All European tourists who have visited Georgia have considered Georgian women the most beautiful since ancient times. Moreover, these are Europeans and Asians, as well as Turks, Arabs and Persians. They all dreamed of mixing the blood of their nation with the Georgian, so that the children would turn out just as beautiful. By the way, the Persians eventually succeeded.

(Immanuel Kant - German philosopher, founder of German classical philosophy)

Old traveler Chardin said that the Persians were very beautiful and stately. There was not a single famous Persian whose mother was not Georgian or Circassian. He emphasized that these nationalities had incredible beauty.

(Charles Darwin - English naturalist and traveler)

Ritzel said: Wherever I have been and no matter how many women I have seen, Georgians are the most beautiful creatures in the world.

(German scientist Ritzel ("Znob. Purzeli" No. 1020))

The famous Chardin writes in 1671:

“The Kartvelian tribe is the most beautiful in the entire East and even, I can say, in the whole world. Here I could not see a single ugly person and not a single ugly woman. They are all beautiful. Most Georgian women are gifted with such charm that you will not find anywhere else. It is difficult to depict the beauty of the face and grace of the figure of a Georgian woman: they are personable, gentle, and have a thin figure. You rarely see fat women.”

Memoire sur l'ethnographie de la Perse" (Paris, 1866):

“The Georgian nation has long been distinguished by the grace of its type, and the Persians and Turks owe to the purity of Georgian and Circassian blood the improvement of their naturally rude type, which was helped by countless evictions that have been carried out from Georgia and Circassia for a long time.”

Emile Francois Dessen

“...Georgians, although a warlike people, know how to appreciate pleasure. Cuisine and dancing are their strongest national traits. In the numerous gardens bordering Tiflis, and on the terraces - the roofs of the Tiflis sakels - you can often see flocks of young girls and boys performing fiery dances…»

“In appearance, Georgians are among the most beautiful peoples globe; they are tall and strongly built, have a delicate and clear complexion, luxurious hair and big eyes. Georgians are kind-hearted, affectionate and extremely hospitable. Their passion for dancing and singing is remarkable...” (from “Geography Russian Empire” 1892). Blumenbach considered the ideal of a person whose origin was Georgian, believing that this was the prototype white man. He wrote: Caucasian type - for study I took exactly this type, the mountain type of the Caucasus, because its southern slope produces the most beautiful race people, by this race I primarily mean Georgians.”

Georgian-Circassian settlements in Iran

Mixed Georgian-Circassian settlements, as well as separate Circassian settlements, were founded in the 17th century. in Fars province. Pietro Della Valle, who visited these places in 1621, noted that the plain around Asupas was dotted with Circassian and Georgian settlements. The settlements of Circassians and Georgians in Kashk-i-Zar and Main were called upon, according to the Shah’s plan, to protect the Isfahan-Shiraz road from Kurdish robbery raids.

Sir Thomas Herbert passed through the area in 1627: “We spent the next night at Azupas; in and around it live at least forty thousand Georgians and Sarkash (Circassians) who profess Christianity; they venerate Saint George and consider the Cappadocian bishop their patron.

They are distinguished from Muslims by their gray eyes, which Aristotle considered the most important sign of temperament, in contrast to the black color of most Persians; as well as long blond hair, which they, like the ancient dandies from the descriptions of Pliny and Lucian, tie together with thin bandages of silk, gold or silver. And if one of them converts to Islam, which happens more and more often, they consider it very despicable. Poor souls! When they learned that we were Christians, they crowded around us and many of them shed tears.”

(Quoted from: Oberling P. Georgians and Circassians in Iran, p.140.)

Georgians are a warlike and fearless people. They are brave warriors, strong in body and firm in faith. The countless army of Georgians inspires fear in the Saracens. Many times they caused great damage to Persia, Media and Assyria, near whose borders they live, always surrounded by tribes of infidels.

These people call themselves Georgians because they worship and venerate St. George, whom they chose as their patron and put his image on their banners, which they carry during battle. They revere George above all other saints. The Persians called the Georgians “gurj”, which means wolf, and their country gurjistan is the country of wolves.

The Arab chronicler and politician al-Umari (died 1348) describes the Georgians as "supporters of the religion of the cross", adding that the Mamluk sultans of Egypt usually addressed the Georgian ruler in their messages as "To the great monarch, hero, brave man, just to to his subjects, the successor of the Greek rulers, the defender of the land of his knights, the defender of the faith in Jesus, the sacred leader of Christian heroes, the best of friends and friend of rulers and sultans.” For their part, the Georgian rulers emphasized their role as defenders of the faith by placing on their coins the inscription “Sword of Faith” or “Defender of the Lord”, written in Arabic and Persian..."

David Lang. “Georgians. Guardians of the shrines."

35th place. Maka Gigauri

34th place. Tamara (Tamriko) Gverdtsiteli(born January 18, 1962, Tbilisi) - Soviet, Georgian and Russian singer, actress, composer, People's Artist Georgian SSR, People's Artist of Russia. Father - from ancient Georgian noble family Gverdtsiteli. Mother - granddaughter of an Odessa rabbi. Since Jews consider their nationality according to their mother, and Georgians - according to their father, Tamara Gverdtsiteli can be equally called both a Georgian and a Jew.

33rd place: - Soviet actress. She should not be confused with another Soviet actress Kira Georgievna Andronikashvili (1908-1960), who is her aunt.

32nd place. (February 20, 1923, Tbilisi - March 31, 1994) - Soviet actress, People's Artist of the Georgian SSR.

31st place. Elene Gedevanishvili(born January 7, 1990, Tbilisi) - Georgian figure skater, two-time bronze medalist of the European Championship (2010, 2012) in single skating.

30th place. Anna Chakvetadze(born March 5, 1987, Moscow) is a Russian tennis player who retired from playing in 2012. Won 8 WTA tournaments. Anna's father is from Georgia, her mother is from Ukraine.

29th place. Irina Onashvili- Georgian model, represented Georgia at Miss World 2003.

28th place. Taco Lolua- Georgian model.

27th place. Mariam Kilasonia- Miss Abkhazia 2009. The competition was held in Tbilisi, not in Abkhazia, and the winner is not an Abkhazian, but a Mingrelian (a sub-ethnic group of the Georgian people).

26th place. Lika Kavzharadze(born October 26, 1959, Tbilisi) - Soviet and Georgian actress. She became famous for her role as Marita in Tengiz Abuladze’s film “The Tree of Desire.”

25th place. Sofiko Chiaureli(May 21, 1937, Tbilisi - March 2, 2008) - Soviet and Georgian actress, People's Artist of the Georgian SSR (1976), People's Artist of the Armenian SSR (1979). She played in more than a hundred films.

Sofiko Chiaureli in the film "The Color of Pomegranates" (1968)

24th place. - opera singer(mezzo-soprano). Born in Tbilisi. She has performed at La Scala, the Mariinsky Theater and other theaters around the world.

23rd place. Sofia Nizharadze(born February 6, 1986, Tbilisi, Georgia) - Georgian and Russian singer, actress, songwriter. Played the role of Juliet in the Russian version French musical Roméo & Juliette (2004-2006, Moscow, Operetta Theater). In 2005, she represented Russia at the pop music competition “ New wave" In May 2010, she represented Georgia at the Eurovision Song Contest.

22nd place. Nino Makharadze- Georgian model who represented Georgia at the Miss Intercontinental 2012 competition.

21st place. Iya Ninidze(born September 8, 1960, Tbilisi) - Soviet Georgian and Russian theater and film actress, People's Artist of Georgia.

Iya Ninidze in the film "Nut Krakatuk" (1977)

20th place. Elena Satine(born November 24, 1987, Tbilisi) - American actress Georgian origin. Her real name - Skhirtladze.

19th place. Nonna Diakonidze- Georgian model who represented Georgia at the Miss Earth 2009 competition.

18th place. Lydia Tsirgvava(April 14, 1923, Harbin, China - December 31, 2013) - Soviet and Russian actress, artist. Better known as Lydia Vertinskaya(after the name of her husband - Russian singer Alexander Vertinsky). Mother of actresses Anastasia and Marianna Vertinsky, who are members of the.

16th place. Antisa Butskhrikidze- Georgian model.

15th place. Katie (Ketevan) Melua(born September 16, 1984, Kutaisi, Georgia) - British singer Georgian (Mingrelian) origin.

13th place. Dodo Chogovadze(born 1951) - Soviet actress, best known for her role as Princess Budur in the film " Magic lamp Aladdin" (1966).

12th place. Elena Tsiklauri- Georgian model, participant of the Miss Georgia 2014 contest.

11th place. (born November 29, 1991, Tbilis) - Georgian model, Miss Georgia 2011. She represented Georgia at Miss World 2011. Some believe that Janet Kerdikoshvili is by nationality, but she denies this and says that her parents are Mingrelians from Abkhazia.

10th place. Nebahat Chehre / Nebahat Çehre(born March 15, 1944, Samsun, Turkey) - Turkish actress, former model, Miss Turkey 1960. In Russia, she is best known for her role as Valide Sultan - the mother of Sultan Suleiman in the TV series " Magnificent Century"(2011-2012). Nebahat Chekhre's father is of Georgian origin, his mother is Laz (Lazi is a sub-ethnic group of the Georgian people).

Nebahat Chehre in his youth:

Nebahat Chehre at the age of 67 in the role of Valide Sultan in the TV series “The Magnificent Century”:

9th place. Manana Japaridze(born December 28, 1980, Tbilisi) - Azerbaijani singer of Georgian origin.

8th place. Veronica (Vera) Kobalia(born August 24, 1981, Sukhumi, Abkhazia) - Georgian and Canadian economist, public and political figure, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia in 2010 - 2012.

7th place. Nato Vachnadze(June 14, 1904, Warsaw, Poland - June 4, 1953) - Soviet actress, People's Artist of the Georgian SSR, Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Real name is Natalya Andronikashvili. Vachnadze is the surname of her first husband.

6th place. Nini Badurashvili(born December 27, 1985, Tbilisi) - Georgian actress and singer.

5th place. Mary Shervashidze-Eristova(October 17, 1895, Batumi, Georgia - January 21, 1986) - Russian princess, daughter of Prince Shervashidze, maid of honor of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. After her marriage to Prince Eristov, she took her husband’s surname. After Civil War went abroad, worked as a fashion model at the Chanel fashion house. Fashion historian Alexander Vasiliev in his book “Beauty in Exile” writes: “The fragile brunette Mary Eristova personified the type of beauty that was fashionable in the 20s. Her face and figure were perfectly suited to the Chanel style of those years, and Coco was also impressed, that for her, a provincial from Auvergne, “real Russian princesses” work. As they say, the portrait of Princess Mary was in the bedroom of Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco. When she woke up, she first looked at the picture and only then in the mirror, thus determining whether she looked good. Today.

4th place. - Georgian model. She represented Georgia at the Miss Tourism 2008 competition.

3rd place. Lika Metreveli(born March 17, 1993) - Georgian model, Miss Tbilisi 2009, Vice-Miss Georgia 2012, winner of the Georgian stage of the Elite Model Look 2012 competition.

2nd place. (born November 10, 1975, Tbilisi) - Russian journalist and TV presenter. Tina Kandelaki about her origin: “My mother Elvira Georgievna Alahverdova - I never made a secret of this. My father Givi Shalvovich Kandelaki is Georgian. Kandelaki is a Greek surname. The Greek priests who brought Christianity to Georgia were my distant ancestors. But assimilation occurred so deeply that the Kandelakis became 100 percent Georgians."

The most beautiful Georgian- Georgian model, actress and TV presenter, Miss Georgia 2007 Gvantsa Daraselia(born September 1, 1989, Tbilisi). She represented Georgia at the Miss Universe 2008 competition. She starred in the films “Girl from the Slide” (2009) and “City of Dreams” (2010).

All people are different appearance are divided into types. In Georgia this is especially noticeable, and this applies more to men. IN different corners Georgia you will have to deal with different types Georgians: bald and dark-haired, thin and stocky, pot-bellied and skinny, wide cheekbones and similar to “Italians” or “Armenians”.

How many regions are there in Georgia?

There are 12 regions in Georgia. The people of these regions differ in character, appearance, cuisine and surnames. Representatives of some regions make fun of others, but not at all out of malice.

The most popular region in terms of the number of jokes is Svaneti.
The Svan ethnic group is quite small and isolated. The Svans are jokingly called “wooden-headed”; the logic of the Svans’ behavior is very difficult to understand; often stubbornness overshadows logic to an extreme degree. A lot of jokes have been made up about them, sometimes even offensive.

And many people are afraid of the Svans, or rather, they are careful not to get involved with them, because they are hot-tempered, conflict-ridden, and in their veins, instead of blood, the spirit of “blood feud” flows.

The surname and them are similar to Italian and end in - ina, such as the famous mountaineer Khergiani, the ruler of Svaneti Dadiani, Iosediani, etc.

The Svans have their own language, and Svan cuisine is famous for its flatbreads with meat “kudbari”, “chvishtari” and Svan salt.
The Svans have always been famous for their bravery. Brave warriors were distinguished broad shoulders and tall. Having never been conquered by anyone, they retained the original genotype with blond hair and eyes.

Megrelia

Mingrelians are the closest neighbors of the Svans. They are called "Georgian Jews". By nature they are very enterprising and cunning. They make good businessmen, traders and simply entrepreneurs.

This one ethnic group It also has its own language, just like Svan, incomprehensible to anyone else. Mingrelians differ from Georgians from other regions in appearance; they are fair, red-haired, blue-eyed, tall and slender.

I consider myself purebred and prefer not to mix with other nations, including Georgians from other regions. Mingrelians are very hardworking and call themselves the “Georgian elite”.

The surnames of Mingrelians end in -iya, such as Beria, Gamsakhurdia, Danelia, etc. By the way, sometimes Mingrelians are called MenGrelians, and Megrelia MenGrelia.
From Mingrelian cuisine, such dishes as gomi, elarzhi, Mingrelian kuchmachi, Mingrelian kharcho and khachapuri came into general Georgian cuisine. Usually Mingrelian cuisine is very tasty and a little spicy.

Racha

Racha is called little Switzerland. Mountains, lakes, forests, waterfalls... The nature of this region is amazingly beautiful. The people are calm and kind. There was no blood feud here, as in neighboring Svaneti. Racha, located outside the main trade and military routes, was never conquered by anyone.

Racha people live in Racha. The Rachin people are the slowest of all known Georgians, but also the most cheerful. People laugh at them and call them “brakes.” On the topic of their slowness in Soviet times A film was made called "The Fastest in the World." By watching it you can understand the character of the Rachin people.

Rachin residents are known as excellent cooks. You will be very lucky if you get to the Racha people for a feast, which is not complete without chants and traditional Racha dishes: Racha ham, lobiani, shkmeruli and, of course, the famous “Khvanchkara”.

Adjara

Adjarians live near the Black Sea. Batumi is the capital of Adjara. Who hasn’t tried to conquer this tasty morsel, the port, access to the sea. The Greeks and Romans, Persians and Turks constantly laid claim not only to coastal territories, but also to mountainous areas.

The Adjarians had to get along with different neighbors, endure conquerors, remain under Turkish rule for three centuries, and even change their faith.

Dances, songs and cuisine in Adjara are very different from all other regions. And among the dishes, the most famous and favorite among the guests was “Adjarian khachapuri” in the shape of a boat with an egg, which resembles the sun of this warm region. Otherwise, Adjarian cuisine is very fatty, heavy, with the presence of ghee in almost all dishes.

Imeretians

Imeretians live in Imereti. The capital of Imereti is Kutaisi. By the way, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe. The Imeretians are proud of their glorious history, because they are the descendants of the Colchians - the inhabitants of the famous Colchis.

Impritinians have blue eyes and a hooked or fleshy nose. Imeritians are called sweet-tongued. They always say nice things, compliments and everything that will warm your ears.

In principle, “Aquarians” are found throughout Georgia,” but the Imeretians have earned a special reputation. You can only hope that the compliments addressed to you are sincere.

Imeritians are very hospitable; they will pour something into a glass and put it on a plate, as long as the dishes are not empty. They will wait patiently until you “roll out” from the table; there is no chance of leaving early.

By the way, we read about universal Georgian hospitality.
Imeritian khachapuri, Imeritian cheese, nadugi with mint, Tsolikauri and Tsitska wine are the main dishes of Imeretian cuisine.

Gurians

Sharp-tongued Gurians love to come up with rhymes, jokes, and jokes and know exactly how to “prick.” But no one is offended by them, because everyone knows the nature of the Gurian. They inherited swampy lands, with malarial mosquitoes and other horrors that contributed to the formation of the tough character of the Gurians.

Gurians are calm people, but you shouldn’t quarrel with them. If a Georgian has a wife from Guria, then sooner or later he will regret the choice he made. Gurian women good housewives, but powerful and tough.

The cuisine of the Gurians introduced Gurian khachapuri, special cheese and Gurian khachapuri into the Georgian culinary culture. From their cuisine we know Gurian khachapuri.

Eastern Georgia

Kakheti is a fertile wine region. Kakhetians are called hardworking donkeys, because from spring to autumn they will have to work in the fields. Vineyards, watermelon melons, sunflowers, peaches, nuts and pomegranates - all these gifts of nature are given to us by Kakheti.

Alazani Valley, southern spurs of the Caucasus Mountains, Iori and Alazani rivers. Trade routes passed through this territory, which meant merchants paid taxes. The rich, fertile region gave no rest to the enemies. Kakheti constantly suffered from enemy raids.

And the Persian Shah Abbas, who ravaged Kakheti at the beginning of the 17th century, forcibly resettled different areas Iran 200 thousand Georgian-Kakhetians, populating the Alazani Valley with Turkmens.

That is why Kakhetians are brunettes, many have black eyes and black eyebrows. They are often depicted as pot-bellied, because they are long winter evenings there is nothing left to do but while away the time with a jug of wine prepared with one’s own hands, snacking on the supplies stored until next summer.

Kakheti people love meat dishes- shish kebab, khashlama, and, of course, wine.

There are several other regions in Georgia, such as the highlands of Tusheti and Khevsureti. In Samtskhe-Javakheti, Georgians are in the minority, since due to various historical factors the Armenian or Azerbaijani population predominates in the region.

What others say about Georgians

Georgians − beautiful nation, With characteristic mentality. Do not try to convey to a Georgian a “subtle hint” in Russian, they will not understand you. In general, Georgians are very characterized by excessive pride, stubbornness and touchiness.

Regarding common features Georgian nation, it is worth noting that external beauty Georgians were noticed in ancient times by Herodotus, Gibbon and Strabo.

What do Europeans say about Georgians?

« Memoire sur l'ethnographie de la Perse“(Paris, 1866) “the Georgian nation has long been distinguished by the grace of its type and that the purity of the Georgian […] owes the Persians and Turks the improvement of their naturally rude type, which was helped by countless evictions, which have been carried out from Georgia for a long time […]” (Bakradze : “Archaeologist. Journey through Guria and Adjara”, p. VI)

The traveler Chardin (1671), who compiled the first guide to Transcaucasia for Europeans, Abbot Joseph Delaporte, the German scientist Ritzel, Pushkin and Lermontov did not remain indifferent to the Georgians.

Particular attention should be paid to the beauty of Georgian women. Their beauty captivated the Byzantine emperors, shahs and sultans. For example, the mother of Sultan Abdul-Mecid was formerly a Georgian slave, “even her noble posture and beautiful face historians are ready to explain the founder of the Trebizond Empire by the origin of the great Komnenos from Georgian ancestors,” the mother of the luminary Orthodox Church Afanasia the Great was also Georgian.

The wife of the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine Palaeologus, should have been the daughter of King George XVIII, if not for the final fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Traveler and writer Schweiger-Lerchenfeld writes:

“... However, the Georgian women sold into slavery were not at all as unhappy as we usually think. In essence, the change in their position could be called brilliant, dazzling. Georgian women are much more intelligent than Circassian women, more power-hungry and more skillful in intrigue; therefore, they not only quickly got used to new participation, but they also knew how to achieve decisively complete power in the harems of Mohammedan nobles.”

and finally:

“Since the time of Shah Abbas I,” says the late prof. Patkapov, the Persian shahs became in the habit of surrounding themselves with a Georgian squad and entrusting the Georgian princes with important positions of commander-in-chief, divanbeg, Ispagan “taruga” and khans in individual provinces. During the Sefid era, most of the Georgians, the upper class, traveled to Persia - to Kandahar, Khorasan, staying in these countries temporarily or forever. Their number in Persia during this time was so great (we also mean Georgians in the harems of the Shah and nobles) that they had a significant influence on the racial modification of the Persians of the upper classes.”

To meet representatives of different regions and learn something interesting about the country, feel free to choose a local resident with their signature excursions to

When talking about the inhabitants of the Caucasus, an image of a dark-skinned man with dark hair and thick black eyebrows immediately forms in my head. This is exactly what, according to the majority, Ossetians, Ingush, Georgians and Armenians look like. But often in families representatives of this group of nationalities have bright children. No, they are far from Scandinavian-type blondes, but light brown hair, gray, blue or green eyes are not so rare.

Mixed marriages: nature's lottery

Why is this happening? One of the reasons, of course, mixed marriages in previous generations. The “white-skinned” gene is recessive, so mixed couples are born with brunettes much more often. However, the genetic information is preserved and after a few generations a smiling, blue-eyed blond can be born. And then the young father should not grab his heart, but first of all he needs to look at the album with family photos. There will definitely be a golden-haired beauty or a man with hair the color of ripe wheat.

Ancestors' heritage

But not only close ancestors can cause the appearance of a fair-haired baby in a Caucasian family. It is enough to contact historical sources to find out that the ancestors of the Ossetians and Ingush were not at all similar to their contemporaries. In chronicles they are described as tall, with white skin and mostly blond hair.

The Alans, as this nomadic ethnic group was called, lived on a vast territory stretching from the Roman Empire to Asia. After numerous wars, some of them settled on the territory of modern Ossetia and Ingushetia and mixed with local tribes. But even here heredity came into play and evolutionary mechanisms – dark hair are inherited more often; in warm climates, having skin rich in melanin is much more comfortable. Therefore, the population gradually became more and more similar to their contemporaries.

Proof of this hypothesis are the notes of the ethnographer researcher I.I. Pantyukhova. He argued that the percentage of light eyes among certain peoples of the Caucasus ranges up to 30%, which is comparable to the indicators of Europeans and Slavs.

Blonde Circassians

Circassians were one of the most numerous nationalities living on the territory of the modern Stavropol Territory. Ethnographers described them as “fair-haired, with a red mustache and fair skin, gray or light brown eyes.”

However, during the Russian-Caucasian War, a significant part fled to Turkey. But many remained. The inhabitants of the village of Karm are genetically closest to the Circassians; it is difficult to distinguish them from a European until they begin to speak.

There is also a hypothesis that the Circassians are descendants of the Slavs, in particular the Cossacks, since the self-name “Cossacks” is often found in studies. (Russian antiquities in monuments of art. I. Tolstoy and N. Kondakov)

Caucasian Albanians

There also lived in the Caucasus a tribe called Albans - white-skinned, blond-haired Caucasians. They were strikingly different from the Turks, they were taller, and had completely different beliefs and culture. Even the self-name of the people comes from the Latin albus - “white”, which confirms the theory of historians about tribes that are not similar to the now widespread Caspian type.

Unfortunately, a significant part of the Albanians were destroyed during numerous wars with the Arabs, but “genetic echoes” are also found among contemporaries.

Svans

Unlike the Albanians, the Svans did not disappear, did not dissolve into turbulent cauldron small ethnic groups. They, like four thousand years ago, live in the highest mountainous region of Georgia (from 600 to 2500 meters above sea level). Their language is significantly different from Georgian, but is gradually disappearing, surviving only in the everyday speech of the older generation.

The Tsar's Colonel Bartholomew described these people as tall, with a proud profile, fair hair and blue eyes. He noted their simplicity and kindness, as well as the fact that the Svans sacredly respected their traditions. Their culture developed in isolation for a long time, which allowed them to maintain genetic homogeneity.

And even after uniting with Georgia into one state, the Georgians were afraid of the Svans. Blonde mountaineers honored traditions, and blood feud was one of the most common ways to resolve family disputes. Therefore, mixed marriages have become commonplace only in the last few decades. And the gene for “golden curls” often manifests itself, displacing the dominant Caspian appearance.

Chechens

Modern Chechens and Ingush are direct descendants of the Vainakhs, a Hurrian ethnic group. However, around the third millennium BC, these tribes mixed with others carrying the genetic characteristics of the Cromanoid race (modern representatives of this race are the Slavs, as well as Finns and Swedes).

The genetic “cocktail” explains such a wide variety of appearance types in Chechnya. When the genes of the Western Asian race dominate, the child is born dark-skinned, with dark hair. When the Cromanoid type takes over, the appearance is practically no different from the Slavic one.

Nomads: migration for salvation

Another genetic branch that became part of the ethnic heritage of the Caucasus, the predominantly fair-haired and white-skinned Cuman nomads, who fled numerous oppressions from warring tribes. They gradually assimilated and merged with local residents and actually disappeared into the dominant ethnic groups in the Ciscaucasia.

That is why fair-haired people are not at all uncommon among Caucasians - there are many of them in Chechnya and Dagestan, and in Armenia and Georgia. And this mixture of races is beautiful in its own way, because it is in once again reminds that every person who leaves descendants is immortal. A tiny part of it lives on for centuries. And after centuries, blue eyes look at the world, exactly the same as those of the young boy who built the legendary towers of Svaneti.

The Caucasus hides a lot the most interesting secrets. One of them is
.

The ancestors of the Georgians are mentioned in the Bible; the legendary Colchis, where the Argonauts sailed, was located on the territory of Georgia. It seems to us that we know a lot about Georgians, but their history and culture holds many mysteries.

1. Georgians call their country Sakartvelo. This toponym translates as “all of Kartli” and goes back to the name of the region of the same name. The toponym “Georgia” goes back to the name “Gurjistan” (country of wolves), found in Arab-Persian sources.

The European name of Georgia “Georgia” is also compared with the Arab-Persian name associated with the Georgian cult of St. George. Golden sculpture of the saint rises in the central square of Tbilisi.

2. The number of Georgians in the world is more than 4 million.

3. Georgians were one of the first peoples to adopt Christianity. According to one of the most common versions, this happened in 319. It is significant that, despite the global trend, the number of believers in Georgia is growing. Today, 80% of Georgians consider themselves Orthodox.

4. Georgian is an ancient written language. The oldest written monuments in the ancient Georgian language date back to the 5th century. These include a mosaic inscription from the first half of the 5th century near Jerusalem, as well as an inscription at Bolnisi Zion (60 km south of Tbilisi) from the end of the 5th century.

5. Georgians have a unique alphabet. In Kartvelian studies there are different hypotheses about the prototype of the Georgian letter. According to various theories, it is based on Aramaic, Greek or Coptic writing.

6. The self-name of Georgians is Kartvelebi.

7. The kingdom of Colchis is considered the first state mentioned by historians on the territory of Georgia. It was first mentioned in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. Greek authors Pindar and Aeschylus. It was to Colchis that the Argonauts sailed for the Golden Fleece.

8. There is no accent in the Georgian language, only the tone rises on a certain syllable. Also, Georgian does not have capital letters, and gender is determined by context.

9. Joseph Stalin is deservedly considered the most famous Georgian in the world.

10. In the Georgian language, the decimal system is used for naming numbers. To pronounce a number between 20 and 100, you need to divide it into twenties and say their number and remainder. For example: 33 is twenty-thirteen, and 78 is three-twenty-eighteen.

11. Words familiar to us from childhood in Georgia do not have the meanings to which we are accustomed. “Mama” in Georgian means dad, “deda” means mother, “bebia” means grandmother, “babua” or “papa” means grandfather.

12. There is no “f” sound in the Georgian language, and in borrowed words this sound is replaced with a “p” sound with a strong aspiration. Russian Federation in Georgian it will sound like: “Rusetis paderatsia”.

13. According to economist Kennan Eric Scott of the Washington Institute, during Soviet Union Georgians supplied 95% of tea and 97% of tobacco to Soviet shelves. The lion's share of citrus fruits (95%) also went to the regions of the USSR from Georgia.

14. In 1991, on the territory of Georgia, the remains of Dmanisian hominids were found, initially called Homo georgicus. They are almost 2 million years old (1 million 770 000). They were given the names Zezva and Mzia.

15. In Georgia, it is customary to eat kebabs and khinkali with your hands.

16. Despite the fact that in Georgia it is traditional high level homophobia, the level of tactile contact between Georgian men is very high. While walking, they can hold hands, sitting in coffee shops - touch each other.

17. In everyday communication, Georgians use words that for some reason they consider Russian, although for us they will not always be clear. Georgians call slippers chusts, wallpaper - trellises, beans - lobio, a T-shirt is often called anything worn above the waist, and boots are sneakers.

18. Georgians are rightfully proud of their wine. It began to be produced here 7,000 years ago, and today there are 500 varieties of cultivated grapes in Georgia. Every year the country hosts the Rtveli grape harvest festival.

19. Georgians are known for their hospitality. The guest in the house is more important than the owner. Therefore, in Georgian homes it is not customary to take off shoes.

20. Georgians are known for their love of long toasts, but not everyone knows that it is not customary to make toasts while Georgians drink beer.

Illustrations: Niko Pirosmani