Abkhazia

Abkhazia , autonomous republic (1990 est. pop. 539,000), 3,300 sq mi (8,547 sq km), in Georgia, between the Black Sea and the Greater Caucasus. Sukhumi (the capital) and Gagra are the chief cities. Despite some perpetually snowcapped peaks, the region is mainly one of subtropical agriculture. Tobacco is the leading crop; there are also tea and citrus plantations, vineyards, and fruit orchards. Industries include sawmilling, canning, metalworking, and the manufacture of leather goods. Abkhazia is famous for its health resorts. The population is made up of Abkhazians (an Orthodox Christian and Muslim people of the North Caucasian linguistic family), Georgians, Russians, and Armenians.

Originally colonized in the 6th cent. BC by the Greeks, the region later came under Roman and Byzantine rule. In the 8th cent. a leader of the Abkhaz tribe formed an independent kingdom that became part of Georgia in the 10th cent. In 1578 the Turks conquered the area and gradually converted it to Islam. By a treaty with the Abkhazian dukes, Russia acquired Sukhumi in 1810 and declared a protectorate over all Abkhazia, which was formally annexed in 1864.

Abkhazia became an autonomous republic of the Soviet Union in 1921 and was made part of Georgia in 1930. In 1991 the region became an autonomous republic inside independent Georgia. Georgia itself was soon torn apart by bitter fighting between government forces and a guerrilla movement seeking an independent Abkhazian state. More than 3,000 people were killed in the fighting, and some 250,000 people, mostly ethnic Georgians, fled. In 1994 a cease-fire was negotiated, with Russian troops serving as peacekeepers, but the ultimate disposition of Abkhazia remained unresolved and fighting broke out again in 1998 and in 2001. In a 1999 referendum regarded as illegal by Georgia, voters approved declaring the region a sovereign state. The area is heavily dependent on Russia, and most of the residents now hold Russian passports.

After a presidential election in Oct., 2004, that apparently ended in a slim victory for opposition candidate Sergei Bagapsh, allegations of fraud from the Russian-supported runner-up, Prime Minister Raul Khajimba, resulted in a call for a new election, and a governmental impasse ensued. The issue was resolved when Bagapsh, who was widely believed to have won despite fraud on Khajimba's side, agreed to a new election (Jan., 2005) in which Khajimba was his running mate. Russia's failed attempt to manipulate a presidential victory for Khajimba, despite Bagapsh's own pro-Moscow leanings, was generally seen as a significant blunder.

In the aftermath of Georgia's attack on South Ossetia in Aug., 2008, and Russia's counterattack, Russia positioned additional troops in Abkhazia and for a time occupied some neighboring sections of Georgia. Abkhazian forces also seized the Kodori gorge, a region of Abkhazia that had remained under Georgian control, and subsequently Russia recognized Abkhazia as independent.

Abkhazia A Caucasian territory which was part of the Soviet Union as an Autonomous Soviet Republic within Georgia. In April 1991 it became part of the independent Republic of Georgia, against the will of the Muslim Abkhazian population (17.8 per cent of the total population) and its Russian minority (14.3 per cent). Helped by a contingent of Muslim volunteers from neighbouring autonomous Russian republics such as Chechnya, the rebels managed to repel the Georgian troops, weakened already by civil war. Georgia had to concede defeat, and negotiations focused on extensive autonomy for a territory over which Georgia had lost all control. Negotiations between the Abkhazian government and Georgia proved futile, and a fragile peace was supervised at the border by UN observers and Russian troops.

CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) An international organization founded in 1991 to create a framework for regular consultation among the successor states of the Soviet Union. It was joined by twelve member states (excluding the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), though its 1993 charter for a common economic and foreign policy was not signed by three of them (Ukraine, Moldova, Turkmenistan). Chaired by the Russian President, Yeltsin, and his successor, Putin, the CIS was weakened by the frailty of the members' economic and political systems, as well as intense mistrust of Russia's overwhelming predominance in size and population. It was further weakened by Russia's own geopolitical interests, which in Georgia or Moldova was directed towards the destabilization of fellow CIS members.

Abkhazia