in 2005 (the last year when such estimates were published in Georgia). [3]
Encyclopædia Britannica estimates the population in 2007 at 180,000 [4] and the International Crisis Group estimates Abkhazia's total population in 2006 to be between 157,000 and 190,000 (or between 180,000 and 220,000 as estimated by United Nations Development Program in 1998). [5]
The size of Abkhazia's population more than halved due to the 1992–1993 war – at the time of the 1989 census it had measured 525,061. [3]
| [6] | Average population | Live births | Deaths | Natural change | Crude birth rate (per 1000) | Crude death rate (per 1000) | Natural change (per 1000) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 1,557 | 1,059 | 498 | 7.3 | 5.0 | 2.3 | |
| 2003 | 214,016 | 1,816 | 1,142 | 674 | 8.5 | 5.3 | 3.2 |
| 2004 | 217,281 | 1,919 | 1,233 | 686 | 8.9 | 5.8 | 3.1 |
| 2005 | 223,847 | 1,669 | 1,533 | 136 | 7.7 | 7.1 | 0.6 |
| 2006 | 223,847 | 1,715 | 1,493 | 222 | 7.9 | 6.9 | 1.0 |
| 2007 | 227,204 | 1,772 | 1,761 | 11 | 8.2 | 8.2 | 0.0 |
| 2008 | 230,611 | 1,990 | 1,553 | 437 | 9.2 | 7.2 | 2.0 |
| 2009 | 234,069 | 2,207 | 1,699 | 508 | 10.2 | 7.8 | 2.4 |
| 2010 | 237,579 | 2,156 | 1,699 | 457 | 8.9 | 7.0 | 1.9 |
| 2011 | 240,705 | 2,143 | 1,645 | 498 | 8.9 | 6.8 | 2.1 |
| 2012 | 241,414 | 2,258 | 1,723 | 535 | 9.3 | 7.1 | 2.2 |
| 2013 | 242,028 | 2,017 | 1,561 | 456 | 8.3 | 6.4 | 1.9 |
| 2014 | 242,756 | 2,004 | 1,467 | 543 | 8.2 | 6.0 | 2.2 |
| 2015 | 243,206 | 1,927 | 1,654 | 273 | 7.9 | 6.8 | 1.1 |
| 2016 | 243,564 | 1,768 | 1,465 | 303 | 7.2 | 6.0 | 1.2 |
| 2017 | 243,936 | 1,711 | 1,262 | 449 | 7.0 | 5.2 | 1.8 |
| 2018 | 244,832 | 1,430 | 1,282 | 148 | 5.8 | 5.2 | 0.6 |
| 2019 | 245,246 | 1,274 | 1,240 | 34 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 0.1 |
| 2020 | 245,424 | 1,295 | 1,411 | −116 | 5.3 | 5.8 | −0.5 |
| 2021 | 244,926 | 1,110 | 1,785 | −675 |
The population of Abkhazia remains ethnically very diverse, even after the 1992–1993 War. As of 2011 the population of Abkhazia is made up of ethnic Abkhaz (50.71%), Georgians (mostly Mingrelians) (17.93%), Hamshemin Armenians (17.39%), Russians (9.17%) and Greeks (0.6%).
The demographics of Abkhazia were affected by the Caucasus War and subsequent forced expulsion and migration of Muslim Abkhaz, Russian policy of settling Georgians, Russians and others in Abkhazia [7] and by the 1992–1993 war, which saw the ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia. Prior to the war, ethnic Georgians made up 45.7% of Abkhazia's population of 525,061, however, by 1993, most Georgians and some Russians and Armenians had fled Abkhazia or had been ethnically cleansed. [2] [8] The ethnic composition of Abkhazia in past and current times plays a central role in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict.
The earliest reliable records for Abkhazia are the Family Lists compiled in 1886, according to which the Sukhum Okrug (district of the Kutais Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire) population was 68,773 of which 4,166 were Georgians (3,558 Mingrelians), 28,323 Abkhaz, 30,640 Samurzaq’anoans, 2,149 Greeks, 1,090 Armenians, 1,090 Russians, 637 Estonians.
"It is in any case easy to see that, and why, the Samurzaq’anians [9] are the bone of contention between Abkhaz and Georgians. According to the Family Lists, they were actually the most numerous group of all. Some (pro-)Abkhaz scholars have stated the percentage of Abkhaz in Abkhazia for 1886 to have been 85.7%; that clearly is an addition of Abkhaz plus Samurzaq’anoans (30,640 + 28,323 = 58,963 or 85.7% of 68,773). On the other hand, some (pro-)Georgian scholars have claimed that actually they, the 'Georgians', were in a majority of 50.6%, clearly arriving at this by adding all Kartvelians (Mingrelians [and some Laz for Sukhum town] + Georgians [including Imeretians and Gurians] to the Samurzaq’anoans (30,640 + 3,558 + 515 + 84 + 9 = 34,806 or 50.6% of 68,773). Presentation of figures should always be supported by explanation of how they are calculated. While the (pro-)Abkhaz may be criticized for the form they choose, they are quite justified in the essence: the very source itself compiles additional summary tables, and in these, Samurzaq’anoans are not listed, but the number of Abkhaz in Kutaisskaja Gubernija is given as 60,432. Now, in Batumi (city and okrug), 1,469 Abkhaz were listed; thus 58,963 remain – clearly, these are the Abkhaz plus the Samurzaq’anoans in our okrug! Besides the proof offered by the table, we have additional evidence in the fact that Samurzaq’anoans and Abkhaz are kept apart quite neatly. Only in two villages in Gumista, far from Samurzaq’an(o), are both listed side by side; elsewhere, it is either one or the other: Abkhaz in the rest of Gumista, in Gudauta and in K’odor (minus one large village of Samurzaq’anoans with no Abkhaz), Samurzaq’anoans in Samurzaq’an(o). Clearly the authorities had trouble distinguishing Abkhaz and Samurzaq’anoans, [note 1] going by territorial divisions instead. On the other hand, they seem to have had little difficulty distinguishing Mingrelians and Samurzaq’anoans, who are regularly listed living side by side". [10]
According to the 1897 census there were 58,697 people in Abkhazia who listed Abkhaz as their mother tongue, 23,810 people listed Mingrelian as their mother tongue, 1,971 people listed Georgian (including Imeretian dialect) as their mother tongue. The population of the Sukhumi district (Abkhazia) was about 100,000 at that time. Greeks, Russians and Armenians composed 3.5%, 2% and 1.5% of the district's population. By the end of the nineteenth century, Abkhazians made up slightly more than 53% of the population of Abkhazia. According to the 1917 agricultural census organized by the Russian Provisional Government, Georgians and Abkhaz composed 41.7% (54,760) and 30,4% (39,915) of the rural population of Abkhazia respectively.
During the Soviet Union, the Russian, Armenian, Greek and Georgian population grew faster than the Abkhaz, due to the large-scale migration enforced especially under the rule of Joseph Stalin and Lavrenty Beria, who himself was a Georgian born in Abkhazia. [11]
In 2008 almost all of the circa 2000 Svans in the upper Kodori Valley fled Abkhazia when this tract of land was conquered by the Abkhazian army during the August war. The Abkhazian authorities have appealed for the Svan refugees to return, but by late March 2009 only 130 people continued to live in the upper Kodori Valley.
In 1993, during the military conflict, the Georgian/Mingrelian inhabitants of the Gali district left Abkhazia, however after some time nearly all came back. [12]
The Abkhazian government has been trying to attract members of the Abkhaz diaspora (mainly in Turkey). [13] In August 2013, the State Committee for Repatriation announced that since 1993, 7365 diaspora members had returned to Abkhazia, of which 4268 from Turkey, 494 from Syria, 107 from Egypt and Jordan and 2496 from Russia and other countries. [14]
In September 2014, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Abkhazia announced that 273 Ukrainians fleeing the War in Donbass had come to Abkhazia. [15]
The following tables summarise the results of the censuses carried out in Abkhazia.
| Year | Georgians [note 2] | Abkhaz | Russians | Armenians | Greeks | Samurzaq’anoans [note 3] | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1886 Family Lists | 6.1 % (4,166) | 41.2 % (28,323) | 1.6 % (1,090) | 1.6% (1,090) | 3.1% (2,149) | 44.6% (30,640) | 68,773 |
| 1897 Census | 24.4% (25,873) | 55.3% (58,697) | 4,8% (5,135) | 6.2% (6,552) | 5.1% (5,393) | – | 106,179 |
| 1926 Census | 33.6% (67,494) | 27.3% (55,918) | 6.7% (12,553) | 12.8% (25,677) | 7.6% (14,045) | – | 201,016 |
| 1939 Census | 29.5% (91,967) | 18.0% (56,197) | 19.3% (60,201) | 15.9% (49,705) | 11.1% (34,621) | – | 311,885 |
| 1959 Census | 39.1% (158,221) | 15.1% (61,193) | 21.4% (86,715) | 15.9% (64,425) | 2.2% (9,101) | – | 404,738 |
| 1970 Census | 41.0% (199,596) | 15.9% (77,276) | 19.1% (92,889) | 15.4% (74,850) | 2.7% (13,114) | – | 486,959 |
| 1979 Census | 43.9% (213,322) | 17.1% (83,087) | 16.4% (79,730) | 15.1% (73,350) | 2.8% (13,642) | – | 486,082 |
| 1989 Census | 45.7% (239,872) | 17.8% (93,267) | 14.3% (74,913) | 14.6% (76,541) | 2.8% (14,664) | – | 525,061 |
| 2003 Census [2] | 21.3% (45,953) | 43.8% (94,606) | 10.8% (23,420) | 20.8% (44,870) | 0.7% (1,486) | – | 215,972 |
| 2011 Census | 17.93% (46,367) | 50.71% (122,069) | 9.17% (22,077) | 17.39% (41,864) | 0.6% (1,380) | – | 240,705 |
The number of Abkhaz might be inflated in the last census. The growth of Abkhaz also probably reflects decisions by those of mixed ancestry to declare themselves as Abkhaz. [16]
The ethnic Georgians who mostly live in Gali district are often subject to ethnic discrimination, denial of political and civil rights and police misconduct. [17] [18] [19]
The Kodori Valley, also known as the Kodori Gorge, is a river valley in Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway autonomous republic. The valley's upper part, populated by Svans, was the only corner of the post-1993 Abkhazia directly controlled by the central Georgian government, which since 2006 officially styles the area as Upper Abkhazia. On August 12, 2008, Russo–Abkhazian forces gained control of the Upper Kodori Valley, previously controlled by Georgia.
The Abkhazia conflict is a territorial dispute over Abkhazia, a region on the eastern coast of the Black Sea in the South Caucasus, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The conflict involves Georgia, Russian Federation and Russian-backed self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia, internationally recognised only by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria; Georgia and all other United Nations members consider Abkhazia a sovereign territory of Georgia. However, as of 2023, Georgia lacks de facto control over the territory.
The Abkhazians or Abkhazes are a Northwest Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. A large Abkhaz diaspora population resides in Turkey, the origins of which lie in the population movements from the Caucasus in the late 19th century. Many Abkhaz also live in other parts of the former Soviet Union, particularly in Russia and Ukraine.
The ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia, also known in Georgia as the genocide of Georgians in Abkhazia, refers to the ethnic cleansing, massacres, and forced mass expulsion of thousands of ethnic Georgians living in Abkhazia during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict of 1992–1993 and 1998 at the hands of Abkhaz separatists and their allies. Armenians, Greeks, Russians, and opposing Abkhazians were also killed.
The Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia is an administration established by Georgia as the legal and only government of Abkhazia. Abkhazia has been de facto independent of Georgia – though with limited international recognition – since the early 1990s. Ruslan Abashidze, elected in May 2019, is the current head of the government-in-exile.
Abzhywa is one of the seven historical regions in Abkhazia, and accordingly one of the seven stars on Flag of Abkhazia represents Abzhywa. Local residents belong to ethnographic group of Абжуйцы.
The history of Abkhazia, a region in the South Caucasus, spans more than 5,000 years from its settlement by the lower-paleolithic hunter-gatherers to its present status as a partially recognized state.
Nestor Apollonovich Lakoba was an Abkhaz communist leader. Lakoba helped establish Bolshevik power in Abkhazia in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, and served as the head of Abkhazia after its conquest by the Bolshevik Red Army in 1921. While in power, Lakoba saw that Abkhazia was initially given autonomy within the USSR as the Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia. Though nominally a part of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic with a special status of "union republic," the Abkhaz SSR was effectively a separate republic, made possible by Lakoba's close relationship with Joseph Stalin. Lakoba successfully opposed the extension of collectivization of Abkhazia, though in return Lakoba was forced to accept a downgrade of Abkhazia's status to that of an autonomous republic within the Georgian SSR.
The Bagramyan Battalion, also known officially as the Independent Motorized Rifle Battalion named after Marshal Ivan Khristoforovich Baghramyan was a unit formed in Abkhazia and predominantly composed of ethnic Armenians living in Abkhazia that fought together with Russia backed separatist Abkhaz forces during the War in Abkhazia (1992–93). Named in honour of the Soviet Armenian Marshal Ivan Bagramyan, the battalion fought against the forces of Georgia. It was subsequently disbanded. It is considered a terrorist organisation by many international research organizations and Georgia.
The Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia was a short-lived republic within the Caucasus region of the Soviet Union that covered the territory of Abkhazia, and existed from 31 March 1921 to 19 February 1931. Formed in the aftermath of the Red Army invasion of Georgia in 1921, it was independent until 16 December 1921 when it agreed to a treaty that united it with the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. The SSR Abkhazia was similar to an autonomous Soviet republic, though it retained nominal independence from Georgia and was given certain features only full union republics had, like its own military units. Through its status as a "treaty republic" with Georgia, Abkhazia joined the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which united Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian SSRs into one federal unit when the latter was formed in 1922. The SSR Abkhazia was abolished in 1931 and replaced with the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Georgian SSR.
The War in Abkhazia was fought between Georgian government forces for the most part and Abkhaz separatist forces, Russian government armed forces and North Caucasian militants between 1992 and 1993. Ethnic Georgians who lived in Abkhazia fought largely on the side of Georgian government forces. Ethnic Armenians and Russians within Abkhazia's population largely supported the Abkhazians and many fought on their side. The separatists received support from thousands of North Caucasus and Cossack militants and from the Russian Federation forces stationed in and near Abkhazia.
The Kamani Massacre took place on July 9, 1993, during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. It was perpetrated against Georgian inhabitants of Kamani, mainly by militia forces of Abkhaz separatists, and their North Caucasian and Russian allies. It became a part of the bloody campaign carried out by the separatists, which was known as the ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia
Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It covers 8,665 square kilometres (3,346 sq mi) and has a population of around 245,000. Its capital and largest city is Sukhumi.
The Armenians in Abkhazia form the second largest ethnic group in Abkhazia after the native Abkhazians. Armenians settled in Abkhazia in late 19th and the early 20th centuries and are now the largest ethnic group in Sukhumi, Gulripsh and Gagra Districts forming 20% of the Abkhazian population with approximately 42,000 out of a total of 242,862.
Gali District is one of the districts of Abkhazia, Georgia. Its capital is Gali, the town by the same name. The district is smaller than the eponymous one in the de jure subdivision of Georgia, as some of its former territory is now part of Tkvarcheli District, formed by de facto Abkhaz authorities in 1995.
Adzyubzha is a rural settlement in the Ochamchira District of Abkhazia, Georgia’s breakaway republic.
The War in Abkhazia from 1992 to 1993 was waged chiefly between Georgian government forces on one side, Russian military forces on other side supporting separatist forces demanding independence of Abkhazia from Georgia. http://www.historyorb.com/russia/georgia.php Ethnic Georgians, who lived in Abkhazia fought largely on the side of Georgian government forces. Ethnic Armenians and Russians within Abkhazia's population, largely supported Abkhazians and many fought on their side. The separatists were supported by thousands of the North Caucasus and Cossack militants and by the Russian Federation forces stationed in and near Abkhazia.
The Georgia–Russia border is the state border between Georgia and Russia. It is de jure 894 km in length and runs from the Black Sea coast in the west and then along the Greater Caucasus Mountains to the tripoint with Azerbaijan in the east, thus closely following the conventional boundary between Europe and Asia. In 2008 Russia recognised the independence of two self-declared republics within Georgia, meaning that in a de facto sense the border is now split into four sections: the Abkhazia–Russia border in the west, the western Georgia–Russia border between Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the South Ossetia–Russia border and the eastern Georgia–Russia border between South Ossetia and Azerbaijan. At present most of the international community refuse to recognise the independence of the two territories and regard them as belonging to Georgia.
The Sukhumi or Sukhum okrug was a special administrative district (okrug) in the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, part of the Kutaisi Governorate from 1883 until 1905. The administrative center of the district was the Black Sea port city of Sukhum. The okrug bordered the Kutaisi Governorate to the southwest, the Kuban Oblast to the north and the Black Sea Governorate to the northwest and in terms of its area corresponded to most of contemporary Abkhazia. During 1905–1917, the Sukhumi okrug was one of the smallest independent administrative units of the Russian Empire, second to the Zakatal okrug.
The Abkhazia–Georgia separation line is a de facto boundary set up in aftermath of the War in Abkhazia and Russo-Georgian War, which separates the self-declared Republic of Abkhazia from the territory controlled by the Government of Georgia. Republic of Abkhazia, and those states that recognise its independence, view the line as an international border separating two sovereign states, whereas the Georgian government and most other countries refer to it as an 'Administrative Border Line' within Georgian territory. The Georgian government views Abkhazia as a Russian-occupied Georgian territory and designates the de facto boundary as an occupation line in accordance with the Georgian "Law on Occupied Territories of Georgia". The Constitution of Georgia recognizes Abkhazia as autonomous within Georgia, therefore the line corresponds to the 'Administrative Border' of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia within Georgian territory.
