| Imereti | |
| Native Name: | იმერეთი |
| Native Name Lang: | ka |
| Settlement Type: | Mkhare (region) |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Kutaisi |
| Leader Party: | Georgian Dream |
| Leader Title: | Governor |
| Leader Name: | Zviad Shalamberidze[1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 6,680 |
| Population Total: | 481473 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Footnotes: | [2] |
| Demographics Type1: | Gross Regional Product |
| Demographics1 Footnotes: | [3] |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Total |
| Demographics1 Info1: | ₾ 5.51 billion (2022) |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Per capita |
| Demographics1 Info2: | ₾ 11,444 (2022) |
| Iso Code: | GE-IM |
| Website: | imereti.ge |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Districts |
| Blank Info Sec1: | 11 districts, 1 city |
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | HDI (2021) |
| Blank1 Info Sec1: | 0.800 [4] · 3rd |
Imereti (Georgian: იმერეთი) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 municipalities and the city of Kutaisi, which is the capital of the region.
The Imereti region has one self governing city (Kutaisi) and 11 municipalities with 163 administrative communities (temi), totalling to 549 populated settlements:
| Map | Municipality |
|---|---|
| City of Kutaisi | |
| Vani Municipality | |
| Zestaponi Municipality | |
| Samtredia Municipality | |
| Sachkhere Municipality | |
| Tkibuli Municipality | |
| Tsqaltubo Municipality | |
| Khoni Municipality |
Aside from the capital Kutaisi, significant towns and regional centres include Samtredia, Chiatura (manganese production centre), Tkibuli (coal mining centre), Zestaponi (known for metals production), Vani, Khoni, and Sachkhere. Traditionally, Imereti is an agricultural region, known for its mulberries and grapes.
The 800,000 Imeretians speak the Imeretian dialect, one of the Northwest dialects of the Georgian language. It is itself subdivided into Upper and Lower Imeretian.[5] They are one of the local culture-groups of the ethnically subdivided Georgian people.
| Demographic history of the Imereti region[6] | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | 1970 | 1979 | 1989 | 2002* | 2002** ! | 2014 | 2021 | |||||||||||
| Imereti | 651,959 | 718,558 | 739,189 | 772,251 | 699,410 | 632,126 | 533,906 | 481,473 | ||||||||||
| 128,203 | 162,787 | 194,297 | 234,870 | 185,965 | align=center | - | 147,635 | 134,378 | ||||||||||
| 29,560 | 30,973 | 30,056 | 29,053 | 29,235 | align=center | - | 21,582 | 18,363 | ||||||||||
| 64,562 | 72,059 | 69,582 | 68,501 | 56,341 | align=center | - | 39,884 | 38,231 | ||||||||||
| 36,486 | 35,591 | 31,948 | 28,702 | 27,885 | align=center | - | 19,473 | 18,571 | ||||||||||
| 32,548 | 32,718 | 37,968 | 34,979 | 31,749 | align=center | - | 23,570 | 21,123 | ||||||||||
| Sachkhere Municipality | 38,202 | 45,552 | 44,859 | 44,968 | 46,590 | align=center | - | 37,775 | 34,848 | |||||||||
| 62,556 | 67,141 | 65,400 | 64,504 | 60,456 | align=center | - | 48,562 | 43,448 | ||||||||||
| 43,847 | 46,438 | 44,709 | 44,019 | 45,496 | align=center | - | 35,563 | 31,427 | ||||||||||
| 44,411 | 42,733 | 39,451 | 36,686 | 31,132 | align=center | - | 20,839 | 17,898 | ||||||||||
| 62,389 | 67,086 | 69,738 | 75,061 | 73,889 | align=center | - | 56,883 | 46,803 | ||||||||||
| 40,999 | 41,505 | 38,346 | 35,369 | 34,464 | align=center | - | 24,512 | 21,241 | ||||||||||
| 68,196 | 73,975 | 72,835 | 75,539 | 76,208 | align=center | - | 57,628 | 55,142 | ||||||||||
In ancient times, the region was a part of the Kingdom of Colchis, until it was conquered by the Kingdom of Pontus. After the Third Mithridatic War, Colchis was under loose Roman control, and unsuccessfully revolted in 69 AD under Anicetus.[9] After the collapse of Colchis, the kingdom of Lazica was established in 131 AD as a Roman vassal. Tzath I was the first Christian king of Lazica, being baptized in Constantinople in 523 AD, and fighting alongside Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I in the Iberian War. In 541 AD, the region became the theatre of the Lazic War between Justinian I and Sasanian Persian emperor Khosrow I.
Between 750 and 985, Imereti was ruled by a dynasty of native princes, but was devastated by hostile incursions, reviving only after it became united to Georgia. After the Mongol invasions of Georgia, Imereti was intermittently part of the independent Kingdom of Western Georgia, until being reunited in 1415 as the Duchy of Samokalako under the united Georgian Kingdom.[10] Since that kingdom's disintegration in the 15th century, Imereti was an independent kingdom from 1466 onwards.[11]
In the 17th–18th centuries, the kingdom of Imereti experienced frequent invasions by the Turks and paid patronage to the Ottoman Empire until 1810, when it was invaded and annexed by the Russian Empire. The last King of Imereti was Solomon II (1789–1810).
From 1918 to 1921, Imereti was part of the independent Democratic Republic of Georgia. Within the USSR, the region was part of the Transcaucasian SFSR from 1922 to 1936, and part of the Georgian SSR from 1936 to 1991. Since Georgian independence in 1991, Imereti has been a region of Georgia with Kutaisi as the regional capital.