Azeris in Georgia
Encyclopedia
According to the 2002 census, there are 284,761 ethnic Azeris living in Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

. They comprise 6.5% of Georgia's population (being its largest ethnic minority), inhabiting mostly rural parts of the country, mostly in Kvemo Kartli
Kvemo Kartli
Kvemo Kartli is a historic province and current administrative region in southeastern Georgia. The city of Rustavi is a regional capital. The population is mixed between Azeris and Georgians .The current governor is Davit Kirkitadze.- External links :* *...

, Kakheti
Kakheti
Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...

, Shida Kartli
Shida Kartli
Shida Kartli is a region in Georgia. It consists of the following districts: Gori, Kaspi, Kareli, Java, Khashuri.The northern part of the region, namely Java, and northern territories of Kareli and Gori, is controlled by the authorities of the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia since...

 and Mtskheta-Mtianeti
Mtskheta-Mtianeti
Mtskheta-Mtianeti is a region in eastern Georgia comprising the town of Mtskheta, which serves as a regional capital, together with its district and the adjoining mountainous areas.- External links :...

. There is a large Azeri community in the capital city of Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

 and smaller communities in other regions.
There were some tensions in late 1980s in the Azeri-populated regions of Georgia, however they never escalated to armed clashes. Since Georgia regained its independence
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....

 in 1991, many Azeris along with other minorities have faced a problem of social disintegration
Social disintegration
Social disintegration is the tendency for society to decline or disintegrate over time, perhaps due to the lapse or breakdown of traditional social support systems. In this context, "society" refers to the social order which maintains a society, rather than the political order that defines its...

 and underrepresentation in country's legislative, executive and judicial powers. Unlike urban Azeris of Tbilisi and Rustavi
Rustavi
Rustavi is a city in the southeast of Georgia, in the province of Kvemo Kartli, situated southeast of the capital Tbilisi. It stands on the Mtkvari River at...

, rural Azeri population for the most part lacks knowledge of the official language
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...

 - Georgian
Georgian language
Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...

, which makes it harder for them to participate in many social areas. A majority of Azeris in Georgia choose to pursue secondary education in their native tongue. Graduates willing to be admitted to post-secondary institutions hence tend to leave for other countries, mainly Azerbaijan, where post-secondary education is available in either Azeri
Azerbaijani language
Azerbaijani or Azeri or Torki is a language belonging to the Turkic language family, spoken in southwestern Asia by the Azerbaijani people, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran...

 or Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

. Such isolation is furthered by the fact that many rural Azeris prefer to read newspapers published in Azeri and set up satellite dishes in order to be able to watch channels of neighbouring Azerbaijan, or establish their own community TV channels (such as Ellada TV, which functioned in Gardabani
Gardabani
Gardabani is a town in the Georgian region of Kvemo Kartli, and the centre of the Garbabani district, located 39 km south of Georgia's capital Tbilisi.As of 2002, its population was 19,900 people. The town is roughly 70% Azeri-populated...

 in 1995-99).

Azeris are currently represented in the 235-seat Parliament of Georgia
Parliament of Georgia
Parliament of Georgia is the supreme legislature of Georgia. It is unicameral and has 150 members, known as deputies, from which 75 members are proportional representatives and 75 are elected through single-member district plurality system, representing their constituencies...

 by three deputies. Being the biggest inhibitory factor, language barrier remains a major issue among Georgia's Azeri population. The government has launched various programs and projects in order to help Azeris integrate into the political life of the country.

History

Georgia's Azeri population traces its roots to the events following the Seldjuk invasion in the second half of the eleventh century, when Oghuz
Oghuz Turks
The Turkomen also known as Oghuz Turks were a historical Turkic tribal confederation in Central Asia during the early medieval Turkic expansion....

 tribes settled in southern Georgia. To oppose being subjected to the Seldjuk Empire, Georgians allied with the Cumans
Cumans
The Cumans were Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. After Mongol invasion , they decided to seek asylum in Hungary, and subsequently to Bulgaria...

 (a group of Kipchak tribes to the north of the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

) thus allowing for more Turkic migration into the region. Constant influx of Turkic tribes continued until the late Middle Ages. Their further consolidation led to the formation of the Azeri community. The area populated by ethnic Azeris today is historically known as Borchali (which in the form Burjoglu was originally the name of a Kipchak tribe that settled here in the twelfth century).

The city of Tiflis is known as one of the important centres for Azeris' cultural development. Molla Vali Vidadi
Molla Vali Vidadi
Molla Vali Vidadi was an Azerbaijani poet.Little is known about Vidadi. He spent most of his life in his native town of Shamkir where he taught at a religious school he had established himself. According to some sources, Vidadi spent some years in Tiflis, Georgia, where we served as a court poet...

, an Azeri poet from the eighteenth century, was known as King Erekle II
Erekle II
Erekle II was a Georgian monarch of the Bagrationi Dynasty, reigning as the king of Kakheti from 1744 to 1762, and of Kartli and Kakheti from 1762 until 1798. In the contemporary Persian sources he is referred to as Erekli Khan, while Russians knew him as Irakli...

's court poet at some point. Mirza Fatali Akhundov
Mirza Fatali Akhundov
Mirza Fatali Akhundov , former – Akhundzade , was a celebrated Azerbaijani author, playwright, philosopher, and founder of modern literary criticism, "who acquired fame primarily as the writer of European-inspired plays in the Azeri language"...

, the Azerbaijani enlightened reformist, novelist and dramatist, the pioneer of the theatrical performance in the East, lived and contributed to literature in Tiflis in the mid-nineteenth century, along with his Ganja
Ganja, Azerbaijan
Ganja is Azerbaijan's second-largest city with a population of around 313,300. It was named Yelizavetpol in the Russian Empire period. The city regained its original name—Ganja—from 1920–1935 during the first part of its incorporation into the Soviet Union. However, its name was changed again and...

-native teacher Mirza Shafi Vazeh
Mirza Shafi Vazeh
Mirza-Shafi Vazeh , also known as the "sage from Ganja", was a classical bilingual poet of Azerbaijani poet and Persian language who continued the classical traditions of Azerbaijani poetry from the 14th century. His verses were translated into nearly all European languages.-Early life:Mirza Shafi...

. The famous Azeri satirical magazine Molla Nasraddin
Molla Nasraddin (magazine)
Molla Nasraddin was an eight-page Azerbaijani satirical periodical published in Tiflis , Tabriz and Baku in the Azeri and occasionally Russian languages...

edited by Jalil Mammadguluzadeh
Jalil Mammadguluzadeh
Jalil Huseyngulu oglu Mammadguluzadeh was an Azerbaijani satirist and writer.-Life:Mammadguluzadeh was born in Nakhchivan into an Iranian Azeri merchant family from Khoy...

 was being published in Tiflis in 1906–1917. Azeri newspapers from earlier periods (such as Ziya, Keshkul and Sharg-i rus in the nineteenth and early twentieth century) were also printed in the publishing houses of Tiflis. The Transcaucasian Teachers Seminary
Transcaucasian Teachers Seminary
The Transcaucasian Teachers Seminary in Gori was a 4-year specialized secondary school in the Russian Empire in 1876–1917 aimed at professional training of primary school teachers.-History:...

 which trained professional teachers for secular primary Azeri schools was located in Gori
Gori, Georgia
Gori is a city in eastern Georgia, which serves as the regional capital of Shida Kartli and the centre of the homonymous administrative district. The name is from Georgian gora , that is, "heap", or "hill"...

. Folk singer Bulbuljan among others spent 30 years of his life living and performing in Tiflis. Tiflis was also the hometown and academic locale to some of the most prominent Azerbaijani singers such as Rashid Behbudov
Rashid Behbudov
Rashid Behbudov was an Azerbaijani singer and actor. He sang in Azerbaijani, Russian, Persian, Turkish, Hindi, Armenian, Urdu and Bengali among other languages....

 and Shovkat Mammadova
Shovkat Mammadova
Shovkat Hasan qizi Mammadova was an Azerbaijani opera singer and music instructor.-Early life and musical career:...

 (the first Azeri female opera singer, 1897–1981), as well as to the first professional Azeri female painter Geysar Kashiyeva
Geysar Kashiyeva
Geysar Seyfulla qizi Kashiyeva was an Azerbaijani painter. She is considered the first professional female painter in Azerbaijani history.-Life and contributions:...

 (1893–1972), and the first Azeri female pianist Khadija Gayibova
Khadija Gayibova
Khadija Osman bey qizi Gayibova was an Azerbaijani female pianist. She was born in the city of Tiflis and was trained in piano playing while studying at the St. Nina Gymnasium for Girls between 1901 and 1911. She became well known for the performance of mughams on piano...

 (1883–1938).

Distribution

Only regions with 1,000 or more Azeris are listed below. The information is based on official figures from the 2002 population census.
Region Region's Azeri Population % of Region's Entire Population
Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

 (capital)
10,942 1.0
Kvemo Kartli
Kvemo Kartli
Kvemo Kartli is a historic province and current administrative region in southeastern Georgia. The city of Rustavi is a regional capital. The population is mixed between Azeris and Georgians .The current governor is Davit Kirkitadze.- External links :* *...

224,606 45.1
Marneuli
Marneuli
Marneuli is a small city in the Kvemo Kartli region of southern Georgia and administrative center of Marneuli District that borders neighboring Azerbaijan and Armenia.-Population:...

 
98,245 83.1
Gardabani
Gardabani
Gardabani is a town in the Georgian region of Kvemo Kartli, and the centre of the Garbabani district, located 39 km south of Georgia's capital Tbilisi.As of 2002, its population was 19,900 people. The town is roughly 70% Azeri-populated...

 
49,993 43.7
Bolnisi
Bolnisi
Bolnisi , is a city in the country of Georgia, located in the Kvemo Kartli region and capital of the Bolnisi district. Currently has an estimated 13,800 inhabitants....

 
49,206 66.0
Dmanisi
Dmanisi
Dmanisi is a townlet and archaeological site in Kvemo Kartli region of Georgia approximately 93 km southwest of the nation’s capital Tbilisi in the river valley of Mashavera.- History :...

 
18,714 66.8
Rustavi City
Rustavi
Rustavi is a city in the southeast of Georgia, in the province of Kvemo Kartli, situated southeast of the capital Tbilisi. It stands on the Mtkvari River at...

 
4,993 4.3
Tsalka
Tsalka
- Population :The district had a population of 22,000. According to the 2002 census 55% of its population is Armenian, 22% Greek, 12% Georgian, and 9.5% Azerbaijanis...

 
1,992 9.5
Tetritsq'aro
Tetritsq'aro
Tetri Tsqaro is a town in Kvemo Kartli in southern Georgia, the name of which translates as "White Spring".- See also :*Gudarekhi...

 
1,641 6.5
Kakheti
Kakheti
Kakheti is a historical province in Eastern Georgia inhabited by Kakhetians who speak a local dialect of Georgian. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and the Greater Caucasus mountain range to the north, Russian Federation to the Northeast, Azerbaijan to the Southeast, and...

40,036 9.8
Sagarejo
Sagarejo
Sagarejo is a town in Kakheti, Georgia. It is situated east of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, and has the population of 12,600 . It serves as an administrative center of the Sagarejo district....

 
18,907 31.9
Lagodekhi
Lagodekhi
Lagodekhi is a small town and district in the Kakheti region of eastern Georgia. There is a border crossing there leading to Azerbaijan's Balakan Province.Lagodekhi Nature Reserve, established in 1911, is situated in this area.-External links:***...

 
11,392 22.3
Telavi
Telavi
Telavi is the main city and administrative center of Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti. Its population consists of some 21,800 inhabitants . The city is located on foot-hills of Tsiv-Gombori Range at 500-800 meters above the sea level....

 
8,378 12.4
Dedoplistsq'aro
Dedoplis Tskaro
Dedoplis Tskaro or Dedoplistsqaro is a town in Kakheti, Georgia with the population of 7,724 . The town is located in the Shiraki Lowlands, eastern Georgia, and functions as a municipality of the district of the same name....

 
1,019 3.3
Shida Kartli
Shida Kartli
Shida Kartli is a region in Georgia. It consists of the following districts: Gori, Kaspi, Kareli, Java, Khashuri.The northern part of the region, namely Java, and northern territories of Kareli and Gori, is controlled by the authorities of the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia since...

5,768 1.8
Kaspi
Kaspi
Kaspi is a town in central Georgia on the Mtkvari River. It is a center of Kaspi district, one of the four districts in Shida Kartli region. Founded in the early Middle Ages, the town turned into possession of the Amilakhvari noble family in the 15th century...

 
3,962 7.6
• Kareli  1,183 2.3
Mtskheta-Mtianeti
Mtskheta-Mtianeti
Mtskheta-Mtianeti is a region in eastern Georgia comprising the town of Mtskheta, which serves as a regional capital, together with its district and the adjoining mountainous areas.- External links :...

2,248 1.8
Mtskheta
Mtskheta
Mtskheta , one of the oldest cities of the country of Georgia , is located approximately 20 kilometers north of Tbilisi at the confluence of the Aragvi and Kura rivers. The city is now the administrative centre of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region...

 
2,236 3.4

Change in Population

The information below is based on official figures from the population censūs of 1939, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989 and 2002.
{| align="left"
|valign="top"|
{| class="wikitable"
| Year || Georgia's Azeri Population || % of Georgia's Entire Population
|-
| style="text-align:center"|1939 || style="text-align:center"|188,058 || style="text-align:center"|5.3
|-
| style="text-align:center"|1959 || style="text-align:center"|153,600 || style="text-align:center"|3.8
|-
| style="text-align:center"|1970 || style="text-align:center"|217,758 || style="text-align:center"|4.6
|-
| style="text-align:center"|1979 || style="text-align:center"|255,678 || style="text-align:center"|5.1
|-
| style="text-align:center"|1989 || style="text-align:center"|307,556 || style="text-align:center"|5.7
|-
| style="text-align:center"|2002 || style="text-align:center"|284,761 || style="text-align:center"|6.5
|}

The number of Azeris rose faster than that of most other ethnicities in Georgia during 20th century.

Famous Azeris of Georgia

  • Alimardan Topchubashev
    Alimardan Topchubashev
    Alimardan Alakbar oglu Topchubashov was a prominent Azerbaijani politician, foreign minister and speaker of the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic....

    , Minister of External Affairs of Azerbaijan in 1918, Head of the Parliament in absentia of Azerbaijan in 1918–19
  • Nariman Narimanov
    Nariman Narimanov
    Narimanov Nariman Karbalayi Najaf oglu was an Azerbaijani revolutionary, writer, publicist, politician and statesman. In 1920, Narimanov headed the Soviet government of Azerbaijan, the Provisional Military-Revolutionary Committee , replacing Mirza Davud Huseynov, then he was the Chairman of the...

    , Azerbaijani and Soviet politician and writer
  • Abdulla Shaig
    Abdulla Shaig
    Abdulla Shaig , born Abdulla Mustafa oglu Talibzadeh, was an Azerbaijani writer.-Early life and education:Shaig was born to Marneuli-native Azeri parents, Mustafa Talibzadeh and Mehri Bayramli...

    , Azerbaijani poet and writer
  • Rashid Behbudov
    Rashid Behbudov
    Rashid Behbudov was an Azerbaijani singer and actor. He sang in Azerbaijani, Russian, Persian, Turkish, Hindi, Armenian, Urdu and Bengali among other languages....

    , Azerbaijani singer and actor
  • Shovkat Mammadova
    Shovkat Mammadova
    Shovkat Hasan qizi Mammadova was an Azerbaijani opera singer and music instructor.-Early life and musical career:...

    , Azerbaijani opera singer
  • Khadija Gayibova
    Khadija Gayibova
    Khadija Osman bey qizi Gayibova was an Azerbaijani female pianist. She was born in the city of Tiflis and was trained in piano playing while studying at the St. Nina Gymnasium for Girls between 1901 and 1911. She became well known for the performance of mughams on piano...

    , Azerbaijani pianist
  • Hasan Hasanov
    Hasan Hasanov
    Hasan Hasanov Aziz oglu is an Azerbaijani politician and diplomat. He served as Azerbaijan's last communist leader, as its Prime Minister of Azerbaijan both during the Soviet rule and Azerbaijan's subsequent independence after the collapse of Soviet Union but eventually resigned.-Early...

    , Prime Minister of Azerbaijan in 1990–92, Minister of External Affairs of Azerbaijan in 1993–98
  • Dilara Aliyeva
    Dilara Aliyeva
    Dilyara Sharipova qizi Aliyeva , Ph. D., was an Azerbaijani philologist, translator and women's rights activist, and Member of Supreme Council of Azerbaijan in 1990–1991.-Life:...

    , Azerbaijani women's rights activist and scholar
  • Hamlet Isakhanli
    Hamlet Isakhanli
    Hamlet Abdulla oglu Isayev is an Azerbaijani mathematician, poet, science- and sosial science writer, living founder of Khazar University and founding president during April, 1991 - September, 2010...

    , Azerbaijani mathematician and poet, founder and President of Khazar University
    Khazar University
    Khazar University is a private university located in Baku, Azerbaijan.-Campuses:...

  • Raul Usupov
    Raul Usupov
    Raul Usupov was a politician in the nation of Georgia and deputy governor of Kvemo Kartli region....

    , Georgian politician, ex-deputy governor of Kvemo Kartli
    Kvemo Kartli
    Kvemo Kartli is a historic province and current administrative region in southeastern Georgia. The city of Rustavi is a regional capital. The population is mixed between Azeris and Georgians .The current governor is Davit Kirkitadze.- External links :* *...

  • Farid Mansurov
    Farid Mansurov
    Farid Mansurov is a former Azerbaijani wrestler who competed in the Men's Greco-Roman 66 kg at the 2004 Summer Olympics and won the gold medal....

    , Azerbaijani wrestler, 2004 Olympic gold medal winner
  • Zabit Samedov
    Zabit Samedov
    Zabit "Maugli" Samedov is an Azerbaijani kickboxer fighting out of Chinuk Gym in Minsk, Belarus.-Biography and career:...

    , Azerbaijani kickboxer

See also

  • ASAIF
  • Azeris
  • List of Azerbaijanis
  • Azerbaijan
    Azerbaijan
    Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...

  • Georgia
    Georgia (country)
    Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

  • Demographics of Georgia
    Demographics of Georgia
    The Demographics of Georgia is about the demographic features of the population of Georgia, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population....


External links

Azerbaijanis in Georgia
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