Georgia country profile
Situated at the strategically important crossroads where Europe meets Asia, Georgia has a unique and ancient cultural heritage, and is famed for its traditions of hospitality and cuisine.
Over the centuries, Georgia was the object of rivalry between Persia, Turkey and Russia, before being eventually annexed by Russia in the 19th century.
Since emerging from the collapsing Soviet Union as an independent state in 1991, Georgia has again become the arena of conflicting interests. Increasing US economic and political influence in the country has long been a source of concern for neighbouring Russia, as have Georgia's aspirations to join NATO and the EU.
Tense relations with Russia have been further exacerbated by Moscow's support for the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Population 4.3 million
Area 69,700 sq km (26,911 sq miles)
Major languages Georgian, Russian widely spoken
Major religion Christianity
Life expectancy 71 years (men), 77 years (women)
President: Giorgi Margvelashvili
Giorgi Margvelashvili took office in November 2013, bringing to an end the decade-long presidency of charismatic reformer Mikhail Saakashvili.
Mr Margvelashvili, a former philosophy lecturer, assumed a weakened role because constitutional changes that come into force with his inauguration transferred a raft of key powers from the president to the prime minister.
Prime Minister: Giorgi Kvirikashvili
Giorgi Kvirikashvili took over as prime minister following the sudden resignation of his predecessor Irakli Garibashvili in December 2015.
Both men belong to the Georgian Dream coalition, which was founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili and drove the party of then President Mikheil Saakashvili from power in parliamentary elections in 2012.
Many observers suspect Mr Ivanishvili continues to run the show from the sidelines - an accusation he denies.
- Read full profiles
Television is the main source of news, and accounts for the lion's share of the advertising market. There are dozens of cable operators and a handful of major commercial stations. Newspaper readership is generally low.
Government-funded Georgian Public Broadcasting has replaced the former state radio and TV. The state has relinquished other media assets, including newspapers and a news agency.
The constitution provides for freedom of speech, and journalists often criticise officials. US-based Freedom House says Georgia "has the freest and most diverse media landscape in its region," although "objective news is only available from a few sources."
- Read full media profile
Some key dates in Georgia's modern history:
1801-04 - Most of present-day Georgia becomes part of the Russian Empire.
1879 - History's best-known Georgian, future Soviet leader Iosif Dzhugashvili (Joseph Stalin), is born in the town of Gori.
1918 - Independent Georgian state declared in wake of Russian Revolution.
1921 - Red Army invades, Georgia absorbed into emerging Soviet Union.
1956 - Protests against Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev's de-Stalinisation policy turn violent and prompt calls for secession from the USSR; they are brutally crushed by Soviet forces.
1989 - Demands for more autonomy in the South Ossetia region lead to violent clashes between Georgians and Ossetians. Soviet - later Russian - peacekeepers are deployed.
1991 - Georgian parliament declares secession from the Soviet Union after independence is overwhelmingly supported in a referendum.
1993 - Separatists drive Georgian troops driven out of almost all of Abkhazia, which becomes an internationally unrecognised breakaway state under Russian tutelage.
2008 - Georgia is drawn into a war in breakaway South Ossetia, which sees Russian forces intervene and evict Georgia's forces from its remaining areas of control in the region, as well as Abkhazia.
- Read full timeline