Russians in Georgia

There is a small Russian population in Georgia, less than 0.5% of the total population in 2014,^[1] but rising to more than 3% by the end of 2022, and declining by 31,000 persons in 2023.^[2] For many years, Georgia was a part of the Russian Empire, and later the Soviet Union. As the two countries share a border, many Russians settled in various regions of Georgia. In 2022, thousands of Russians fled to Georgia, especially Russian men of fighting age, in order to escape mobilization in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

During the Soviet period, most Russians were urban dwellers and made up a disproportionately high percentage of the urban population.^{[citation needed]} In 1959, there were more than 125,000 Russians in Tbilisi alone (18,1%).^[3] In addition to that, Russians made up 36,8% of the population in Sokhumi (making them the largest ethnic group there at the time),^[4] 31,6% in Rustavi, 26,8% in Poti and 25,6% in Batumi. There was also a sizable rural Russian community in Ninotsminda, consisting mainly of members of the Doukhobor religious group. In many places, Russian served as the lingua franca, as is served as the language of interethnic communication with Georgia's many other minorities. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russian was not only abolished as the country's de facto official language, Georgia also faced several wars, economic hardship and ethnic tensions arose. This led to a strong emigration of Russians from Georgia, with their number decreasing from 341,172 in 1989^[5] to 67,671 in 2002 and further declining to only 26,453 in 2014.^[1]