Animals and Plants
What is growing here?
About 40 percent of the country is still covered by forest. It is mainly in mountainous areas, because almost 90 percent of the country is mountainous. In addition, the forest in the lowlands was cut down to plow the land, so that there is hardly any forest to be found there.
Where the mountains are not so high, more deciduous trees like oaks and beeches grow. The Caucasian birch and shrub birch also grow here. Conifers such as spruce and fir grow in the higher regions. Above the tree line you will find meadows with alpine plants.
Which animals live in Georgia?
In addition to lynxes and wolves, brown bears and the Caucasian leopard also live in the Georgian forests. It is a subspecies of the leopard and occurs mainly in the Middle East. Occasionally he still lives in the Greater Caucasus. Deer, wild boar and squirrels are also native.
Especially in the Caucasus there are some endemic species such as the Caucasian squirrel or the Caucasian mouflon, but also birds such as the Caucasian black grouse or the Caucasus king grouse. Birds are particularly numerous. They include pheasants, vultures, eagles and bunting. There are also reptiles such as lizards, snakes and turtles.
Economy
Georgia’s economy
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgia’s previously thriving economy collapsed. It has now recovered after civil wars in Abkhazia and South Ossetia caused further burglaries.
Nevertheless, unemployment is still 12 percent, and many people live below the poverty line (9 percent of the population). Agriculture is often operated as a subsistence economy, i.e. mainly for personal needs. Only small surpluses are sold in the market.
Corruption, however, was fought in an exemplary manner. And its own power supply was built up to such an extent that Georgia is now even producing surpluses.
8 percent of the total economic output comes from agriculture. Grapes (especially for wine), citrus fruits (especially mandarins and clementines), tea and hazelnuts are grown. Livestock breeding also plays a role. Traditionally, cattle are kept in the west, and more sheep in the east.
Little industry, many services
Industry is little developed so far. It has a share of 24 percent. There are factories for steel, chemicals and wood products. Manganese, copper and gold are extracted in mining. There is still great potential in mineral waters, because there are many springs here. The water from the health resort Borjomi has even become an export hit.
The area of services, which is 68 percent, was expanded more strongly. It includes financial services, but also tourism. Between 2010 and 2014 the number of tourists doubled. More than five million visitors come every year. In 2017, 7.6 million visitors came.
Pipelines for petroleum and natural gas
Oil is particularly important for export. The oil pipeline (pipeline), which was completed in 2005 and runs from Baku in Azerbaijan through Georgia to Turkey, is strategically important. It is also called the BTC pipeline after the first letters of the main cities Baku, Tbilisi and Ceyhan. The West’s dependence on Russian oil has been reduced with this pipeline. Natural gas is now also transported to Turkey via the South Caucasus pipeline, which runs parallel to Erzurum in Turkey.
Typical Georgia
Celebrate parties
It is typical of Georgia and its residents that they like to be social and party. At festivals, this often includes traditional music and dances as well as clothing. An old tradition is the supra, the “Georgian table”. The word actually means tablecloth. In addition to a well-laid table, a Supra always includes a Tamada. This is the table master. He makes sure that everyone feels comfortable and says the toasts. The tamada can be the host himself or he chooses a tamada or all guests choose a tamada.
Dance and costume
Folk dances are very popular in Georgia. These dances are called Kartuli, Khorumi, Acharuli or Partsa. Often the dances are performed in costume. Men traditionally wear the chocha. It’s a knee-length coat that gets wider at the bottom. A belt holds it together at the waist and it is slit at the bottom. A high-necked shirt is worn under the Tschocha. There are also tight trousers and high leather boots. You can find a picture under Everyday life in Georgia, a country located in Asia according to relationshipsplus.
Life in Georgia
The people of Georgia are very sociable, like to party and maintain their old traditions. Folklore with music, dance and costumes are part of the life of many. But the modern age with chic fashion labels and smartphones has also arrived. There are now hardly any power outages that were part of everyday life a few years ago.
Georgians go to a supermarket to go shopping. There are very large supermarkets, but also many small ones. But fruit and vegetables are more likely to be bought at the market. Payment is made with the lari. Take a look at a few photos from everyday life in Georgia: