Georgia facts

Black Sea. The coccolithophore are calcite-shedding phytoplankton that has been a part of the Black Sea ecology for millennia. In the summer it can colour much of the Black Sea cyan, as is evident in this satellite image collected on July 15, 2012.

Georgian. Stalin's original Georgian name was "Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili". The surname means son of Juga, and is derived from Georgian djuga, meaning "steel". This later became the root of his adopted name "Stalin", from the Russian word for "steel".

In Georgia. The deepest caves in the world are the Verevkina Cave (depth 2204 m) and the Krubera-Voronja Cave (2190 m). Both are in Georgia (Abkhazia) in the Arabica Massif.

Georgia. Samegrelo is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly also known as Odishi. In English it has also been historically known as Mingrelia, based on the Russian exonym rather than the Georgian endonym. It is primarily inhabited by the Megrelians, a subgroup of Georgians.

Georgia. Churchkhela is a traditional Georgian candle-shaped candy. The main ingredients are grape must, nuts and flour. Almonds, walnuts, hazelnut and chocolate and sometimes raisins are threaded onto a string, dipped in thickened grape juice or fruit juices and dried in the shape of a sausage. The traditional technology of churchkhela in the Kakheti region was inscribed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia list in 2015.

Tbilisi was founded in the 5th century on the site of natural hot springs. In XIX century, under Russian rule, it was the seat of the Imperial Viceroy governing both sides of the entire Caucasus.