Abkhazia is a region in the Caucasus that is under the effective control of the partially recognised self-declared Republic of Abkhazia. The de jure majority internationally recognized Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia claims to be its legitimate government.
Proportion | 1:2 |
---|---|
Adopted | 23 July 1992 |
Design | Seven horizontal stripes alternating green and white; in the canton, a white open hand below a semicircle of seven five-pointed stars on a red field. |
Designed by | Valeri Gamgia |
Use | Presidential standard |
Design | The national flag defaced with the national emblem in the center. |
Designed by | Valeri Gamgia |
Use | Naval ensign |
Design | A white flag with a blue stripe on the bottom. The canton contains a white hand with seven stars in a semicircle above the hand. |
The flag of the Republic of Abkhazia was created in 1991 by Valeri Gamgia. [1] It was officially adopted on 23 July 1992.[ citation needed ] The design of the red canton is based on the banner of the medieval Kingdom of Abkhazia. The open right hand means "Hello to friends! Stop to Enemies!". [2] The seven stars in the canton have since been reinterpreted to correspond to the seven historical regions of the country: Sadzen, Bzyp, Gumaa, Abzhywa, Samurzaqan, Dal-Tsabal and Pskhuy-Aibga. [3]
Seven is a number sacred to the Abkhaz and the green and white stripes represent the tolerance that allows Christianity and Islam to coexist. [4]
As no official flag has been adopted for use by the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, the flag of Georgia is used by the Government of Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia. [5]
A flag has been proposed by the Georgian State Council of Heraldry for the region that combines the flag of Georgia with green and white stripes of the Abkhazian flag. [6] [7]
The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus was a state that declared independence in 1917 from both the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and White Russian forces during the Russian Civil War. It claimed Abkhazia as its territory, but Abkhazia was also claimed and occupied by the Democratic Republic of Georgia. The purported flag of the Mountain Republic contains several elements that would later be included in the Abkhazian flag, including seven green and white horizontal stripes and a canton with seven stars. In the North Caucasian flag, the seven stars and stripes represented the regions of Dagestan, Chechen-Ingushia, Ossetia, Abkhazia, Kabardia, Adygea, and Karachay-Balkaria. [8]
The flag of the SSR Abkhazia was adopted in 1925 when the SSR Abkhazia ratified its constitution. It was used until 1931, when the SSR Abkhazia was transformed into the Abkhaz ASSR with a different flag.
The flag of the Abkhaz ASSR was introduced in 1978 and used until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The previous flag used between 1931 and 1978 was identical to the flag of the Georgian SSR, and in 1978 the name of the Abkhaz ASSR was added written in the Abkhaz language and script.
The Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, also known as the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, or simply Transcaucasia, was a republic of the Soviet Union that existed from 1922 to 1936.
An Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was a type of administrative unit in the Soviet Union (USSR), created for certain ethnic groups to be the titular nations of. The ASSRs had a status lower than the constituent union republics of the USSR, but higher than the autonomous oblasts and the autonomous okrugs.
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 Caucasian War in the late 19th century. Many Abkhaz also live in other parts of the former Soviet Union, particularly in Russia and Ukraine.
Abkhazia is a region in the Caucasus that is under the effective control of the partially recognised self-declared Republic of Abkhazia. The de jure majority internationally recognized Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia claims to be its legitimate government.
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.
The Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as Abkhaz ASSR, was an autonomous republic of the Soviet Union within the Georgian SSR. It came into existence in February 1931, when the Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia, originally created in March 1921, was transformed to the status of Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Georgian SSR.
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 coat of arms of the SSR of Abkhazia was adopted in 1925 when the SSR Abkhazia ratified its constitution. The coat of arms was used until 1931 when SSR Abkhazia was transformed into the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
On 14 April 1978, demonstrations in Tbilisi, capital of the Georgian SSR, took place in response to an attempt by the Soviet government to change the constitutional status of languages in Georgia. After a new Soviet Constitution was adopted in October 1977, the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR considered a draft constitution in which, in contrast to the Constitution of 1936, Georgian was no longer declared to be the sole state language. A series of indoor and outdoor actions of protest ensued and implied with near-certainty there would be a clash between several thousands of demonstrators and the Soviet government, but Georgian Communist Party chief Eduard Shevardnadze negotiated with the central authorities in Moscow and managed to obtain permission to retain the previous status of the Georgian language.
The Sukhumi riot was a riot in Sukhumi, Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union, in July 1989, triggered by an increasing inter-ethnic tensions between the Abkhaz and Georgian communities and followed by several days of street fighting and civil unrest in Sukhumi and throughout Abkhazia.
During the Soviet-era, the Abkhaz ASSR was divided into six raions (districts) named after their respective capitals.
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 flag of the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted in 1951 by the republic's government. Its primary visual features are identical to those of the flag of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. A later version of the flag includes a gold inscription under the canton of the republic's name.
The flag of the Republic of Bashkortostan, in the Russian Federation, is one of the official symbols of the Republic of Bashkortostan, alongside the coat of arms and the national anthem of Bashkortostan. The flag has three horizontal stripes. From top to bottom, the stripes are teal blue, white, and green. The flag has been used officially as the flag of the Republic of Bashkortostan since 25 February 1992. The white stripe of the flag is charged with a Kurai flower in the center.
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, previously known as the Russian Soviet Republic and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia, was an independent federal socialist state from 1917 to 1922, and afterwards the largest and most populous constituent republic of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1922 to 1991, until becoming a sovereign part of the Soviet Union with priority of Russian laws over Union-level legislation in 1990 and 1991, the last two years of the existence of the USSR. The Russian SFSR was composed of sixteen smaller constituent units of autonomous republics, five autonomous oblasts, ten autonomous okrugs, six krais and forty oblasts. Russians formed the largest ethnic group. The capital of the Russian SFSR and the USSR as a whole was Moscow and the other major urban centers included Leningrad, Stalingrad, Novosibirsk, Sverdlovsk, Gorky and Kuybyshev. It was the first socialist state in the world.
This is an alphabetical list of Abkhazia-related articles.
The national emblem of the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted in 1937 by the government of the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The emblem is identical to the emblem of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
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.
The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus, an unrecognized state created during the Russian Civil War that existed from 1917 to 1922, used two flags as its symbols. One of them consisted of seven green and white stripes and a blue canton with seven yellow stars, in its top left corner. The other featured a green canton with a yellow or white crescent and seven stars, placed in the top left corner, on the red background.