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Study on Adult Learning and Education in Georgia

II. Country profile

Georgia is a country located in the Caucasus, just where the European and the
Asian continents meet. It is bounded to the west by the Black Sea; it borders
on Russia to the north, with Azerbaijan to the south east, and with Armenia and

Turkey to the south. Its territory spans over 69,700 km , and its capital is Tbilisi.
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Sociodemographic structure Ossetian, Kurmanji (which is a Northern dialect of
the Kurdish language), Ukrainian, Greek, Chech-
Georgia has a population of 3.72 million. 86.8% en, Polish, Udi, German, Estonian, Avar and As-
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are ethnic Georgians; Azerbaijanis form the larg- syrian. A widespread source of social exclusion
est minority group, making up 6.3% of the popula- is the fact that many members of minority com-
tion. 4.5% are ethnic Armenian, and other minor- munities only speak their own language. While
ity groups in Georgia are Russians, Ossetians, native Russian and Armenian speakers are quite
Yezidis, Ukrainians and Greeks. Ethnic minorities fluent in Georgian (64% and 40% respectively de-
make up 13.1% of the total population. clare proficiency), only 19% of Azerbaijanis state
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that they are proficient in Georgian.
The ethnic diversity of Georgia’s population is re-
flected in the languages spoken there. Georgian In line with its ethnic and linguistic divisions,
is the official state language. Both Georgian and Georgian society is also religiously diverse. The

Abkhazian are official languages in the Autono- Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) holds a priv-
mous Republic of Abkhazia. The de facto Abkhaz ileged position among all the religions, almost
government adopted the Law on State Language tantamount to that of a state church. It is consid-
of Abkhazia in 2007 in order to promote the Ab- ered a marker of national identity and a holder of
khaz language. Article 2 of that Law states that trust . Religious minorities comprise about 15%
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Abkhaz is the only state language in Abkhazia, of the population, with Muslims being the largest
and that Russian (alongside with Abkhaz) will minority group (10% of the population). The sec-

be used in governmental institutions and official ond-largest religious minority is Apostolic Armeni-
matters. The 2015-2016 academic year was the an (3%). Other groups are Jehovah’s Witnesses,
first in which the Georgian language lost its place Catholics, Yezidis, Protestants and Jewish 2627 .
as a language of instruction in primary schools
in the Georgian-speaking district of Gali in Abk- 51.9% of Georgia’s inhabitants are female. Geor-
hazia. A total of 20 to 30 languages from different gian citizens are of medium age; 20% are below
language families are spoken in Georgia, such the age of 15, 65% are aged between 15 and 65,
as the Azerbaijani language, Armenian, Russian, and 15% are 65 and older. Average life expectan-

23 Council of Europe (2016). Minority Languages in Georgia – Expressions of Cultural Wealth
24 World Bank (2017). Social Exclusion and Inclusion in Georgia – A Country Social Analysis
25 Bertelsmann Stiftung (2020). BTI 2020 Country Report – Georgia. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung
26 Freedom House, Georgia 2019 overview
27 World Bank (2017)

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