E-Book Overview
This book discusses the political and economic history and geography of Georgia, the problems it has faced, and how it has overcome and is still overcoming them. In most countries, at the end of the 20th century the successful resolution of social-economic, political, demographic and ecological problems was largely dependent on effectively protecting the population and economic assets from natural disasters and on ensuring conditions for their sustainable development. These problems are most acute in mountainous regions like Georgia, where the unplanned development of natural ecosystems has had drastic consequences. It is therefore necessary to understand not only the probability of changing conditions (natural as well as political and demographic), but also the probability of the resulting economic losses.
The book is divided into four sections; historical and political geography, geological processes, ecological processes and developmental geography. In the historical and political geography section the authors present a detailed discussion on ancient history, historical and political geography, ethnic groups and religions, demographics and socio-cultural geography. The geological processes section contains information on geology, geodynamical processes, glacial and periglacial processes. The ecological processes section examines a variety of landscapes and ecosystems, aspects of deforestation, reforestation and desertification along with anthropogenic impacts on the environment. The developmental geography section looks at different economies, natural resources, sustainable development and climate change.
E-Book Content
World Regional Geography Book Series
Series Editor E.F.J. de Mulder Haarlem, The Netherlands
What does Finland mean to a Fin, Sichuan to a Shichuanian, and California to a Californian? How are physical and human geographical factors reflected in their present-day inhabitants? And how are these factors interrelated? How does history, culture, socio-economy, language and demography impact and characterize and identify an average person in such regions today? How does that determine her or his well-being, behaviour, ambitions and perspectives for the future? These are the type of questions that are central to The World Regional Geography Book Series, where physically and socially coherent regions are being characterized by their roots and future perspectives described through a wide variety of scientific disciplines. The Book Series presents a dynamic overall and in-depth picture of specific regions and their people. In times of globalization renewed interest emerges for the region as an entity, its people, its landscapes and their roots. Books in this Series will also provide insight in how people from different regions in the world will anticipate on and adapt to global challenges as climate change and to supra-regional mitigation measures. This, in turn, will contribute to the ambitions of the International Year of Global Understanding to link the local with the global, to be proclaimed by the United Nations as a UN-Year for 2016, as initiated by the International Geographical Union. Submissions to the Book Series are also invited on the theme ‘The Geography of…’, with a relevant subtitle of the authors/editors choice. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13179
Igor V. Bondyrev • Zurab V. Davitashvili Vijay P. Singh
The Geography of Georgia Problems and Perspectives
Igor V. Bondyrev Vakhushti Institute of Geography Iv.Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Tbilisi, Georgia Zurab V. Davitashvili Department of International Relations Tbilisi State University Tbilisi, Georgia
Vijay P. Singh Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering and Zachry Department of Civil Engineer