Georgia
Background:
The region of present-day Georgia contained the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Kartli-Iberia. The area came under Roman influence in the first centuries A.D. and Christianity became the state religion in the 330s. Domination by Persians, Arabs, and Turks was followed by a Georgian golden age (11th-13th centuries) that was cut short by the Mongol invasion of 1236. Subsequently, the Ottoman and Persian empires competed for influence in the region. Georgia was absorbed into the Russian Empire in the 19th century. Independent for three years (1918-1921) following the Russian revolution, it was forcibly incorporated into the USSR until the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. An attempt by the incumbent Georgian government to manipulate national legislative elections in November 2003 touched off widespread protests that led to the resignation of Eduard SHEVARDNADZE, president since 1995. New elections in early 2004 swept Mikheil SAAKASHVILI into power along with his National Movement party. Progress on market reforms and democratization has been made in the years since independence, but this progress has been complicated by Russian assistance and support to the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. After a series of Russian and separatist provocations in summer 2008, Georgian military action in South Ossetia in early August led to a Russian military response that not only occupied the breakaway areas, but large portions of Georgia proper as well. Russian troops pulled back from most occupied Georgian territory, but in late August 2008 Russia unilaterally recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This action was strongly condemned by most of the world's nations and international organizations.
Geography
Area: 69,700 square kilometers; slightly smaller than South Carolina; 20% of total territory is not under government control.
Cities: Capital Tbilisi (population 1.1 million, 2002).
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective Georgian(s).
Population (July 2008 est.): 4.63 million.
Population growth rate (2008 est.): -0.33%.
Ethnic groups (2002 census): Georgian 83.8%, Azeri 6.5%, Armenian 5.7%, Russian 1.5%, other 2.5%.
Religion (2002 census): Orthodox Christian 83.9%, Muslim 9.9%, Armenian Apostolic 3.9%, Catholic 0.8%; other 0.8%; none 0.7%.
Language: Georgian 71% (official), Russian 9%, Armenian 7%, Azeri 6%, other 7%. Abkhaz also "official language" in Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia.
Education: Years compulsory 11. Literacy (2004 est.) 100%.
Health: Infant mortality rate (2008 est.) 16.78 deaths/1,000 live births. Life expectancy (2008 est.) 76.5 yrs.
Economy
GDP (purchasing power parity):$22.93 billion (2008 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):$13.28 billion (2008 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 6.7% (2008 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):$5,000 (2008 est.)
Natural resources: Forests, hydropower, nonferrous metals, manganese, iron ore, copper, citrus fruits, tea, wine.
Industry: Types--steel, aircraft, machine tools, foundry equipment (automobiles, trucks, and tractors), tower cranes, electric welding equipment, fuel re-exports, machinery for food packing, electric motors, textiles, shoes, chemicals, wood products, bottled water, and wine.
Trade (2007 est.): Exports--$2.1 billion. Partners--Turkey, United States, Azerbaijan, United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Turkmenistan. Imports--$4.98 billion. Partners--Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Germany, United States, Bulgaria.
Work force (2.02 million in 2007): Agriculture: 55.6%, industry: 8.9%, services: 35.5%. Unemployment (2006 est.): 13.6%.
Georgia's economy sustained GDP growth of close to 10% in 2006 and 12% in 2007, based on strong inflows of foreign investment and robust government spending. However, growth slowed to less than 7% in 2008 and is expected to slow further in 2009. Georgia's main economic activities include the cultivation of agricultural products such as grapes, citrus fruits, and hazelnuts; mining of manganese and copper; and output of a small industrial sector producing alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, metals, machinery, aircraft and chemicals. The country imports nearly all its needed supplies of natural gas and oil products. It has sizeable hydropower capacity, a growing component of its energy supplies. Areas of recent improvement include growth in the construction, banking services, and mining sectors, but reduced availability of external investment and the slowing regional economy are emerging risks. Georgia has historically suffered from a chronic failure to collect tax revenues; however, the government has made great progress and has reformed the tax code, improved tax administration, increased tax enforcement, and cracked down on corruption since coming to power in 2004. Government revenues have increased nearly four fold since 2003. Due to improvements in customs and tax enforcement, smuggling is a declining problem. Georgia has overcome the chronic energy shortages of the past by renovating hydropower plants and by bringing in newly available natural gas supplies from Azerbaijan, signing a Memorandum of Understanding and gas supply agreements in Fall 2008. It also has an increased ability to pay for more expensive gas imports from Russia. The country is pinning its hopes for long-term growth on a determined effort to reduce regulation, taxes, and corruption in order to attract foreign investment, but the economy faces a more difficult investment climate both domestically and internationally. The construction on the Baku-T'bilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Baku-T'bilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline, and the Kars-Akhalkalaki Railroad are part of a strategy to capitalize on Georgia's strategic location between Europe and Asia and develop its role as a transit point for gas, oil and other goods.
|
Copyright © 2010 East Europe Franchise Forum. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
NewsThe worldwide chain of McDonald's fast food restaurants plans to invest around US $1 bn into developing its franchises in Europe next year, the Reuters newswire reported. At the same time, they will pay greater attention to developing countries. "The potential for growth in Central and Eastern Europe is huge. We have only opened 350 restaurants in Ukraine, Poland and Romania, which have a combined population of more than 100 million and flourishing economies", says Executive Director Ralf Alvarez. There are 63 McDonald's restaurants in Ukraine in 19 cities. The total amount of investments since they began operating in Ukraine (since 1997) exceeded US $100 mn. McDonald's Ukraine has around 5,000 employees across the country. Reuters Sep 2008
|
