View source for Names of Georgia

'''Georgia''' ({{Audio-IPA|en-us-Georgia.ogg|/ˈdʒɔrdʒə/}}) is an [[exonym]] for [[Georgia (country)|the nation]] in the [[Caucasus]] whose self-designation ([[autonym]]) is '''Sakartvelo''' ({{lang-ka|საქართველო}}, {{IPA2|sɑkʰɑrtʰvɛlɔ}}). The exonym has been variously explained as being derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] γεωργος ("tiller of the land"), the name of [[St. George]] and, most plausibly, from ancient [[Persian language|Persian]] designations of the [[Georgians]]. The native name is derived from the core central Georgian region of [[Kartli]] — [[Caucasian Iberia|Iberia]] of the [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] sources — around which the early medieval cultural and political unity of the Georgians was formed.

== Autonym ==
The native Georgian name for the country is Sakartvelo (საქართველო). The word consists of two parts. Its root, ''kartvel-i'' (sing., ქართველ-ი), originally referred to an inhabitant of the core central Georgian region of [[Kartli]] — [[Caucasian Iberia|Iberia]] of the [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] sources. By the early 9th century, the meaning of "Kartli" was expanded to other areas of medieval Georgia held together by religion, culture, and language. The Georgian [[circumflex]] ''sa''-X-''o'' is a standard geographic construction designating "the area where X dwell", where X is an [[ethnonym]].<ref name="Rapp">Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', pp. 419-423. Peeters Publishers, ISBN 90-429-1318-5</ref> 

The earliest reference to "Sakartvelo" occurs in the [[circa|c.]] 800 [[Georgian Chronicles|Georgian chronicle]] by Pseudo-Juansher. Within the next 200 years, this designation was reconfigured so that it came to signify the all-Georgian realm which came into existence with the political unification of Kartli/Iberia and Apkhazeti/[[Abasgia]] under [[Bagrat III of Georgia|Bagrat III]] in 1008. However, it was not until the early 13th century that the term fully entered regular official usage.<ref name="Rapp"/> 

The memory and dream of a united Georgia — Sakartvelo — persisted even after the political catastrophe of the 15th century when the Georgian kingdom fell apart to form three separate kingdoms: Kartli, [[Kingdom of Kakheti|Kakheti]], and [[Kingdom of Imereti|Imereti]], and five principalities: [[Principality of Samtskhe|Samtskhe]], [[Principality of Mingrelia|Mingrelia]], [[Principality of Guria|Guria]], [[Principality of Svaneti|Svaneti]], and [[Principality of Abkhazia|Abkhazia]]. Thus, the later kings of Kartli did not relinquish the titles of the all-Georgian monarchs whose legitimate successors they claimed to be. The idea of all-Georgian unity also dominated history-writing of the early 18th-century Georgian scholar and a member of the [[Bagrationi dynasty|royal family]], Prince [[Vakhushti]], whose "Description of the Kingdom of Georgia" (''agtsera sameposa sakartvelosa'') had a noticeable influence on the latter-day conception of Sakartvelo. Although Georgia was politically divided among competing kingdoms and principalities during Vakhushti’s lifetime, the scholar viewed the past and present of these breakaway polities as parts of the history of a single nation.<ref name="Rapp"/> After the reunification of the [[Kartli-Kakheti|kingdoms of Kartli and Kakheti]] in 1762, the term Sakartvelo became an official synonym to this eastern Georgian state, but again covered all of Georgia, now under the [[Russian Empire|Russian]] rule, in the 19th century. On May 26, 1918, the country was reincarnated as ''sakartvelos demokratiuli respublika'' – the [[Democratic Republic of Georgia]]. It became ''sakartvelos sabchota socialisturi respublika'' – the [[Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic]] – on February 25, 1921, and ''sakartvelos respublika'' – the Republic of Georgia – on November 14, 1990. According to the 1995 constitution, the nation's official name is Sakartvelo, with "Georgia" as its [[English language|English]] equivalent.<ref name="const">[http://www.parliament.ge/files/68_1944_951190_CONSTIT_27_12.06.pdf Constitution of Georgia. Chapter 1. Article 1.3]. [[Parliament of Georgia]]. Retrieved on June 28, 2009</ref>

== Exonym ==
The European "Georgia" probably stems from the Persian-Arabic designation of the Georgians – ''gurğ'', ''ğurğ'' – which reached the [[Western Europe]]an crusaders and pilgrims in the [[Holy Land]] who rendered the name as ''Georgia'' (also ''Jorgania'', ''Giorginia'', etc.) and explained its origin by the popularity of [[St. George]] among the Georgians. This explanation is offered, among others, by [[Jacques de Vitry]] and Franz Ferdinand von Troilo.<ref>[[Grigol Peradze|Peradze, Gregory]]. "The Pilgrims' derivation of the name Georgia". ''Georgica'', Autumn, 1937, nos. 4 & 5, 208-209</ref> Another theory, popularized by the likes as [[Jean Chardin]], semantically linked "Georgia" to Greek and [[Latin language|Latin]] roots, respectively, ''γεωργος'' ("tiller of the land") and ''georgicus'' ("agricultural"). The supporters of this explanation sometimes referred to the Classical authors such as [[Pliny the Younger|Pliny]] and [[Pomponius Mela]]. The "Georgi" mentioned by these authors (Pliny, IV.26, VI.14; Mela, ''De Sita Orb''. i.2, &50; ii.1, & 44, 102.) were merely agricultural tribes, so named to distinguish them from their unsettled and pastoral neighbors on the other side of the river [[Panticapaeum|Panticapea]] (in [[Taurica]]).<ref>Romer, Frank E.  (ed., 1998), ''Pomponius Mela's Description of the World'', p. 72. [[University of Michigan Press]], ISBN 0472084526</ref> 

In fact, "Georgia" is apparently borrowed in the 11th or 12th centuries from the [[Syriac language|Syriac]] ''gurz-ān''/''gurz-iyān'' and [[Arabic language|Arabic]] ''ĵurĵan''/''ĵurzan'', derived from the [[New Persian]] ''gurğ''/''gurğān'', itself stemming from the [[Ancient Iranian]] and [[Middle Persian]] ''vrkān''/''waručān'' of unclear origin, but resembling the eastern trans-[[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] toponym [[Gorgan]], which comes from the Middle Persian ''varkâna'', "land of the wolfs". This might have been of the same etymology as the [[Old Armenian|Armenian]] ''Virk''' (Վիրք) and a source of the Greco-Roman rendition "Iberi" ('Ιβηρος), the ethnonym already known to them as a designation of [[Iberian Peninsula]].<ref>[[David Marshall Lang|Lang, David Marshall]] (1966), ''The Georgians'', pp. 5-6. Praeger Publishers</ref><ref>Khintibidze. Elguja (1998), ''The Designations of the Georgians and Their Etymology'', pp. 29-30. [[Tbilisi State University]] Press, ISBN 5511007757 ([http://www.kartvfund.org.ge/anewtheory.htm A New Theory on the Etymology of the Designations of the Georgians (Excerpt from the book)])</ref> 

The [[Russian language|Russian]] exonym Gruziya (Грузия ['gruzʲɪjə]) is also of Perso-Arabic origin. It first occurs in the travel records of Ignatiy Smolnyanin as ''gurzi'' (гурзи) (1389) and [[Afanasy Nikitin]] as ''gurzynskaya zemliya'' (Гурзыньская земля, "Gurzin land") (1466-72).<ref>{{ru icon}} [[Max Vasmer|Vesmer, MAx]] (trans. [[Oleg Trubachyov|Trubachyov, Oleg]], 1987),  «Этимологический словарь русского языка» (''Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language''), vol. 1, p. 464. Progress: Moscow ([http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?basename=%5Cusr%5Clocal%5Cshare%5Cstarling%5Cmorpho%5Cvasmer%5Cvasmer&first=3021&morpho=1&root=/usr/local/share/starling/morpho Online version])</ref>

The Russian name was brought into the contemporary [[Hebrew]] as גרוזיה ("Gruziya"). It coexisted with the names גיאורגיה ("Gheorghia" with two hard ''g'''s) and גורג'יה (Gurjia), when "Gruziya" took over in the 1970s, probably due to a [[Aliyah|massive immigration]] of bilingual Georgian-Russian Jews to [[Israel]] at that time. In August 2005 the Georgian ambassador to Israel [[Lasha Zhvania]] asked that the Hebrew speakers refer to his country as "Gheorghia" and abandon the name "Gruziya".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=610079 |title=Georgia on his mind: Republic's ambassador demands Hebrew name change|publisher=Haaretz.com|date=2005-08-08|accessdate=2009-06-28}}</ref>

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==

*{{ka icon}} Paichadze, Giorgi (ed., 1993), საქართველოსა და ქართველების აღმნიშვნელი უცხოური და ქართული ტერმინოლოგია (''Foreign and Georgian designations for Georgia and Georgians''). Metsniereba, ISBN 5-520-01504-X