- published: 23 Jan 2014
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Tours (French pronunciation: [tuʁ]) is a city located in the centre-west of France. It is the administrative centre of the Indre-et-Loire department and the largest city in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France (although it is not the capital, which is the region's second-largest city, Orléans). In 2012, the city of Tours had 134,978 inhabitants, while the population of the whole metropolitan area was 483,744.
Tours stands on the lower reaches of the River Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. The surrounding district, the traditional province of Touraine, is known for its wines, for the alleged perfection (as perceived by some speakers) of its local spoken French, and for the Battle of Tours, which took place in 732. The city is also the end-point of the annual Paris–Tours cycle race.
In Gallic times the city was important as a crossing point of the Loire. Becoming part of the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD, the city was named "Caesarodunum" ("hill of Caesar"). The name evolved in the 4th century when the original Gallic name, Turones, became first "Civitas Turonum" then "Tours". It was at this time that the amphitheatre of Tours, one of the five largest amphitheatres of the Empire, was built. Tours became the metropolis of the Roman province of Lugdunum towards 380–388, dominating the Loire Valley, Maine and Brittany. One of the outstanding figures of the history of the city was Saint Martin, second bishop who shared his coat with a naked beggar in Amiens. This incident and the importance of Martin in the medieval Christian West made Tours, and its position on the route of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, a major centre during the Middle Ages.
Abkhazia (Abkhaz: Аҧсны́ Apsny [apʰsˈnɨ]; Georgian: აფხაზეთი Apkhazeti [apʰxazɛtʰi]; Russian: Абхазия Abkhaziya) is a partially recognised 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 Aphsny. 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, the United Nations and the majority of the world's governments consider Abkhazia a part of Georgia's territory, though Georgia does not control it. Under Georgia's official designation it is an autonomous republic, called the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia.