Georgia Geography - 2024

Location

Southwestern Asia, bordering the Black Sea, between Turkey and Russia, with a sliver of land north of the Caucasus extending into Europe; note - Georgia views itself as part of Europe; geopolitically, it can be classified as falling within Europe, the Middle East, or both

Geographic coordinates

42 00 N, 43 30 E

Map references

Asia

Area

total: 69,700 sq km

land: 69,700 sq km

water: 0 sq km

note: approximately 12,560 sq km, or about 18% of Georgia's area, is Russian occupied; the seized area includes all of Abkhazia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which consists of the northern part of Shida Kartli, eastern slivers of the Imereti region and Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, and part of western Mtskheta-Mtianeti

Area - comparative

slightly smaller than South Carolina; slightly larger than West Virginia

Area comparison map:

Land boundaries

total: 1,814 km

border countries (4): Armenia 219 km; Azerbaijan 428 km; Russia 894 km; Turkey 273 km

Coastline

310 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

Climate

warm and pleasant; Mediterranean-like on Black Sea coast

Terrain

largely mountainous with Great Caucasus Mountains in the north and Lesser Caucasus Mountains in the south; Kolkhet'is Dablobi (Kolkhida Lowland) opens to the Black Sea in the west; Mtkvari River Basin in the east; fertile soils in river valley flood plains and foothills of Kolkhida Lowland

Elevation

highest point: Mt'a Shkhara 5,193 m

lowest point: Black Sea 0 m

mean elevation: 1,432 m

Natural resources

timber, hydropower, manganese deposits, iron ore, copper, minor coal and oil deposits; coastal climate and soils allow for important tea and citrus growth

Land use

agricultural land: 35.5% (2018 est.)

arable land: 5.8% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.8% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 27.9% (2018 est.)

forest: 39.4% (2018 est.)

other: 25.1% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

4,330 sq km (2012)

Population distribution

settlement concentrated in the central valley, particularly in the capital city of Tbilisi in the east; smaller urban agglomerations dot the Black Sea coast, with Bat'umi being the largest

Natural hazards

earthquakes

Geography - note

note 1: strategically located east of the Black Sea; Georgia controls much of the Caucasus Mountains and the routes through them

note 2: the world's four deepest caves are all in Georgia, including two that are the only known caves on earth deeper than 2,000 m: Krubera Cave at -2,197 m (-7,208 ft; reached in 2012) and Veryovkina Cave at -2,212 (-7,257 ft; reached in 2018)