Georgia Country Facts: Flag, Language, Lari, Religion, Country Code and Plugs

Georgia country facts at a glance

These are the latest official figures as of October 2026. Geostat, the national statistics office, can only count people in territory the government controls, so its population, language, ethnic and religion data leave out Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region.

The Georgia country flag, coat of arms and national anthem

Georgia's flag is white, crossed edge to edge by a broad red St George's cross, with a smaller red cross in each of the four white quarters. Georgians call it khutjvriani drosha, the five-cross flag. The little crosses, whose arms widen toward the tips, are known as bolnur-katskhuri crosses after early medieval church carvings at Bolnisi and Katskhi. Parliament adopted the design on 14 January 2004, a date now kept as Flag Day.

The pattern itself is older. A five-cross banner flies over Tbilisi on a nautical chart drawn in 1367 by the Pizzigani brothers of Venice, although historians still argue over how long medieval Georgia really used it. In the early 2000s the opposition National Movement adopted it, and after the Rose Revolution of November 2003 it became the state flag, replacing the dark red flag of the 1918-1921 republic with its black and white stripes in the corner. No law gives the crosses a meaning; the usual readings are Christ with the four Evangelists, or the five wounds of Christ.

Coat of arms and anthem

The coat of arms, in use since 1 October 2004, shows St George on a silver horse driving his lance into a dragon, on a shield that is heraldically purple but almost always printed red. Two gold lions hold it, a gold royal crown sits on top, the whole rests on a golden grapevine, and the ribbon below reads Dzala ertobashia, 'strength is in unity'. The anthem, Tavisupleba ('Freedom'), dates from the same year: its music is arranged from Zakaria Paliashvili's operas Abesalom da Eteri and Daisi, with words by the poet Davit Magradze.

Photo: Diaoha, CC BY-SA 3.0

Churches & Monasteries · 0 kmBolnisi Sioni

A basilica built in 478–493, among Georgia's oldest churches, carrying some of the earliest dated inscriptions in the Georgian alphabet.

Photo: georgia.travel

Churches & Monasteries · 1 kmHoly Trinity Cathedral (Sameba)

Georgia's main cathedral, consecrated in 2004 on Elia Hill in Avlabari, with a gilded dome visible from across the city.

Photo: George Kvizhinadze, CC BY-SA 2.0

Cities & Towns · 2 kmRustaveli Avenue

Tbilisi's main avenue, 1.5 km from Freedom Square past Parliament, the Opera, theatres, galleries and the National Museum.

Georgia country language: what people speak

The official language is Georgian, kartuli to its speakers. It belongs to the small Kartvelian family with Megrelian, Svan and Laz, and is unrelated to Russian, Turkish, Armenian or the Indo-European languages of Europe. In the 2024 census, 85.1% of residents gave Georgian as their mother tongue, then Azerbaijani (6.8%), Armenian (3.5%) and Russian (1.4%). Megrelian is spoken at home across Samegrelo and Svan in the valleys around Mestia, but their speakers write in Georgian.

Georgian has its own alphabet, Mkhedruli: 33 letters and no capitals. Our guide to the Georgian alphabet covers the scripts and how to read them. Words can open with long runs of consonants; gvprtskvni, 'you peel us', starts with eight.

Most people over about 40 also understand Russian, still handy in the mountains and at markets, while younger Georgians and people working in tourism in Tbilisi, Batumi, Kazbegi and Mestia often speak good English. Road signs on the main routes repeat names in Latin letters.

Georgia country currency: the lari (GEL)

Georgia's money is the lari, code GEL, made up of 100 tetri. It replaced a short-lived coupon currency in autumn 1995 and has been the only legal tender since 2 October of that year. Both names are old money words: lari meant a treasure or hoard, and tetri, 'white', was the Georgian name for a medieval silver coin. The lari sign, ₾, a stylised Georgian letter ლ (l) crossed by two strokes, came into use in 2014.

The coins you will handle are the 5-, 10-, 20- and 50-tetri pieces and the 1- and 2-lari coins; smaller 1- and 2-tetri coins exist but rarely turn up. Each banknote carries a figure from Georgian history:

On 17 October 2026 the National Bank's official rate was 2.60 lari to the US dollar, 2.93 to the euro and 3.47 to the pound; our currency converter uses the same rate. Hotels sometimes quote in dollars or euros, but you pay in lari. Visa and Mastercard work in town shops, restaurants and hotels, while village shops, markets, small guesthouses and marshrutkas mostly want cash. Town exchange booths beat airport counters; the Tbilisi airport guide covers money on arrival.

Georgia country religion: is Georgia a Muslim country?

No. Georgia is a mainly Orthodox Christian country with a sizeable Muslim minority and a secular state. The 2024 census, the first since 2014, recorded these affiliations:

In the 4th century the eastern Georgian kingdom of Kartli (Iberia to classical writers) made Christianity its state religion, after St Nino, a woman from Cappadocia, converted King Mirian III; tradition dates it to 326 or 337. Georgia is usually named, after Armenia, as one of the first kingdoms to make the faith official. The Georgian Orthodox Church is autocephalous (self-governing), led from Tbilisi by the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, and keeps the Julian calendar, which is why Christmas falls on 7 January. Article 8 of the constitution guarantees freedom of belief while recognising the church's 'outstanding role' in the nation's history and its independence from the state.

Where Georgia's Muslims live: Adjara, Kvemo Kartli and Pankisi

In Adjara, on the Black Sea, many ethnic Georgians are Sunni Muslims, a legacy of Ottoman rule that ended in 1878; minarets rise in Khulo and the highland villages, and Batumi's Orta Jame mosque was built in 1866. Ethnic Azerbaijanis in Kvemo Kartli, around Marneuli, are mostly Shia, and the Kists of the Pankisi Gorge, a people related to the Chechens, are Sunni. In Old Tbilisi, the Jumah Mosque near the sulphur baths is known for Sunni and Shia believers sharing one prayer hall.

Muslim travellers will find mosques and plenty of halal restaurants in Tbilisi and Batumi. Georgian food culture itself is Christian: wine and chacha flow at every feast, and pork goes into mtsvadi (grilled skewers) and many khinkali fillings, so ask for beef, lamb, cheese or mushroom versions.

Armenian Apostolic churches serve the Armenian community in Tbilisi and Javakheti, and Georgian Jews, whose tradition says they arrived about 2,600 years ago, keep synagogues in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Oni. Our Orthodox Georgia Pilgrimage tour visits the main Christian shrines with a guide in your language.

Photo: Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0

Churches & Monasteries · UNESCO · 0 kmSvetitskhoveli Cathedral

Georgia's most important cathedral, built 1010–1029 over the traditional burial place of Christ's robe, with the tombs of Georgian kings.

Photo: Levan Gokadze, CC BY-SA 2.0

Churches & Monasteries · UNESCO · 1 kmSamtavro Monastery

Working convent in Mtskheta with an 11th-century church, the tombs of King Mirian III and Queen Nana, and the grave of St Gabriel.

Photo: Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0

Churches & Monasteries · 2 kmBodbe Monastery

Working convent 2 km from Sighnaghi, standing over the grave of St Nino, whose preaching in the 4th century made Georgia Christian.

Photo: Aleksey Muhranoff, CC BY-SA 3.0

Cities & Towns · 3 kmKhulo

Upper Adjara's main town, ~85 km east of Batumi at about 920 m, a base for Skhalta, Green Lake, Goderdzi and traditional highland villages.

Photo: Dato Rostomashvili, CC BY 2.0

Museums & Culture · 4 kmOni Synagogue

Late 19th-century synagogue in Oni, among the grandest in Georgia, built for a once-large Jewish community and still cared for by local families.

Visiting Georgian Orthodox churches: dress code and etiquette

Visitors are welcome in nearly every church, even during a service. A few customs apply everywhere:

• Women cover their hair and wear a skirt or wrap below the knee; trousers pass in many city churches but not in monasteries. Men wear long trousers and remove hats. Nobody goes in with bare shoulders.
• Busy sites such as Jvari, Gergeti and Bodbe leave scarves and wrap skirts at the entrance, but a light scarf in your bag saves waiting.
• Keep your voice down, silence your phone and never walk behind the iconostasis, the icon screen before the altar, which only clergy pass.
• Many monasteries ban photography. Elsewhere, turn the flash off and ask before photographing a priest, a monk or a service.
• The congregation stands through long services; slipping in and out at the back is fine, as is lighting a thin candle bought at the church counter.
• In Tusheti, Khevsureti and Pshavi, old village shrines called khati or nishi predate the church. Women must keep away, and no visitor should step inside a shrine enclosure.

Photo: Alexxx1979, CC BY-SA 4.0

Churches & Monasteries · UNESCO · 0 kmJvari Monastery

Late 6th-century monastery on a hilltop above Mtskheta, with the classic view over the meeting of the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers.

Photo: Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0

Churches & Monasteries · 1 kmGergeti Trinity Church

14th-century church on a ridge at 2,170 m below Mount Kazbek, reached by a steep hike or a short drive from Stepantsminda.

Photo: Ihor Burliai, CC BY-SA 3.0

Churches & Monasteries · UNESCO · 2 kmGelati Monastery

David the Builder's 12th-century monastery and academy above Kutaisi, a UNESCO site with a gold apse mosaic, royal frescoes and his tomb.

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0

Caves & Cave Towns · 3 kmDavid Gareja Monastery

6th-century rock-cut monastery complex in semi-desert on the Azerbaijani border, with a ridge walk up to the Udabno cave monastery.

Georgia country code (+995), time zone, plug type and driving side

Phone numbers and the +995 code

To call Georgia from abroad, dial +995 and then the nine-digit number. Mobile numbers start with 5 (+995 5xx xx xx xx) and Tbilisi landlines with 32; inside Georgia you dial a mobile as just its nine digits. Drivers, guides and guesthouses mostly use WhatsApp. The mobile networks are Magti, Silknet and Cellfie, a local SIM needs only your passport, and the Tbilisi airport guide covers buying one on arrival.

Time zone: UTC+4, no daylight saving

The country keeps Georgia Standard Time, UTC+4, year round; the clocks last changed in March 2005, when summer time was dropped. Tbilisi shares its hour with Baku, Yerevan and Dubai. Because Europe and North America switch their clocks, the gap with them changes twice a year:

Plug type and voltage: C and F, 220 V

Sockets take round-pin European plugs: type C, the slim two-pin Europlug, and type F, the thicker Schuko plug with earthing clips on its sides. Power is 220 V at 50 Hz. Visitors from the UK, Ireland, North America, Australia and the Gulf need an adapter; Indian two-pin plugs fit, three-pin ones do not. Chargers rated 100-240 V need only the adapter, but 110-volt-only appliances, such as some American hair dryers, also need a converter. Tbilisi electronics shops sell adapters for a few lari.

Driving side, emergency number and web domain

• Traffic keeps to the right. Overtaking on two-lane mountain roads can be bold, so read our guide to getting around before you hire a car.
• Dial 112 for any emergency service, mountain rescue included. The call is free, works from a phone with no SIM card, and its app lets you send a text or start a video call.
• Georgian websites end in .ge. A Georgian-script domain, .გე, was approved in 2014 and opened to the public in 2016.

Public holidays in Georgia (the country) for 2026 and 2027

Article 30 of the Labour Code sets 14 fixed days off plus four around Orthodox Easter, 18 in all. A holiday falling on a weekend is not moved, though the government can add an extra day off by decree. Banks and public offices close; most shops, restaurants and sights stay open, but check museum hours.

City festivals such as Tbilisoba are not days off, and 25 December is an ordinary working day.

Photo: Jelger Groeneveld, CC BY 2.0

Cities & Towns · UNESCO · 0 kmMtskheta

Georgia's ancient capital and spiritual centre, 20 km from Tbilisi, home to Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and Samtavro, with Jvari on the hill above.

Photo: Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0

Churches & Monasteries · 1 kmSioni Cathedral

Old Tbilisi's historic cathedral, home of St Nino's grapevine cross and seat of the Patriarch until 2004.

Photo: Alexxx1979, CC BY-SA 4.0

Cities & Towns · 2 kmOld Tbilisi (Kala)

The historic core below Narikala: cobbled lanes, carved wooden balconies, churches, a mosque, a synagogue and the sulphur baths.

People of Georgia (the country): ethnic groups and regions

The 2024 census counted 3,929,581 residents, 5.8% more than in 2014. The growth came from Tbilisi (up 20.1%) and Adjara (up 20.7%), while most rural regions shrank. About 62.5% of people live in towns and cities, and one in three in the capital.

Regional identities run deep. Megrelians and Svans speak their own languages at home, Gurians are famed for polyphonic singing, Kakhetians for wine, and the mountain communities of the north-east, the Khevsurs, Tush and Pshavs, kept festivals and shrines older than the church. Azerbaijanis live mostly in Kvemo Kartli, Armenians in Javakheti around Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda and in Tbilisi, and the Kists in the Pankisi Gorge. Many of the Indian residents are students at Georgian medical universities.

Administratively there are nine regions plus the autonomous republics of Adjara and Abkhazia and the city of Tbilisi; the where is Georgia guide maps each one.

Photo: Q-lieb-in, CC BY-SA 4.0

Cities & Towns · 0 kmMestia

Svaneti's main town, ~1,500 m up and full of medieval stone towers, and the base for hiking, skiing and the trek to Ushguli.

Photo: Nanika Matua, CC BY-SA 4.0

Cities & Towns · 1 kmZugdidi

Samegrelo's lively capital and the gateway to Svaneti, known for the Dadiani Palace, its botanical garden and spicy Megrelian cooking.

Photo: Zviad Avaliani, Attribution

Cities & Towns · 2 kmMarneuli

Plain town 40 km south of Tbilisi, centre of Georgia's Azerbaijani community, near Neolithic sites with the oldest known traces of grape wine.

Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, CC BY-SA 1.0

Cities & Towns · 3 kmAkhalkalaki

Main town of the high Javakheti plateau, perched above a river canyon, with fortress ruins, Armenian churches and Kumurdo Cathedral nearby.

Photo: georgia.travel

Fortresses & Castles · 4 kmShatili

Fortified village of about 60 joined stone towers in the Argun gorge of Khevsureti, reached over the 2,676 m Datvisjvari Pass.

Photo: Abramia Giorgi, CC BY-SA 4.0

Cities & Towns · 5 kmOmalo

Tusheti's main village at about 1,880 m, with guesthouses, Keselo's stone towers above, and trails to the region's tower villages.

How Georgia (the country) is governed, and its occupied territories

Georgia is a parliamentary republic. Under the 1995 constitution, as rewritten in 2017 and 2018, voters elect the 150 members of Parliament for four years by proportional representation, and a prime minister backed by the majority runs the government. The president is a largely ceremonial head of state, chosen since 2024 for five years by a 300-member electoral college instead of by popular vote. The Georgian Dream party has governed since 2012; the opposition disputed its October 2024 election win, and months of protests followed in central Tbilisi. For current advice on demonstrations, read whether Georgia is safe to visit in our safety guide.

Two regions lie beyond the government's control: Abkhazia in the north-west, along the coast to the Russian border, and the Tskhinvali region, also called South Ossetia, north of Gori. Russian forces have occupied both since the five-day war of August 2008. Russia and a few other states recognise them as independent; Georgia and nearly every other country regard them as occupied Georgian land. Entering either from Russia is an offence under Georgian law, none of the statistics above include them, and we run no trips there.

Fun facts about Georgia (the country) that are actually true

• Georgia has about 8,000 years of wine behind it: pottery from Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora, Neolithic farming sites in Kvemo Kartli, carries grape-wine traces dated to roughly 6000 BC, which a 2017 study called the oldest chemical evidence of winemaking. Making wine in buried qvevri has been on UNESCO's intangible heritage list since 2013.
• Some of the oldest humans found outside Africa lived here. At Dmanisi, ~85 km south-west of Tbilisi, excavations produced five skulls of early Homo about 1.8 million years old, now shown in the Georgian National Museum.
• Polyphonic folk singing earned Georgia one of the first UNESCO intangible heritage proclamations, in 2001, and the song Chakrulo is on the Golden Record that has travelled aboard the two Voyager probes since 1977.
• In Georgian, mama means father and deda means mother; the aluminium statue above Tbilisi is Kartlis Deda, Mother of Georgia.
• Georgian has no grammatical gender: one pronoun, is, covers he, she and it.
• The Argonauts sailed to Colchis, today's western Georgia, for the Golden Fleece, and real Colchian gold from the ancient town of Vani fills cases in the National Museum's treasury.
• Ushguli in Svaneti, at ~2,100 m, is often listed among Europe's highest villages lived in all year; its towers are part of Upper Svaneti, one of the country's four UNESCO World Heritage properties.
• The concrete arch of the Enguri Dam rises 271.5 m, among the tallest arch dams on earth.
• Nona Gaprindashvili, from Zugdidi, became the first woman awarded chess's grandmaster title, in 1978.
• The national rugby team, the Lelos, has played at every Rugby World Cup since 2003.
• Ioseb Jughashvili, known as Stalin, was born in Gori in 1878; his family's small house stands in the grounds of the Stalin Museum.

Many of these fit into one trip. Our seven-day route takes in Tbilisi and the Colchian gold of the National Museum, the churches of Mtskheta, Gori and Uplistsikhe, and the vineyards of Kakheti, privately, for a group of any size, on dates you pick.

Old Tbilisi (Kala)Photo: georgia.travel

7 days

Classic & CultureWine Tours

Classic Georgia

Seven days on the route we recommend to most first-time visitors: Tbilisi at leisure, a two-night stay in the Kazbegi mountains, the cave city of Uplistsikhe with Gori, and a final night among the vineyards in Sighnaghi.

Easy · CL-07from $1,460 pp

Photo: Mehman Ibragimov, CC BY-SA 4.0

Museums & Culture · 0 kmDmanisi

Archaeological site where 1.8-million-year-old early human skulls were found beneath a ruined medieval town and its cathedral.

Photo: georgia.travel

Museums & Culture · 1 kmGeorgian National Museum

Georgia's main history museum on Rustaveli Avenue, with ancient gold, the Dmanisi early human fossils and a Soviet occupation exhibition.

Photo: Gaga.vaa, CC BY-SA 3.0

Museums & Culture · 2 kmVani Archaeological Museum

Site museum on the hill of ancient Vani, a Colchian city of the 8th to 1st centuries BC, displaying its gold, bronzes and temple finds.

Photo: Florian Pinel, CC BY-SA 3.0

Cities & Towns · UNESCO · 3 kmUshguli

Cluster of medieval tower villages at about 2,100 m below Shkhara, Georgia's highest peak, and the heart of the UNESCO-listed Upper Svaneti site.

Photo: David1010, CC BY-SA 4.0

Nature & Hiking · 4 kmEnguri Dam

Soviet-era concrete arch dam, 271.5 m tall, on the road from Zugdidi to Mestia, with views over its long turquoise reservoir.

Photo: Stolbovsky, CC BY-SA 3.0

Museums & Culture · 5 kmStalin Museum

Soviet-era museum in Gori devoted to Stalin, with the wooden house where he was born and his armoured railway carriage.

Frequently asked questions