Imereti

Imereti (Georgian: იმერეთი, pronounced [imeɾetʰi]) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 municipalities and the city of Kutaisi, which is the capital of the region.

Imereti იმერეთი
Mkhare (region)
From the top to bottom-right: Kutaisi, Okatse Canyon, Katskhi Pillar, Sulori Gorge, Tkibuli Reservoir
Overlapping borders of de jure Imereti region and de facto South Ossetia[b]
Country	Georgia
Capital	Kutaisi
Government
• Governor	Zviad Shalamberidze[1] (Georgian Dream)
Area [c]
• Total	6,680 km2 (2,580 sq mi)
Population  (2024)[2]
• Total	442,373
• Density	66/km2 (170/sq mi)
Gross Regional Product [3]
• Total	₾ 5.51 billion (2022)
• Per capita	₾ 11,444 (2022)
ISO 3166 code	GE-IM
Districts	11 districts, 1 city
HDI (2021)	0.800 [4] very high · 3rd
Website	imereti.ge

Subdivisions

The Imereti region has one self governing city (Kutaisi) and 11 municipalities with 163 administrative communities (temi), totalling to 549 populated settlements:

• Eleven cities: Baghdati, Chiatura, Khoni, Kutaisi, Sachkhere, Samtredia, Terjola, Tkibuli, Tsqaltubo, Vani and Zestaponi;
• Three dabas: Kharagauli, Kulashi and Shorapani;
• Villages: 535

Map	Municipality
	City of Kutaisi
	Baghdati Municipality
	Vani Municipality
	Zestaponi Municipality
	Terjola Municipality
	Samtredia Municipality
	Sachkhere Municipality
	Tkibuli Municipality
	Chiatura Municipality
	Tsqaltubo Municipality
	Kharagauli Municipality
	Khoni Municipality

Economy

Aside from the capital Kutaisi, significant towns and regional centres include Samtredia, Chiatura (manganese production centre), Tkibuli (coal mining centre), Zestaponi (known for metals production), Vani, Khoni, and Sachkhere. Traditionally, Imereti is an agricultural region, known for its mulberries and grapes.

Demographics

The 800,000^{[citation needed]} Imeretians speak the Imeretian dialect, one of the Northwest dialects of the Georgian language. It is itself subdivided into Upper and Lower Imeretian.^[5] They are one of the local culture-groups of the ethnically subdivided Georgian people.

Demographic history of the Imereti region[6]
	1959	1970	1979	1989	2002*	2002**	2014	2021
Imereti	651,959	718,558	739,189	772,251	699,410	632,126	533,906	481,473
City of Kutaisi	128,203	162,787	194,297	234,870	185,965	-	147,635	134,378
Baghdati Municipality	29,560	30,973	30,056	29,053	29,235	-	21,582	18,363
Chiatura Municipality	64,562	72,059	69,582	68,501	56,341	-	39,884	38,231
Kharagauli Municipality	36,486	35,591	31,948	28,702	27,885	-	19,473	18,571
Khoni Municipality	32,548	32,718	37,968	34,979	31,749	-	23,570	21,123
Sachkhere Municipality***	38,202	45,552	44,859	44,968	46,590	-	37,775	34,848
Samtredia Municipality	62,556	67,141	65,400	64,504	60,456	-	48,562	43,448
Terjola Municipality	43,847	46,438	44,709	44,019	45,496	-	35,563	31,427
Tkibuli Municipality	44,411	42,733	39,451	36,686	31,132	-	20,839	17,898
Tsqaltubo Municipality	62,389	67,086	69,738	75,061	73,889	-	56,883	46,803
Vani Municipality	40,999	41,505	38,346	35,369	34,464	-	24,512	21,241
Zestaponi Municipality	68,196	73,975	72,835	75,539	76,208	-	57,628	55,142
* Research after 2014 census showed the 2002 census was inflated by 8-9 percent.[7] **Corrected data based on retro-projection 1994–2014 in collaboration with UN[8] *** Part of Sachkhere is outside Georgian government authority and has not been counted since 2002.

History

Bagrati Cathedral in Kutaisi

In ancient times, the region was a part of the Kingdom of Colchis, until it was conquered by the Kingdom of Pontus. After the Third Mithridatic War, Colchis was under loose Roman control, and unsuccessfully revolted in 69 AD under Anicetus.^[9] After the collapse of Colchis, the kingdom of Lazica was established in 131 AD as a Roman vassal. Tzath I was the first Christian king of Lazica,^[10] being baptized in Constantinople in 523 AD, and fighting alongside Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I in the Iberian War.^[11] In 541 AD, the region became the theatre of the Lazic War between Justinian I and Sasanian Persian emperor Khosrow I.^[12]

Between 750 and 985, Imereti was ruled by a dynasty of native princes, but was devastated by hostile incursions, reviving only after it became united to Georgia.^[12] After the Mongol invasions of Georgia, Imereti was intermittently part of the independent Kingdom of Western Georgia, until being reunited in 1415 as the Duchy of Samokalako under the united Georgian Kingdom.^[13] Since that kingdom's disintegration in the 15th century, Imereti was an independent kingdom from 1466 onwards.^[14]

In the 17th–18th centuries, the kingdom of Imereti experienced frequent invasions by the Turks and paid patronage to the Ottoman Empire until 1810, when it was invaded and annexed by the Russian Empire. The last King of Imereti was Solomon II (1789–1810).

From 1918 to 1921, Imereti was part of the independent Democratic Republic of Georgia. Within the USSR, the region was part of the Transcaucasian SFSR from 1922 to 1936, and part of the Georgian SSR from 1936 to 1991. Since Georgian independence in 1991, Imereti has been a region of Georgia with Kutaisi as the regional capital.

See also

• Kingdom of Imereti
• Administrative divisions of Georgia (country)

Notes

1. South Ossetia's status is disputed. It considers itself to be an independent state, but this is recognised by only a few other countries. The Georgian government and most of the world's other states consider South Ossetia de jure a part of Georgia's territory.
2. South Ossetia's status is disputed. It considers itself to be an independent state, but this is recognised by only a few other countries. The Georgian government and most of the world's other states consider South Ossetia de jure a part of Georgia's territory.
3. Nominal area 6,680 km², de facto controlled by Georgia 6,415 km².