Georgia - Country Profile

Georgia is located in the mountainous South Caucasus region of Eurasia, straddling Western Asia and Eastern Europe between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Georgia's northern border with Russia roughly runs along the crest of the Great Caucasus mountain range – a commonly reckoned boundary between Europe and Asia. The Southern boundary coincides with the mountainous system of the Minor Caucasus. The Western part of the country is washed by the Black Sea.

Georgia's proximity to the bulk of Europe, combined with various cultural and political factors, has led increasingly to the inclusion of Georgia in Europe. Some sources place the country in that region  as well. Georgia has joined European organizations such as the Council of Europe, and is seeking membership in NATO and accession to the European Union.
Declaring the independence in April, 1991, Georgia entered a long period of transition from the Soviet Republic to an autonomous administrative, political, economical and socio-cultural system. On 31 July 1992, Georgia became the 179th Member of the United Nations.

During these challenging years of building independence Georgia had gone through economic crisis, political instability and the civil war. The armed conflicts and displacements of almost 247,000 people from South Ossetia and Abkhazia in early 90’s led to extreme hardship of the transition period characterized by marked deterioration in the economic, social and health care sectors.

Political Context

For Georgia the turbulent period of early independence after the break of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in civil war, displacement of almost 247,000 people from Abkhazia (1992-1993) and Tskhinvali Region (1989-1992) and two frozen conflicts.

From early 2004 onwards, after the Government change following the Rose Revolution on November 2003, a new, young and dynamic Government, seized the momentum: it embarked on a very ambitious, fast, and complex reform process. Strategic objectives of the Government are: a free, democratic, equitable and prosperous State of Georgia. Georgia also intends to integrate into European and Euro-Atlantic structures. However, strong economic growth has so far not yet had the desired effect on employment and poverty. Unemployment reached 13.8% in 2005 and poverty incidence to 39.4% in 2005.

Economy

After a severe economic crisis at the beginning of the 1990s, Georgia has made a significant economic recovery since 1995, with the support of the IMF and World Bank. There has been a growth in GDP and a drop in inflation. In 2007 Georgia's GDP growth rate reached 12%, making Georgia one of the fastest growing economies in Eastern Europe.
However, strong economic growth has so far not yet had the desired effect on employment and poverty. Unemployment reached 13.8% in 2005 and poverty level is 21. 3%. After August crisis GDP growth slowed to less than 7% in 2008. Recent forecasts are for economic growth to slow in response to the August 2008 conflict and global economic crisis.
Georgia's main economic activity is farming, with the production of citrus fruits, tea, hazelnuts and grapes. In addition to wine production there is mineral mining and production of metals, machinery and chemicals.

Administration

The capital of Georgia is Tblisi. There are nine regions, nine cities and two autonomous republics in Georgia.
Georgia's head of state is the President, who is elected for five years. The current President is Mikheil Saakashvili (since January 2004).

Situation Assessment

The economic growth observed in the recent years was hindered by hostilities in Tskhinvali region in August 2008, which led to the displacement of almost 136,000 people from South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions.

Over the past decade, the country has been experiencing the challenges of depopulation and aging as a consequence of low birth rate and growing immigration due to rise in poverty and lack of employment opportunities. Fertility rate fell below replacement level at 1.6 lifetime births per woman; labour migration of economically active people of reproductive age is another important factor which has lead to a population that is ageing with nearly 16 percent being over the age of 65. Average life expectancy was 72 years at birth in 2007.

In order to tackle further challenges including ageing and the decline in population, the Government needs to develop and implement effective policies, reform its statistical system and ensure the availability of reliable population data segregated by gender, age and geographic location. The state allocations for the general census, planned for 2010 are limited and donors’ assistance is sought.

During the last decade, the health reforming process has not made significant achievements in quality and access to RH services; due to the privatization of the health facilities, poorly developed insurance schemes and growing prices for health services the health conditions of population largely depends on population’s ability to pay and on donors’ assistance.

Despite the sharp decrease in the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions over the last decades (according to official statistics number of abortions in 1991 was 89,091 and in 2007 49,476) and fast growth of the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) (20% in 1999 and 27% in 2005) unmet need for family planning is still high (22% in 2005) and the Total Induced Abortion Rate (TIAR) is 3.1 (2005); Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) dropped from over 45.3 per 100,000 live births in 2004 to 20.2 in 2007.

Despite the growing incidence of reproductive system cancers among population (breast cancer incidence rate per 100,000 was 40.9 and cervical cancer incidence rate per 100,000 was 10.9 in 2007), limited availability and affordability of screening services remains a problem in the country.

HIV/AIDS is another concern in the country. Though currently the HIV/AIDS prevalence rates remain at low levels, the high risk environment including widespread injecting drug use and intensive population movement between neighboring high prevalence countries cause Georgia to be at risk of a wide scale epidemic, especially among young people: the country does not have youth targeted policies and strategies, addressing the most critical areas of youth health and development.

During the last several years significant steps have been taken to improve the legislation and policy on gender equality. In 2006 the Parliament adopted the Concept on Gender Equality that aims to encourage the equal implementation of the rights and opportunities for women and men, and the Law on Domestic Violence. The National Action Plans for implementation of both the Gender Equality Concept and the Law on Domestic Violence were approved by the Government and are being implemented currently. The Advisory Council on Gender Equality Issues at the Chair of the Parliament is the only functioning Gender Equality national machinery in the country for the time being. At the end of 2008, the Interagency Council was established by the Decree of the President to coordinate and monitor implementation of the Domestic Violence Law, which clearly shows the government commitment to combat domestic violence in the country.

Despite these efforts the challenges still remain: the nominal wage of women in all sectors of economy is lower than the nominal wage of men (240.2 GEL vs. 475.6 GEL in 2007); women’s participation in political decision-making at all levels is minimal (there are only 7 women MPs out of 139 in the Parliament and women comprise only 11% of elected members in the local municipalities).

• Total population : 4.394 million
• Population growth rate:  1.8 per 1,000 population
• Population 10-24 years old:   23%
• Population 60 and over:   18.1%
• Urban population:  52.6%
• Life expectancy at birth

• Female:  74.7 years
• Male:  69.1 years
• Total:  72 years

• Total fertility rate: 1.6
• Infant mortality rate: 14.1 per 1,000 live births
• Maternal mortality ratio: 20.2 per 100,000 live births
• GDP per capita, PPP (USD): 2314.6
• GINI coefficient: 0.42 

Printable Version