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t'bilisi administrative divisions: 9 regions (mkharebi. singular - mkhare). 9 cities (k'alak'ebi. singular - k'alak'i). and 2 autonomous republics (avtomnoy respubliki. singular - avtom respublika) : regions: guria. imereti. kakheti. kvemo kartli. mtskheta-mtianeti. racha-lechkhumi and kvemo svaneti. samegrelo and zemo svaneti. samtskhe-javakheti. shida kartli : cities: chiat'ura. gori. k'ut'aisi. p'ot'i. rust'avi. t'bilisi. tqibuli. tsqaltubo. zugdidi : autonomous republics: abkhazia or ap'khazet'is avtonomiuri respublika (sokhumi). ajaria or acharis avtonomiuri respublika (bat'umi) note: the administrative centers of the 2 autonomous republics are shown in parentheses independence: 9 april 1991 (from soviet union) national holiday: independence day. 26 may (1918); note - 26 may 1918 is the date of independence from soviet russia. 9 april 1991 is the date of independence from the soviet union constitution: adopted 24 august 1995 legal system: based on civil law system suffrage: 18 years of age; universal executive branch: chief of state: president mikheil saakashvili (since 25 january 2004); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government for the power ministries: state security (includes interior) and defense head of government: president mikheil saakashvili (since 25 january 2004); prime minister zurab noghaideli (since 17 february 2005); note - the president is the chief of state and head of government for the power ministries: state security (includes interior) and defense; the prime minister is head of the remaining ministries of government cabinet: cabinet of ministers elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 4 january 2004 (next to be held na 2009) election results: mikheil saakashvili elected president; percent of vote - mikheil saakashvili 96.3%. temur shashiashvili 1.9% legislative branch: unicameral supreme council (commonly referred to as parliament) or umaghiesi sabcho (235 seats - 150 elected by party lists); members are elected by popular vote to serve four-year terms) elections: last held 28 march 2004 (next to be held spring 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - national movement-democrats 67.6%. rightist opposition 7.6%. all other parties received less than 7% each; seats by party - national movement-democrats 135. rightist opposition 15 judicial branch: supreme court (judges elected by the supreme council on the president's recommendation); constitutional court; first and second instance courts political parties and leaders: burjanadze-democrats [nino burjanadze]; georgian people's front [nodar natadze]; georgian united communist party or ucpg [panteleimon giorgadze]; greens [giorgi gachechiladze]; industry will save georgia (industrialists) or iwsg [georgi topadze]; labor party [shalva natelashvili]; national democratic party or ndp [bachuki kardava]; national movement democratic front [mikheil saakashvili] bloc composed of national movement and burjanadze-democrats; national movement [mikheil saakashvili]; new right [david gamkrelidze]; republican party [david berdzenishvili]; rightist opposition [david gamkrelidze] bloc composed of industrialists and new right party; socialist party or spg [irakli mindeli]; traditionalists [akaki asatiani]; union of national forces-conservatives [koba davitashvili and zviad dzidziguri] political pressure groups and leaders: georgian independent deputies from abkhaz government in exile; separatists in the breakaway regions of abkhazia and south ossetia; supporters of the late ousted president zviad gamsakhurdya international organization participation: acct (observer). bsec. ce. cis. eapc. ebrd. fao. guam. iaea. ibrd. icao. icc. icct. icftu. icrm. ida. ifad. ifc. ifrcs. ilo. imf. imo. interpol. ioc. iom. itu. miga. oas (observer). opcw. osce. pfp. un. unctad. unesco. unido. upu. wco. who. wipo. wmo. wtoo. wto diplomatic representation in the us: chief of mission: ambassador levan mikeladze chancery: suite 602. 1101 15th street nw. washington. dc 20005 telephone: [1] (202) 387-4537 fax: [1] (202) 393-4537 diplomatic representation from the us: chief of mission: ambassador john f. tefft embassy: 11 george balanchine st.. t'bilisi 0131 mailing address: 7060 tbilisi place. washington. dc 20521-7060 telephone: [995] (32) 27-70-00 fax: [995] (32) 53-23-10 flag description: white rectangle. in its central portion a red cross connecting all four sides of the flag; in each of the four corners is a small red bolnur-katskhuri cross; the five-cross flag appears to date back to the 14th century economy - overview: georgia's main economic activities include the cultivation of agricultural products such as citrus fruits. tea. hazelnuts. and grapes; mining of manganese and copper; and output of a small industrial sector producing alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. metals. machinery. and chemicals. the country imports the bulk of its energy needs. including natural gas and oil products. its only sizable internal energy resource is hydropower. despite the severe damage the economy has suffered due to civil strife. georgia. with the help of the imf and world bank. has made substantial economic gains since 1995. achieving positive gdp growth and curtailing inflation. georgia had suffered from a chronic failure to collect tax revenues. however. the new government is making progress in reforming the tax code. enforcing taxes. and cracking down on corruption. in addition. the privatisation process has taken off. permitting the government to boost expenditures on infrastructure. defence and poverty reduction. smuggling is a perennial drain on the economy. georgia also suffers from energy shortages; it privatized the t'bilisi electricity distribution network in 1998. but payment collection rates remain low. both in t'bilisi and throughout the regions. the country is pinning its hopes for long-term growth on its role as a transit state for pipelines and trade. the construction on the baku-t'bilisi-ceyhan oil pipeline and the baku-t'bilisi-erzerum gas pipeline have brought much-needed investment and job opportunities. nevertheless. high energy prices in 2006 will compound the pressure on the country's inefficient energy sector. restructuring the sector and finding energy supply alternatives to russia remains a major challenge. gdp (purchasing power parity): $16.13 billion (2005 est.) gdp (official exchange rate): $5.135 billion (2005 est.) gdp - real growth rate: 10% (2005 est.) gdp - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3.400 (2005 est.) gdp - composition by sector: agriculture: 16% industry: 26.8% services: 57.2% (2005 est.) labor force: 2.1 million (2001 est.) labor force - by occupation: agriculture 40%. industry 20%. services 40% (1999 est.) unemployment rate: 17% (2001 est.) population below poverty line: 54% (2001 est.) household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.3% highest 10%: 27.9% (1996) distribution of family income - gini index: 36.9 (2001) inflation rate (consumer prices): 8% (2005 est.) investment (gross fixed): 24.6% of gdp (2005 est.) budget: revenues: $872.5 million expenditures: $1.097 billion. including capital expenditures of na (2005 est.) agriculture - products: citrus. grapes. tea. hazelnuts. vegetables; livestock industries: steel. aircraft. machine tools. electrical appliances. mining (manganese and copper). chemicals. wood products. wine industrial production growth rate: 3% (2000) electricity - production: 8.634 billion kwh (2003) electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 19.7% hydro: 80.3% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001) electricity - consumption: 8.63 billion kwh (2003) electricity - exports: 250 million kwh (2003) electricity - imports: 850 million kwh (2003) oil - production: 1.982 bbl/day (2003) oil - consumption: 13.000 bbl/day (2003 est.) oil - exports: na (2001) oil - imports: na (2001) natural gas - production: 60 million cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - consumption: 1.16 billion cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.) natural gas - imports: 1.1 billion cu m (2001 est.) current account balance: $-439.3 million (2005 est.) exports: $1.4 billion (2005 est.) exports - partners: turkey 18.3%. turkmenistan 17.8%. russia 16.2%. armenia 8.4%. uk 4.9% (2004) imports: $2.5 billion (2005 est.) imports - partners: russia 14%. turkey 11%. uk 9.3%. azerbaijan 8.5%. germany 8.2%. ukraine 7.7%. us 6% (2004) reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $350.1 million (2005 est.) debt - external: $1.9 billion (2003) economic aid - recipient: oda $150 million (2000 est.) currency (code): lari (gel) currency code: gel exchange rates: lari per us dollar - 1.82 (2005). 1.9167 (2004). 2.1457 (2003). 2.1957 (2002). 2.073 (2001) fiscal year: calendar year telephones - main lines in use: 650.500 (2003) telephones - mobile cellular: 522.300 (2003) telephone system: general assessment: na domestic: local - t'bilisi and k'ut'aisi have cellular telephone networks; urban telephone density is about 20 per 100 people; rural telephone density is about 4 per 100 people; intercity facilities include a fiber-optic line between t'bilisi and k'ut'aisi; nationwide pager service is available international: country code - 995; georgia and russia are working on a fiber-optic line between p'ot'i and sochi (russia); present international service is available by microwave. landline. and satellite through the moscow switch; international electronic mail and telex service are available radio broadcast stations: am 7. fm 12. shortwave 4 (1998) radios: 3.02 million (1997) television broadcast stations: 12 (plus repeaters) (1998) televisions: 2.57 million (1997) internet country code: .ge internet hosts: 5.160 (2004) internet service providers (isps): 6 (2000) internet users: 150.500 (2003) airports: 30 (2004 est.) airports - with paved runways: total: 19 over 3.047 m: 1 2.438 to 3.047 m: 7 1.524 to 2.437 m: 5 914 to 1.523 m: 4 under 914 m: 2 (2005 est.) airports - with unpaved runways: total: 6 1.524 to 2.437 m: 4 914 to 1.523 m: 1 under 914 m: 1 (2005 est.) heliports: 3 (2005 est.) pipelines: gas 1.697 km; oil 1.027 km; refined products 232 km (2004) railways: total: 1.612 km (1.612 km electrified) broad gauge: 1.575 km 1.520-m gauge (1.575 electrified) narrow gauge: 37 km 0.912-m gauge (37 electrified) (2004) roadways: total: 20.247 km paved: 7.973 km unpaved: 12.274 km (2003) merchant marine: total: 175 ships (1.000 grt or over) 855.908 grt/1.288.812 dwt by type: bulk carrier 22. cargo 133. container 3. liquefied gas 1. passenger 1. passenger/cargo 3. petroleum tanker 6. refrigerated cargo 4. roll on/roll off 1. specialized tanker 1 foreign-owned: 105 (albania 1. azerbaijan 2. cyprus 2. egypt 3. estonia 1. germany 1. greece 4. israel 1. lebanon 3. romania 6. russia 8. syria 27. turkey 14. ukraine 30. uae 2) registered in other countries: 1 (2005) ports and terminals: bat'umi. p'ot'i transportation - note: transportation network is in poor condition resulting from ethnic conflict. criminal activities. and fuel shortages; network lacks maintenance and repair military branches: ground forces (includes national guard). air and air defense forces. maritime defense force. interior forces military service age and obligation: 18 to 34 years of age for compulsory and voluntary active duty military service; conscript service obligation - 18 months (2005) manpower available for military service: males age 18-49: 1.038.736 (2005 est.) manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 827.281 (2005 est.) manpower reaching military service age annually: males: 38.857 (2005 est.) military expenditures - dollar figure: $23 million (fy00) military expenditures - percent of gdp: 0.59% (fy00) military - note: a cis peacekeeping force of russian troops is deployed in the abkhazia region of georgia together with a un military observer group; a russian peacekeeping battalion is deployed in south ossetia disputes - international: russia and georgia agree on delimiting 80% of their common border. leaving certain small. strategic segments and the maritime boundary unresolved; osce observers monitor volatile areas such as the pankisi gorge in the akhmeti region and the argun gorge in abkhazia; un observer mission in georgia has maintained a peacekeeping force in georgia since 1993; meshkheti turks scattered throughout the former soviet union seek to return to georgia; boundary with armenia remains undemarcated; ethnic armenian groups in javakheti region of georgia seek greater autonomy from the georgian government; azerbaijan and georgia cannot resolve the alignment of their boundary at certain crossing areas refugees and internally displaced persons: idps: 260.000 (displaced from abkhazia and south ossetia) (2004) illicit drugs: limited cultivation of cannabis and opium poppy. mostly for domestic consumption; used as transshipment point for opiates via central asia to western europe and russia
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