The Georgia–Russia border is the state border between Georgia and Russia. It is de jure 894 km (556 mi) 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 (and later four other states) recognised the independence of two self-declared republics within Georgia (Abkhazia and South Ossetia), 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.
Description
Georgia-Russia border (western section)
The border starts in the west at the point where the Psou river enters the Black Sea, just west of the town of the Leselidze. It then follows the Psou as it flows north and then east to the vicinity of Mount Agepsta, whereupon it then follows the crest of the Caucasus Mountains broadly south-eastwards over to the mount Zekara. Mount Dombay-Ulgen, Shota Rustaveli Peak, Mount Janga, Mount Lalveri, and Mount Khalatsa are prominent peaks of this section.
Georgia-Russia border (eastern section) The eastern section of the Georgia–Russia border starts at the mount Zekara and continues eastwards along the Caucasus Mountains to the tripoint with Azerbaijan. Mount Diklosmta, Mount Kazbek, Mount Dzhimara, Mount Shani, Mount Shkhara and Mount Tebulosmta are notable peaks of this section.
History
During the 19th the Caucasus region was contested between the declining Ottoman Empire, Persia and Russia, which was expanding southwards. Russia formally annexed the eastern Georgian Kingdom of Kartli and Kakheti in 1801, followed by the western Georgian Kingdom of Imereti in 1804, following the Russian treaty with North Ossetia and the construction of Vladikavkaz as a base in 1784. Construction of the Georgian Military Road was begun in 1799, following the Treaty of Georgievsk. Over the course of the 1800s Russia continued to push its frontier southwards, at the expense of the Persian and Ottoman Empires.
The Georgian territories were initially organised into the Georgia Governorate, then later split off as the Georgia-Imeretia Governorate from 1840 to 1846, and finally divided into the governorates of Tiflis and Kutaisi. The northern border of these territories roughly corresponds with the modern Georgia–Russia border i.e. running along the Caucasus Mountain range. Abkhazia was formed as semi-autonomous region in 1810, with a border with Georgia set along the river Ghalizga. In 1864 Abkhazia was re-designated as the 'Sukhum Military District' (from 1883 Sukhum Okrug, within Kutaisi Governorate), incorporating the Samurzakano region west of the Ingur river which had hitherto been part of Kutais governorate and generally considered historical Georgian land. However the western border of Abkhazia was set at the Begepsta river, with lands west of this attached to the Chermorskii okrug in modern Krasnodar Krai. Over the following decades the ethnic makeup of Abkhazia changed due to influxes of Georgian and Russian settlers.
In 1904 the western Abkhaz border was changed, with the area west and north of the Bzyb River removed and merged into Chernmorski okrug, apparently so as to include a new luxury holiday resort at Gagra built by Duke Alexander of Oldenburg within Russia. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, the peoples of the southern Caucasus had seceded from Russia, declared the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR) in 1918 and started peace talks with the Ottomans. Meanwhile, Sukhum Okrug had declared itself semi-autonomous on 9 November 1917 under the Abkhazian Peoples Council (APC). At the instigation of the Georgian politician Akaki Chkhenkeli, the 1904 boundary change of western Abkhazia was reversed in December 1917 and the old Begepsta river border restored. In early 1918 the APC met with Georgian leaders, and the two sides made an initial agreement that Abkhazia would constitute Sukhum okrug, including Samurzakano (despite its Mingrelian majority), and stretching along the Black Sea coast as far at the river Mzymta. The Bolsheviks invaded Abkhazia in April 1918 but were repulsed the following month.