Georgia

An ancient Christian kingdom in the Caucasus, with its own alphabet and two breakaway regions it does not control. Georgia adopted Christianity in the fourth century, among the first states anywhere to do so, and writes in a script unrelated to any other in use. Its golden age under David IV and Queen Tamar in the eleventh and twelfth centuries ended with the Mongols, and the country was afterwards fought over by Ottomans and Persians until it accepted Russian protection in 1783 and was annexed outright in 1801. A brief independent republic from 1918 was invaded by the Red Army in 1921. Stalin and Beria were both Georgians, which did not spare the country from the purges. Independence in 1991 was immediately followed by civil war and by fighting in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both of which broke away with Russian backing and expelled most of their Georgian populations. The Rose Revolution of 2003 brought reformers who cut corruption sharply; a short war with Russia in 2008 ended with Moscow recognising both breakaway regions as states. Around a fifth of the country's territory is outside its control. Wine has been made there for eight thousand years, the oldest evidence anywhere. Tbilisi sits on the old Silk Road. Tbilisi is the capital. The Georgian alphabet has three historical scripts, all recognised by Unesco. The Caucasus range along its northern border holds peaks above five thousand metres. Supra, the formal banquet with its toastmaster, is a central social institution. Georgian polyphonic singing predates the harmony conventions of western Europe and is recognised by Unesco.

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