Forgotten world (25): Georgia
As the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, independence was achieved by countries which had previously enjoyed it, including Georgia with a population of around 4.5 million.
The Georgian Eduard Shevardnadze, the USSR’s minister for foreign affairs, was one of the main architects of the Perestroika reforms of the late 1980s. However, on returning to an independent Georgia, for 11 years he led an authoritarian regime until his government was deposed in November 2003 by a popular movement known as the Rose revolution.
Once a relatively affluent part of the USSR, with independence Georgia lost the cheap energy to which it had access in the Soviet period. The rupturing of trading ties caused the economy to nose-dive. However, the economy bounced back in 2005 with 8% growth.
Since independence, the people of Georgia have also endured periods of civil war and unrest as well as violence related to the independence aspirations of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Both regions have close ties with Moscow.