Skip to main content

Eurasianet

Main Menu

  • Regions
  • Topics
  • Media
  • About
  • Search
  • Newsletter
  • русский
  • Support us
X

Caucasus

Armenia
Azerbaijan
Georgia

Central Asia

Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Tajikistan
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan

Conflict Zones

Abkhazia
Nagorno Karabakh
South Ossetia
Transnistria

Eastern Europe

Belarus
Moldova
Russia
The Baltics
Ukraine

Eurasian Fringe

Afghanistan
China
EU
Iran
Mongolia
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
X

Arts and Culture

Economy

Politics

Security

Society

Coronavirus
X

Visual Stories

Audio
Interactive
Video

Blogs

Tamada Tales
The Bug Pit

Podcasts

Expert Opinions
The Central Asianist
X
You can search using keywords to narrow down the list.

Georgia: Stop Calling Me "Gruzia"

Giorgi Lomsadze Jun 28, 2011

Even in linguistics and nomenclature, Tbilisi is keen to embrace Western ways, it seems. The Georgian government on June 27 told the world to quit using the Russian name for Georgia, "Gruzia," and to switch to the international, English-language version, "Georgia."

Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze told reporters on June 27 that it is "of special importance" to Georgia to be called Georgia. She claimed that South Korea, which uses "Gruzia" in Korean, already agreed to make the switch.

But this could prove an uphill task. In fact, Georgia goes by many names around the world: "Georgia" in English, "Gurjistan" in Turkish, "Gruzia" in Russian, "Vrastan" in Armenian.

There's also the problem of ongoing confusion between Georgia and the southern US state of the same name.

Somehow lost in all this jumble is what Georgians themselves call their country -- "Sakartvelo," meaning, literally, "a place for kartvelians (Georgians)." But that's another story.

Giorgi Lomsadze is a journalist based in Tbilisi, and author of Tamada Tales.

Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.

Popular

Uzbekistan embarks on mass vaccination, but where will doses come from?
Turkmenistan: The long arm of the police state
Akhal-Teke: A Turkmenistan Bulletin
Armenian president bucks PM amid accelerating crisis
Ani Mejlumyan

Eurasianet

  • About
  • Team
  • Contribute
  • Republishing
  • Privacy Policy
  • Corrections
  • Contact
Eurasianet © 2021