Tbilisi, in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis, is the capital and largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with around 1.2 million inhabitants, which is about a third of the country's population. Tbilisi was founded in the fifth century AD by Vakhtang I of Iberia, and since then has served as the capital of various Georgian kingdoms and republics. Between 1801 and 1917, then part of the Russian Empire, Tiflis was the seat of the Caucasus Viceroyalty, governing both the northern and the southern parts of the Caucasus.