The United States recognized Georgia's independence on December 25, 1991, when President George H. W. Bush announced the decision in a speech to the nation about the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Previously, Georgia had been a constituent republic of the USSR.
Georgia is a representative democracy governed as a unitary parliamentary republic. It is a developing country with a very high human development index. Economic reforms since independence have led to higher levels of economic freedom, as well as to reductions in indicators of corruption, poverty and unemployment. It was one of the first countries in the world to legalize cannabis, becoming the only former socialist state to do so.
The country is a member of international organizations, such as the Council of Europe, Eurocontrol, the BSEC, GUAM and the Energy Community. Georgia is part of the trio of associations and is a candidate country for the EU. Since it emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union as an independent state in 1991, Georgia has once again become a scene of conflicts of interest. After the decisive Byzantine defeat at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, Constantinople began to withdraw from Eastern Anatolia and entrusted its administration to Georgia, placing Georgia at the forefront of Turkey in the 1080s.
Much of eastern Georgia has hot summers (especially in low-lying areas) and winters relatively cold. Much of western Georgia is located in the northern periphery of the humid subtropical zone, with annual rainfall ranging from 1000 to 2500 mm (39 to 98 inches), which peaks during the fall months. Before the war, Georgians made up almost half of the population of Abkhazia, but up to 250,000 Georgians and others are expelled, practically halving the population of Abkhazia. Tbilisi has become the main artery of the Georgian education system, especially since the creation of the First Republic of Georgia in 1918 allowed the establishment of modern educational institutions in Georgian.
In recent years, Georgia has invested large amounts of money in modernizing its transportation networks. Georgia has been a wine production site since 6000 BC. C., being the first known wine-making place in the world. The forests of western Georgia are composed primarily of deciduous trees below 600 meters (1,969 feet) above sea level and contain species such as oaks, hornbeams, beeches, elms, ash and chestnut trees.
After the collapse of the tsarist regime and the war with the Turks, the first Republic of Georgia was established on May 26, 1918, and the country enjoyed a brief period of independence under the Menshevik president, Noe Zhordania. Since the beginning of the 21st century, visible positive developments have been observed in the Georgian economy. In recent years, the Patrol Police Department of the Ministry of the Interior of Georgia has undergone a radical transformation, and the police have now taken on a large number of functions previously performed by specialized independent government agencies. Over the centuries, Georgia was the subject of rivalry between Persia, Turkey and Russia, before it was finally annexed by Russia in the 19th century.
After his death, local rulers fought for their independence from central Georgia, until the total disintegration of the kingdom in the 15th century. Much of the natural habitat of the lowland areas of western Georgia has disappeared over the past 100 years due to the agricultural development of the land and urbanization. The highest mountain in Georgia is Mount Shkhara at 5,203 meters (17,070 ft), and the second highest is Mount Janga at 5,059 m (16,598 ft) above sea level. In Georgia, law enforcement is in charge and is responsible for law enforcement by the Ministry of the Interior of Georgia.
