View source for Guria

{{Short description|Region (mkhare) of Georgia}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = Guria
| native_name        = გურია
| other_name         = 
| settlement_type    = [[Mkhare|Mkhare (region)]]
| image_skyline      = <!-- images and maps  -----------> {{multiple image
| border                   = infobox
| perrow            = 1/2/2/2/2
| total_width       = 250
| image1 = Guria, Region in Georgia.jpg
| image2 = Bakhmaro2019maystil.jpg
| image3 = Shemokmedi monastery, Guria, Georgia-5.jpg
| image4 = Kolkheti National Park.jpg
| image5 = ბახვისწყალი2020.jpg
| footer = From the top to bottom-right: Landscape of Guria, [[Bakhmaro]], [[Shemokmedi Monastery]], [[Kolkheti National Park]], [[Bakhvistsqali|Bakhvistsqali River]]}}
| imagesize          = 
| image_alt          = 
| image_map          = Guria in Georgia.svg
| mapsize            = 
| map_alt            = 
| image_map1         = 
| mapsize1           = 
| map_alt1           = 
| map_caption1       = 
| coordinates        = 
| coordinates_footnotes = 
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = {{flag|Georgia}}
| subdivision_type1  = 
| subdivision_name1  = 
| seat_type          = Main City
| seat               = [[Ozurgeti]]
| parts_type         = Municipalities
| parts_style        = para
| parts              = 
| p1                 = 3
| leader_party       = 
| leader_title       = Governor
| leader_name        = [[Zurab Nasaraia]]
| area_total_km2     = 2033
| population_total   = 104338
| population_as_of   = 2023
| population_density_km2 = auto
| iso_code           = GE-GU
| unemployment_rate  = 
| blank_name_sec1    = [[Human Development Index|HDI]] (2021)
| blank_info_sec1    = 0.759<ref name="GlobalDataLab">{{Cite web|url=https://hdi.globaldatalab.org/areadata/shdi/|title=Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab|website=hdi.globaldatalab.org|language=en|access-date=2018-09-13}}</ref><br />{{color|#0c0|high}} · [[List of Georgian regions by Human Development Index|2nd]]
| demographics_type1 = Gross Regional Product
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref>{{Cite web|title=Regional Gross Domestic Product|url=https://www.geostat.ge/media/59471/Regional-Gross-Domestic-Product%2C--2022.pdf}}</ref>
| demographics1_title1 = Total
| demographics1_info1 = [[Georgian lari|₾]] 1.04 billion (2022)
| demographics1_title2 = Per Capita
| demographics1_info2 = [[Georgian lari|₾]] 9,934 (2022)
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://geostat.ge/media/61960/1-3-population-by-cities-and-boroughs.xlsx |title=Population by regions |publisher=National Statistics Office of Georgia |access-date=27 April 2024 }}</ref>
}}
'''Guria''' ({{lang-ka|გურია}}) is a region (''[[mkhare]]'') in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the [[Black Sea]]. The region has a population of 104,338 (2023),<ref>[http://www.geohive.com/cntry/georgia_ext.aspx Population of Georgia] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328031816/http://geohive.com/cntry/georgia_ext.aspx |date=2016-03-28 }}</ref> with [[Ozurgeti]] as the regional capital.

==Geography==
{{see also|Odishi-Guria plain}}
Guria is bordered by [[Samegrelo]] to the north-west, [[Imereti]] to the north, [[Samtskhe-Javakheti]] to the east, [[Ajaria]] to the south, and the [[Black Sea]] to the west. The province has an area of {{cvt|2,033|km2}}.

Guria is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and longitude.

==Administrative divisions==
[[File:Georgia Guria relief location map.svg|thumb|Relief map of Guria]]
[[File:GR-ka.svg|thumb|Subdivision of Guria]]
Guria is divided into 4 entities (3 municipalities and 1 city), including:

* [[Ozurgeti|City of Ozurgeti]]
* [[Ozurgeti Municipality]]
* [[Lanchkhuti Municipality]]
* [[Chokhatauri Municipality]]

==History==
[[Image:Banner of Guria.svg|thumb|left|100px|Coat of arms of the Principality of Guria]]
The territory that is now Guria was part of the kingdom of [[Colchis]], best known in the West for the tale of the [[Golden Fleece]]. Following the collapse of the Colchian Kingdom it became part of the Kingdom of [[Lazica]] in the first century BC.<ref>{{cite web |title=Guria |url=https://georgiantravelguide.com/en/guria |website=Georgian Travel Guide |access-date=Aug 18, 2021}}</ref> In antiquity the area was a significant source of iron, as early as the fifth century BC, and also copper and gold.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last1=Sekunda |editor-first1=Nicholas |editor-link=Nicholas Sekunda |title=Wonders Lost and Found: A Celebration of the Archaeological Work of Professor Michael Vickers |date=2020 |publisher=Archaeopress Publishing Limited |isbn=978-0-8061-3000-2 |pages=18–32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M_MPEAAAQBAJ |access-date=Aug 18, 2021}}</ref>

The toponym "Guria" is first attested in the c. 800 Georgian chronicle of [[Pseudo-Juansher]].<ref name="Rapp">Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies In Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', p. 427. Peeters Bvba, {{ISBN|90-429-1318-5}}.</ref>

[[File:Historical Guria in modern international borders of Georgia.svg|thumb|Historical Guria in modern international borders of Georgia]]

Guria first appears c. 1352 as a fief of the house of [[House of Vardanisdze|Vardanidze]]-[[Dadiani]]; and after 1463 it became a sovereign principality independent of the [[Kingdom of Georgia]] under a branch of that house, known thereafter by the name of [[Gurieli]]. The principality, comprising modern Guria and much of [[Adjara]] with the city of [[Batumi]], was subsequently reduced in size and devastated in a series of conflicts with the [[Ottoman Empire]]. A [[Russian Empire|Russian]] protectorate was established by the treaty concluded on June 19, 1810 between [[Mamia V Gurieli]] and the empire, and in 1829, during the regency for the last prince, the Gurieli [[David Gurieli|David]], the principality was annexed by Russia.<ref>[[Walter Yust|Yust, Walter]] (ed., 1952), ''The [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] - A new survey of universal knowledge''. Volume 14, p. 6.</ref>

There were uprisings against Russian rule in 1819 and again [[1841 rebellion in Guria|in 1841]]. In 1840, Guria was made a county (''[[uyezd]]'') and renamed Ozurgeti, after one of its main towns. In 1846, it was transferred to the new [[Kutais Governorate]]. By 1904, the population was just under 100,000, occupying an area of approximately {{convert|532000|acre|km2}} of mountains and swampy valleys, covered by corn fields, vineyards, and some tea plantations. It was the most ethnically homogenous of Georgian areas, with the peasantry and lesser rural nobility making up almost the entire population, with a high level of literacy and a relatively high degree of economic self-satisfaction. The peasant protest movement, which originated in 1902 and culminated in an open insurrection against the government during the [[Russian Revolution of 1905]], was the most effective and organized peasant movement in the empire. The peasants’ self-government, the so-called [[Gurian Republic]], survived into 1906, when it was crushed and Guria devastated by the [[Cossack]] [[punitive expedition]].<ref>[[Stephen F. Jones]] (2005), ''Socialism in Georgian Colors: The European Road to Social Democracy, 1883-1917'', pp. 131-2. [[Harvard University Press]], {{ISBN|0-674-01902-4}}.</ref> The region was a native powerbase of the [[Georgian Social Democratic (Menshevik) Party]] which dominated the [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]] from 1918 to 1921. Guria was a scene of guerrilla resistance to the [[Red Army invasion of Georgia|militarily imposed]] [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] rule early in the 1920s. Under the Soviet government, Guria was an agrarian area divided into three administrative districts. In 1995, the Georgian government decreed the creation of the region (''[[mkhare]]'') of Guria, restoring the province's historical name to official usage.

The [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox churches]] of [[Likhauri]] and [[Shemokmedi Monastery|Shemokmedi]] are the main historical buildings in the province.

==Etymology==
[[File:Gomismta and the Lesser Caucasus mountains.jpg|thumb|Gomismta and the Lesser Caucasus mountains (Guria region)]]
{{blockquote|Some say that the root of the word [Guria] refers to restlessness and the word should mean “the land of the restless” and is associated with events during the eighth and ninth centuries when “[[Leon II of Abkhazia|Leon]] became the King of [[Kingdom of Abkhazia|Abkhazeti]]. Guruls (governor of Guria) refused to obey the ruler of [[Odzrkhe|Odzrakho]], ceased their vassal relations with Adarnase and [[Ashot I the Great|Ashot Bagrationi]] and united with Leon” as it was described in [[Vakhushti Bagrationi]]’s historical works of the eighteenth century.<ref name="GJ">{{cite journal |last1=Dumbadze |first1=Bedisa |title=Georgia's Guria Region - "The land of the restless" |journal=Georgian Journal |date=24 Aug 2017 |url=https://georgianjournal.ge/discover-georgia/33732-georgias-guria-region-the-land-of-the-restless.html |access-date=Aug 18, 2021}}</ref>}}

{{blockquote|According to a later explanation, in the times of Georgia’s prosperity, when its borders stretched from "[[Nicopsis|Nikopsia]] to [[Derbent|Daruband]]", Guria was situated in the heart of the Georgian territory.<ref name=GJ />}} The linguistic evidence for the above hypothesis is the [[Megrelian]] word for “heart” – “guri” (Georgian: “guli”).

==Economy==
Subtropic farming and tourism are a mainstay of the region's economy. Water is one of Guria's main assets. The province is famous for the mineral water of [[Nabeglavi]], which is similar to [[Borjomi]] in its chemical composition, and the [[Black Sea]] health resort of [[Ureki]], which is rich in magnetic sand. Guria is also one of the largest [[tea]] growing regions in Georgia.

==Demographics==
===Ethnic and religious groups===
According to the 2014 census, Guria has a population of 113.350 inhabitants, which accounts for 3.1% of the total population of [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]. 98% of the population is ethnic [[Georgians|Georgian]] (mostly native ''Gurians''), 1% is ethnic [[Armenians|Armenian]] and the remaining 1% is composed of [[Russians]] and [[Ukrainians]] and the majority of the population is [[Georgian Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christians]] (87%), followed by [[Islam in Georgia (country)|Islam]] (11%).

===Gurians===
[[File:Gor-ai-itz Christian mountainier. George Kennan. 1870-1886.jpg|thumb|A Gurian man.]]
The '''Gurians''' or '''Gurulebi''' ([[Georgian language|Georgian]]: გურულები) is one of the ethnographical groups of Georgians, inhabiting Guria. Gurians are Orthodox Christian and speak the [[Georgian dialects|Gurian dialect]] of the [[Georgian language]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia123.com/G/Gurians.html|title=Gurians, a historical people of West Caucasia, whose}}</ref>

==Politics==
===Administration===
The administration centre is [[Ozurgeti]].
There are 194 populated areas, including:
* City: 2 ([[Ozurgeti]], [[Lanchkhuti]])
* Daba: 7 ([[Chokhatauri]], [[Bakhmaro]], [[Gomismta]], [[Ureki]], [[Naruja]], [[Laituri]], [[Kveda Nasakirali]])
* Villages: 185

===Governors===
To date, the following politicians have held the office of Governor of Guria:

* 1995-1997 - Mikheil Chkuaseli
* 1997-1998 - Oleg Nikoleishvili
* 1998–2003 - Carlo Gujabidze
* 2003-2004 - Vakhtang Goliadze
* 2004-2005 - Bezhan Kalandadze
* 2005-2006 - Aleko Tsintsadze
* 2006-2008 - Mikheil Svimonishvili
* 2008-2008 - [[Ramaz Nikolaishvili]]
* 2008–2013 - Valeri Chitaishvili
* 2013–2014 - Giorgi Chkhaidze
* 2015-2017 - Gia Salukvadze
* 2017-2018 - [[Merab Chanukvadze]]
* 2018–2021 - [[Zurab Nasaraia]]
* 2021–2021 - [[Giorgi Sakhokia]]
* 2021–2025 - [[Giorgi Urushadze]]
* 2025–Present - [[Giorgi Ghurjumelidze]]

==Notable people==
* [[Ekvtime Takaishvili]] (1862–1953), historian
* [[Noe Zhordania]] (1868–1953), Prime Minister of the [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]] from 1918 to 1921.
* [[Pavle Ingorokva]] (1893–1983), historian, philologist, and public benefactor
* [[Boris Paichadze]] (1915–1990), football player
* [[Eduard Shevardnadze]] (1928–2014), [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]'s former president
* [[Nodar Dumbadze]] (1928–1984), writer

==See also==
* [[Subdivisions of Georgia]]

==References==
{{Sister project links|auto=y}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Administrative divisions of Georgia}}
{{Georgian historical regions}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Guria| ]]
[[Category:Regions of Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Historical regions of Georgia (country)]]