Thanks for watching...... 1) Sukhumi 2) Gagra 3) Gali 4) Gudauta 5) New Athos 6) Ochamchira 7) Pitsunda 8) Tkvarcheli 9) Bzyb 10) Ilori Abkhazia is a disputed territory and partially recognized state controlled by a separatist government on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus. Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny. This status is recognised by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, and also by the partially recognised state of South Ossetia, and the unrecognised Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh. The Georgian government and the majority of the world's governments consider Abkhazia a part of Georgia's territory, though Georgia is not in control of it. Under Georgia's official designation it is an autonomous republic, called the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, whose government sits in exile in Tbilisi. The status of Abkhazia is a central issue of the Georgian--Abkhazian conflict. The wider region formed part of the Soviet Union until 1991. As the Soviet Union began to disintegrate towards the end of the 1980s, ethnic tensions grew between the Abkhaz and Georgians over Georgia's moves towards independence. This led to the 1992--1993 War in Abkhazia that resulted in a Georgian military defeat, de facto independence of Abkhazia and the mass exodus and ethnic cleansing of the Georgian population from Abkhazia. In spite of the 1994 ceasefire agreement and years of negotiations, the status dispute has not been resolved, and despite the long-term presence of a United Nations monitoring force and a Russian-dominated Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peacekeeping operation, the conflict has flared up on several occasions. In August 2008, the sides again fought during the South Ossetia War, which was followed by the formal recognition of Abkhazia by Russia, the annulment of the 1994 ceasefire agreement and the termination of the UN and OSCE missions. On 28 August 2008, the Parliament of Georgia passed a resolution declaring Abkhazia a Russian-occupied territory. A major part of international community considers Abkhazia to be occupied by Russian military. Russia does not allow the EUMM monitors to enter Abkhazia. Abkhazia, Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and South Ossetia are post-Soviet "frozen conflict" zones. These four states maintain friendly relations with each other and form the Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations. Between the 9th and 6th centuries BC, the territory of modern Abkhazia was part of the ancient Georgian kingdom of Colchis ("Kolkha"). This kingdom was subsequently absorbed in 63 BC into the Kingdom of Egrisi, known to Byzantine Roman sources as "Lazica". Between 1000 and 550 BC, Greeks established trade colonies along the coast of the Black Sea, in particular at Pitiunt and Dioscurias, which was to become the capital of modern day Abkhazia. They encountered local warlike tribes who they called Heniochi.[citation needed] Classical authors described various peoples living in the region and the great multitude of languages they spoke. Arrian, Pliny and Strabo have given accounts of the Abasgoi (generally considered ancestors of the modern Abkhazians) and Moschoi (generally considered as ancestors of Georgian Meskhetians) peoples somewhere in modern Abkhazia on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. The Roman Empire conquered Egrisi in the 1st century AD and ruled it until the 4th century, following which it regained a measure of independence, but remained within the Byzantine Empire's sphere of influence. Although the exact time when the population of the region of Abkhazia was converted to Christianity has not been determined, it is known that the Metropolitan of Pitius participated in the First Ecumenical Council in 325 in Nicaea. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abkhazia

• published: 09 Jul 2014
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