INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT GEORGIA
1. Only we call it Georgia
The Georgians actually refer to their country as Sakartvelo. The term is made up of 2 parts; Kartveli, which is a term referring to the residents of the central region of Georgia called Karli-Iberia, and the first half is a circumfix “sa” is a common geographic signifying the land where the residents – the Kartveli – live.
2. The name of its capital: Tbilisi
“Tbili” is a Georgian word meaning warm, and adding the geographic “si”, making up the name Tbilisi in English means warm place. The name Tbilisi is connected to some natural hot springs that were found during a hunt by the king in the fifth century.
3. Georgia was the home of the earliest Europeans
The most ancient skulls of humans are approximately aged at 1.8 million years and were found in the Caucasus. The remains belong to two Georgian people, suggesting that men traveled to the continent of Europe through Georgia.
4. Georgia is home to two of the ancient cities of Europe
Both the ancient cities, Mtskheta (in the west) and Kutaisi (in the southern Caucasus), were previous capitals of the country, and they are listed among the 16 most ancient cities of Europe. People lived in those cities since the 2nd millennium BC!
5. A Georgian song was sent to space
A spacecraft, known as Voyager, carried an old Georgian folk song named “Chakrulo” into space. The song was one of many on the Golden Record which was carried by the Voyager, it also had verbal greetings spoken in almost 60 languages. The Voyager was sort of like a “message in a bottle”, its aim was to act as a welcome for any potential forms of life that the probe might come across.
6. Georgia is considered the origin of wine
Even though Georgia has been making wine for over eight thousand years, the first wine made there was actually an accident. The juice of the grape was dispensed in a shallow underground pit, which turned it into wine.
7. Only Georgians speak Georgian
There are only about fourteen unique languages in the world, and Georgian is one of them. They used to have three languages; however, now Georgians only communicate in Mkhedruli, which has its own alphabets consisting of 33 letters.
8. Gudauri: The perfect destination for heli-skiing & snowboarding!
You might have heard of the ski resort in Gudauri. It consists of spectacular scenery and extremely widespread slopes. If you are not very adventurous, you could still go for snowboarding or even casual skiing.
