Population: 5,219,810 (July 1996 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 22% (male 595,524; female 571,207)
15-64 years: 66% (male 1,643,506; female 1,784,286)
65 years and over: 12% (male 229,910; female 395,377) (July 1996 est.)
Population growth rate:-1.02% (1996 est.)due to civil war and emigration
Birth rate: 12.81 births/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Death rate: 12.21 deaths/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Net migration rate:-10.82 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1996 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years:1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years:0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over:0.58 male(s)/female
Infant mortality rate:22.5 deaths/1,000 live births (1996 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:68.09 years
male:63.43 years
female:72.98 years (1996 est.)
Total fertility rate:1.69 children born/woman (1996 est.)
Nationality:
noun:Georgian(s)
adjective:Georgian
Ethnic divisions:
Georgian 70.1%, Armenian 8.1%, Russian 6.3%, Azeri 5.7%, Ossetian 3%,
Abkhaz 1.8%, other 5%
Religions:
Christian Orthodox 75% (Georgian Orthodox 65%, Russian Orthodox 10%),
Muslim 11%, Armenian Apostolic 8%, unknown 6%
Languages:
Armenian 7%, Azeri 6%, Georgian 71% (official), Russian 9%, other 7%
Literacy:age 15 and over can read and write (1989 est.)
total population:99%
male:100%
female:98%
Georgia's Population by Ethnic Origin,
1989
Georgia is a multi ethnic country, while this allows for a richer, more diverse culture, it can create a host of problems. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was no longer a strong unifying body to force ethnic harmony. During this period of political transformation, many of the ethnic groups which had seen autonomy at some point during the Soviet reign made attempts to seceed. In areas where the ethnic groups were geographically concentrated the problem was quite severe, especially in the Abkhazian and Ossetian regions. This lead to several years of civil war in which all Georgians suffered. The war in the Ossetian and Abkhazian regions caused many political refugees to flee the areas. As many as one million refugees are now living elsewhere in the country. Many are in hotels and resort areas that once flourished for the tourism industry. Still more ethnic groups have emigrated to their historic homelands for practical or ideological reasons. Other ethnic minorities may have less explicit political aspirations, but find it difficult to maintain their cultural identity, involvement and participation in political life and decision making. They may meet with discrimination, for example in their professional career, housing or opportunities to participate in privatization. They may also be at some disadvantage because of their imperfect knowledge of the Georgian language, a factor of less consequence in Soviet times.