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Kakheti

Kakheti is a province in Eastern Georgia. It is bordered by the small mountainous province of Tusheti and mountain-range of Greater Caucasus to the north, Azerbaijan to the east and the south, and the Georgian province of Kartli to the west.

Kakheti is geographically divided into the Inner Kakheti to the east of Tsiv-Gombori mountain-range and the Outer Kakheti to the west of it. The major river of the eastern part is Alazani, of the western part - Iori. Kakhetians speak a local dialect of Georgian. Kakheti's ISO code is GE-KA.

Kakheti was an independent feudal principality since the end of the 8th century. It was incorporated into the united Georgian Kingdom at the beginning of the 11th century, but for less than a decade. Only in the beginning of the 12th century Georgian King David the Builder (10891125) annexed Kakheti to his Kingdom successfully. After the disintegration of the Georgian Kingdom, Kakheti became an independent Kingdom in the 1460s. In 1762 the Kakhetian Kingdom was united with the neighboring Georgian Kingdom of Kartli, with the capital of the former, Telavi, becoming the capital of the united Eastern-Georgian Kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti. Both Kingdoms were weakened by frequent Persian invasions. In 1801 the Kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti was annexed to the Tsarist Russian Empire.

In 19181921 Kakheti was part of independent Democratic Republic of Georgia, in 19221936 part of Transcaucasian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic and in 1936–1991 part of Georgian SSR. Since the Georgian independence in 1991, Kakheti is a region in the Republic of Georgia and Telavi is still its capital.

Last updated: 09-12-2005 02:39:13