| Area Total Km2: | 2,653.82 |
| Established Date: | 1840 |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Extinct Date: | 1930 |
| Extinct Title: | Abolished |
| Mapsize: | 220px |
| Akhaltsikhe uezd | |
| Native Name: | Ахалцихский уезд |
| Native Name Lang: | ru |
| Population As Of: | 1916 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Rural: | 73.73% |
| Population Total: | 96,947 |
| Population Urban: | 26.27% |
| Seat: | Akhaltsikh (present-day Akhaltsikhe) |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Settlement Type: | Uezd |
| Subdivision Name: | Russian Empire |
| Subdivision Name1: | Caucasus |
| Subdivision Name2: | Tiflis |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Viceroyalty |
| Subdivision Type2: | Governorate |
| Total Type: | Total |
The Akhaltsikhe uezd was a county (uezd) of the Tiflis Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, and then of Democratic Republic of Georgia, with its administrative center in Akhaltsikh (present-day Akhaltsikhe). The uezd bordered the Gori uezd and the Kutaisi Governorate to the north, the Akhalkalaki uezd to the east, the Ardahan Okrug of the Kars Oblast to the south, and the Batum Okrug of the Batum Oblast to the west. The area of the uezd roughly corresponded to the contemporary Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia.
The territory of the Akhaltsikhe uezd, entered into the Kutais Governorate of the Russian Empire following the Russo-Turkish War of 1828. By 1840, the Аkhaltsikhe uezd was formed as a civilian district of the Tiflis Governorate. In 1874, the Akhalkalaki uezd was detached from it as a separate county.
Following the Russian Revolution, the Akhaltsikhe uezd was incorporated into the short-lived Democratic Republic of Georgia.
Lord Curzon during the Paris Peace Conference assessed the ethnographic situation in the southwestern uezds of the Tiflis Governorate:[1] [2]
On the grounds of nationality, therefore, these districts ought to belong to Armenia, but they command the heart of Georgia strategically, and on the whole it would seem equitable to assign them to Georgia, and give their Armenian inhabitants the option of emigration into the wide territories assigned to the Armenians towards the south-west.
The subcounties (uchastoks) of the Akhaltsikhe uezd in 1913 were as follows:
| Name | 1912 population | Area | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atskhurskiy uchastok | 19,433 | 859.55verst2 | |
| Koblianskiy uchastok | 27,572 | 727.97verst2 | |
| Uravelskiy uchastok | 20,230 | 744.46verst2 |
According to the Russian Empire Census, the Akhaltsikhe uezd had a population of 68,837 on, including 36,807 men and 32,030 women. The plurality of the population indicated Turkish to be their mother tongue, with significant Armenian, Tatar, and Georgian speaking minorities.[3]
| Turkish | 24,137 | 35.06 | |
| Armenian | 15,144 | 22.00 | |
| Tatar | 12,370 | 17.97 | |
| Georgian | 12,211 | 17.74 | |
| Russian | 1,743 | 2.53 | |
| Kurdish | 1,396 | 2.03 | |
| Ukrainian | 490 | 0.71 | |
| Jewish | 446 | 0.65 | |
| Polish | 435 | 0.63 | |
| Greek | 149 | 0.22 | |
| German | 88 | 0.13 | |
| Lithuanian | 88 | 0.13 | |
| Chechen | 15 | 0.02 | |
| Ossetian | 14 | 0.02 | |
| Persian | 12 | 0.02 | |
| Romanian | 12 | 0.02 | |
| Assyrian | 10 | 0.01 | |
| Avar-Andean | 6 | 0.01 | |
| Belarusian | 5 | 0.01 | |
| Czech | 5 | 0.01 | |
| Kazi-Kumukh | 5 | 0.01 | |
| Latvian | 3 | 0.00 | |
| Chuvash | 2 | 0.00 | |
| French | 2 | 0.00 | |
| Imeretian | 2 | 0.00 | |
| Kyurin | 1 | 0.00 | |
| Talysh | 1 | 0.00 | |
| Other | 45 | 0.07 | |
| TOTAL | 68,837 | 100.00 |
|---|
According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Akhaltsikhe uezd had a population of 96,947 on, including 51,549 men and 45,398 women, 93,847 of whom were the permanent population, and 3,100 were temporary residents:
| Nationality | Urban | Rural | TOTAL | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | Number | % | ||
| Georgians | 2,783 | 10.93 | 42,709 | 59.75 | 45,492 | 46.92 | |
| Armenians | 18,165 | 71.32 | 10,060 | 14.07 | 28,225 | 29.11 | |
| Sunni Muslims | 30 | 0.12 | 16,680 | 23.34 | 16,710 | 17.24 | |
| Jews | 3,246 | 12.74 | 5 | 0.01 | 3,251 | 3.35 | |
| Kurds | 0 | 0.00 | 1,801 | 2.52 | 1,801 | 1.86 | |
| Russians | 716 | 2.81 | 88 | 0.12 | 804 | 0.83 | |
| Roma | 457 | 1.79 | 14 | 0.02 | 471 | 0.49 | |
| Asiatic Christians | 0 | 0.00 | 89 | 0.12 | 89 | 0.09 | |
| Other Europeans | 53 | 0.21 | 28 | 0.04 | 81 | 0.08 | |
| North Caucasians | 16 | 0.06 | 3 | 0.00 | 19 | 0.02 | |
| Shia Muslims | 4 | 0.02 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 0.00 | |
| TOTAL | 25,470 | 100.00 | 71,477 | 100.00 | 96,947 | 100.00 | |