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The Mingrelians (Mingrelian: ???????, margali; : megrelebi) are a subethnic group of Georgians
Georgians

The Georgians are a nation and ethnic group originating in the Caucasus, the oldest group of the South Caucasian peoples people mainly centered in Georgia , but also living in Turkey, Russia, the United States, Iran, and other countries....
 that mostly live in Samegrelo
Samegrelo

Megrelia, Mingrelia or Samegrelo/Samargalo is a historic province in the western part of Georgia , formerly also known as Odishi....
 (Mingrelia) region of Georgia
Georgia (country)

Georgia is a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region, located at the dividing line between Europe and Asia. It is bordered by the Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Armenia to the south, and Turkey to the southwest....
. They also live in considerable numbers in Abkhazia
Abkhazia

Abkhazia is a disputed region on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. Since its declaration of independence from Georgia in 1991 during the Georgian?Abkhaz conflict, it is governed by the International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia Republic of Abkhazia....
 and Tbilisi
Tbilisi

Tbilisi , is the capital city 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 Tpilisi and it was officially known as ?????? in Russian, until 1936....
. Approximately 180,000-200,000 people of Mingrelian provenance have been expelled from Abkhazia as a result of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict
Georgian-Abkhaz conflict

The Georgian-Abkhazian conflict refers to the ethnic conflict between Georgians and Abkhazians in Abkhazia, which is presently a de facto independent partially recognized republic....
 in the early 1990s and the ensuing ethnic cleansing of Georgians
Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia

The Ethnic Cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia, also known as the Massacres of Georgians in Abkhazia ? refers to ethnic cleansing, massacres and forced mass expulsion of thousands of ethnic Georgian people living in Abkhazia during the War in Abkhazia and War in Abkhazia at the hands of Abkhaz people and their allies ....
 in this separatist region.

Most Mingrelians speak both the Mingrelian and Georgian
Georgian language

Georgian is the official language of Georgia , a country in the Caucasus .Georgian is the primary language of about 3.9 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad ....
 language which belong to the South Caucasian (Kartvelian) linguistic family
South Caucasian languages

The South Caucasian languages are spoken primarily in Georgia , with smaller groups of speakers in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia and Israel....
, but use only the Georgian alphabet
Georgian alphabet

The Georgian alphabet is the writing system currently used to write the Georgian language and other South Caucasian languages , and occasionally other languages of the Caucasus ....
.

Mingrelians are descendants of several Colchian
Colchis

In ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgia , state monarchy and region in the Western Georgia , which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgians and its subgroups....
 tribes which later came under the influence of their ethnic kin from eastern Georgia (Iberia
Caucasian Iberia

Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Ancient Greece and Roman Empire to the ancient Georgia kingdom of Kartli corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia....
).






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The Mingrelians (Mingrelian: ???????, margali; : megrelebi) are a subethnic group of Georgians
Georgians

The Georgians are a nation and ethnic group originating in the Caucasus, the oldest group of the South Caucasian peoples people mainly centered in Georgia , but also living in Turkey, Russia, the United States, Iran, and other countries....
 that mostly live in Samegrelo
Samegrelo

Megrelia, Mingrelia or Samegrelo/Samargalo is a historic province in the western part of Georgia , formerly also known as Odishi....
 (Mingrelia) region of Georgia
Georgia (country)

Georgia is a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region, located at the dividing line between Europe and Asia. It is bordered by the Russia to the north, Azerbaijan to the east, Armenia to the south, and Turkey to the southwest....
. They also live in considerable numbers in Abkhazia
Abkhazia

Abkhazia is a disputed region on the eastern coast of the Black Sea. Since its declaration of independence from Georgia in 1991 during the Georgian?Abkhaz conflict, it is governed by the International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia Republic of Abkhazia....
 and Tbilisi
Tbilisi

Tbilisi , is the capital city 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 Tpilisi and it was officially known as ?????? in Russian, until 1936....
. Approximately 180,000-200,000 people of Mingrelian provenance have been expelled from Abkhazia as a result of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict
Georgian-Abkhaz conflict

The Georgian-Abkhazian conflict refers to the ethnic conflict between Georgians and Abkhazians in Abkhazia, which is presently a de facto independent partially recognized republic....
 in the early 1990s and the ensuing ethnic cleansing of Georgians
Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia

The Ethnic Cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia, also known as the Massacres of Georgians in Abkhazia ? refers to ethnic cleansing, massacres and forced mass expulsion of thousands of ethnic Georgian people living in Abkhazia during the War in Abkhazia and War in Abkhazia at the hands of Abkhaz people and their allies ....
 in this separatist region.

Most Mingrelians speak both the Mingrelian and Georgian
Georgian language

Georgian is the official language of Georgia , a country in the Caucasus .Georgian is the primary language of about 3.9 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad ....
 language which belong to the South Caucasian (Kartvelian) linguistic family
South Caucasian languages

The South Caucasian languages are spoken primarily in Georgia , with smaller groups of speakers in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia and Israel....
, but use only the Georgian alphabet
Georgian alphabet

The Georgian alphabet is the writing system currently used to write the Georgian language and other South Caucasian languages , and occasionally other languages of the Caucasus ....
.

History

G
The Mingrelians are descendants of several Colchian
Colchis

In ancient geography, Colchis or Kolkhis was an ancient Georgia , state monarchy and region in the Western Georgia , which played an important role in the ethnic and cultural formation of the Georgians and its subgroups....
 tribes which later came under the influence of their ethnic kin from eastern Georgia (Iberia
Caucasian Iberia

Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Ancient Greece and Roman Empire to the ancient Georgia kingdom of Kartli corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia....
). Early in the Middle Ages, their aristocracy and clergy, later followed by laymen, adopted Georgian as a language of literacy and culture. After the fragmentation of the Kingdom of Georgia in the 15th century, Mingrelia was an autonomous principality which was embroiled in a series of conflicts with other Georgian polities until being annexed by the Russian Empire
Russian Empire

File:Russian Emperor Flag.jpgFile:Romanov Flag.svgThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917....
 in the 1800s.

In several censuses under the Russian Empire and the early Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
, Mingrelians were considered a separate group, but were classified under the broader category of Georgian in the 1930s. Currently, most Mingrelians identify themselves as "Georgian" and have preserved many characteristic cultural features including the Mingrelian language, but the number of its speakers have declined.

The first President of an independent Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Gamsakhurdia

Zviad Gamsakhurdia...
 (1939-1993), was a Mingrelian. Therefore, after the violent Coup d'etat
Coup d'état

A coup d??tat , often simply called a coup, is the sudden unconstitutional overthrow of a government by a part of the state establishment – usually the military – to replace the branch of the stricken government, either with another civil government or with a military government....
 of December 21, 1991 - January 6, 1992, Samegrelo became the centre of a civil war
Georgian Civil War

The Georgia Civil War consisted of inter-ethnic and intranational conflicts in the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia , as well as the violent military coup d'etat of December 21, 1991 - January 6, 1992 against the first democratically elected President of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia and his subsequent uprising in an attempt to regain po...
, which ended with the defeat of Gamsakhurdia's supporters.

Notable Mingrelians

  • Konstantine Gamsakhurdia
    Konstantine Gamsakhurdia

    Konstantine Gamsakhurdia was a Georgia writer and public figure, who, along with Mikheil Javakhishvili, is considered to be the most influential Georgian novelists of the 20th century....
    , one of the most influential Georgian writers of the 20th century
  • Zviad Gamsakhurdia
    Zviad Gamsakhurdia

    Zviad Gamsakhurdia...
    , first president of post-Soviet Georgia
  • Lavrenti Beria, Stalin
    Joseph Stalin

    Joseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953....
    's chief of secret police
  • Merab Kostava
    Merab Kostava

    Merab Kostava was a Georgia dissident, musician and poet; one of the leaders of the National-Liberation movement in Georgia. He was born in 1939 in Tbilisi, of the Georgian SSR, Soviet Union ....
     (National Hero of Georgia)
  • Katie Melua
    Katie Melua

    Ketevan "Katie" Melua is a Georgian people/United Kingdom singer, songwriter and musician. She was born in Georgia , but moved to Northern Ireland at the age of eight and then relocated to England at the age of 14....
    , British singer
  • Levan Kenia
    Levan Kenia

    Levan Kenia is a Georgia association football who plays for FC Schalke 04 in the Fu?ball-Bundesliga and the Georgia national football team. He joined Schalke 04 in January, 2008....
    , Georgian international footballer

See also

  • Mingrelian Affair
    Mingrelian Affair

    The Mingrelian Affair, or Mingrelian Case was a series of criminal cases fabricated in 1951 and 1952 in order to accuse several members of the Georgian SSR Communist Party of Mingrelian people extraction of secession and collaboration with the Western world....
  • Laz people
    Laz people

    The Laz are an ethnic group who live primarily on the Black Sea coastal regions of Turkey and Georgia . One of the chief tribes of ancient kingdom of Colchis, the Laz were initially Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church, most of whom converted to Sunni Islam during Ottoman rule of Caucasus in the 16th century....