Georgian people

The Georgians are a Caucasian ethnic group that come from Georgia. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America.

Georgians
ქართველები
Kartvelebi

David IV Tamar of Georgia George V Petre Bagrationi Mary Eristavi Joseph Stalin Ekaterine Dadiani Konstantine Abkhazi Lamara Chkonia George Balanchine Rustaveli E. Shevardnadze John Shalikashvili Katie Melua Ambrosius I. Chavchavadze
Total population
c. 4.3[1] — 5 million
Regions with significant populations
Georgia 3,956,000[2]
Russia	198,944[3]
European Union	250,000 [source?]
United States	200,000 [source?]
Israel	72,000[4]
Turkey	91,500[1]
Ukraine	34,199[5]
Greece	23,159[6]
Brazil	20,750[source?]
Azerbaijan	14,900[7]
Japan	14,000
Italy	12,670
Kazakhstan	4,990[8]
Singapore	3,500
France	2,500
Canada	2,500
Armenia	1,105
Argentina	1,050
Mexico	1,000
United Kingdom	3500
Languages
Georgian (including Mingrelian and Svan), Russian (about 10% of the population)[2]
Religion
Predominantly † Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Georgian Orthodox Church) (83.9%) also some Georgiano-Latin, Greek, and Armenian rites of the Roman Catholic Church (0.8%). Muslim minority (9.9%), chiefly Sunnis of the Hanafi school.[9] In diaspora (Chveneburis, Saingilo and Fereydanians) mainly Islam
Related ethnic groups
Laz

The majority of Georgians are Eastern Orthodox Christian. They mostly go by the national autocephalous Georgian Orthodox Church, which started in the 4th century. There are also Georgian Catholic and Muslim communities in Tbilisi and Adjara. Located in Caucasus at the edge of Europe, the Georgian people have tried to keep their Christian identity. There is a lot of pressure from the neighboring Muslim empires.

The Georgian language is the official language of the country.

References

1. Ethnologue: Georgian
2. Central Intelligence Agency of United States (May 17, 2011). "CIA World Factbook:Georgia". The World Factbook (CIA). Archived from the original on October 16, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
3. Russian Census 2002: Population by ethnicity(in Russian)
4. Ethnic Groups of Israel
5. Ukrainian Census 2001
6. "2001 Greek census" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
7. "Azerbaijan Census 1999". Archived from the original on 2011-08-23. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
8. "Kazakhstan Census 2009". Archived from the original on 2012-05-01. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
9. "CIA — The World Factbook — Georgia — People — Religions — 2002 Census". Archived from the original on 2015-10-16. Retrieved 2012-05-08.