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Sukhumi
Sokhumi, Sukhum, Aqwa | |
|---|---|
City | |
 Colonnade, Embankment, Panoramic, Beach panorama, former building of the Council of Ministers | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Location of Sukhumi in Abkhazia  Location of Sukhumi in Georgia | |
| Coordinates: 43°00′12″N 41°00′55″E / 43.00333°N 41.01528°E | |
| Country (de jure) |  Georgia |
| Country (de facto) |  Abkhazia[a] |
| Settled | 6th century BC |
| City status | 1848 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Beslan Eshba |
| Area | |
| • Total | 372 km2 (144 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 140 m (460 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 5 m (16 ft) |
| Population (2018) | |
| • Total | 65,439[1] |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (MSK) |
| Postal code | 384900 |
| Area code | +7 840 22x-xx-xx +995 442 xx-xx-xx |
| Vehicle registration | ABH |
| Website | www |
Sukhumi (see also other names) is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the capital and largest city of the Republic of Abkhazia, a partially recognised state that most countries consider a part of Georgia. The city has been controlled by Abkhazia since the Abkhazian war in 1992–93. The city, which has an airport, is a port, major rail junction and a holiday resort because of its beaches, sanatoriums, mineral-water spas and semitropical climate. It is also a member of the International Black Sea Club.[2]
Sukhumi's history can be traced to the 6th century BC, when it was settled by Greeks, who named it Dioscurias. During this time and the subsequent Roman period, much of the city disappeared under the Black Sea. The city was named Tskhumi when it became part of the Kingdom of Abkhazia and then the Kingdom of Georgia. Contested by local princes, it became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 1570s, where it remained until it was conquered by the Russian Empire in 1810.
After a period of conflict during the Russian Civil War, it briefly became part of the Democratic Republic of Georgia,[3] until it was again taken by the Bolsheviks. Within the Soviet Union, Sukhumi served as the capital of the Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia and then the Abkhaz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Georgian SSR. It was also a popular holiday destination. As the Soviet Union dissolved in the early 1990s, the city suffered significant damage during the Abkhaz–Georgian conflict. The present-day population of 60,000 is only half of the population living there toward the end of Soviet rule.[citation needed]
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- ^ "Государственный комитет Республики Абхазия по статистике". ugsra.org.
- ^ "International Black Sea Club, members". Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
- ^ Hoiberg, Dale H., ed. (2010). "Abkhazia". Encyclopedia Britannica. Vol. I: A-ak Bayes (15th ed.). Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. pp. 33. ISBN 978-1-59339-837-8.