Georgia in 30 Key Words: A Cultural Guide to the Caucasus

By: Iberogeorgia Team

Georgia is a country that surprises at every turn. To truly understand it, you need to know its language — not just the words, but the concepts, the traditions, and the values that shape everyday life. Here are 30 key words that will help you understand Georgia more deeply before or during your trip.

Batono / Kalbatono

Terms of respect used to address someone: batono for men, kalbatono for women. Used in the same way as "sir" or "madam" in English, both in person and in writing. Learning these two words will earn you an immediate smile from any Georgian.

Caucasus

The great mountain range that runs from the Black Sea to the Caspian, forming a natural border between Europe and Asia. Georgia occupies a central position in this region, flanked by the Greater Caucasus to the north and the Lesser Caucasus to the south. When Georgians speak of their country, the Caucasus is ever-present — in geography, culture, and identity.

Chacha

Georgian grappa: a strong spirit (often 50–60% ABV) distilled from grape pomace. Every Georgian family has its own recipe and its own still. Chacha is offered to guests as a sign of welcome and drunk at every festive occasion. Handle with care.

Chinkali

See Khinkali.

Churchkhela

Georgia's favourite sweet, made from walnuts, hazelnuts, or dried plums dipped in grape juice mixed with flour, then dried on a string. The result is a misshapen stick eaten in slices. A mountain tradition, churchkhela is sold at roadside kiosks throughout the country — cheap, filling, and far more delicious than it looks. It has also become one of the most popular souvenirs for visitors.

David the Builder

King David IV (1089–1125) is considered the greatest monarch in Georgian history. He drove out the Seljuk Turks, reunified the country, and turned Georgia into the dominant power of the Caucasus. He is known as "the Builder" for his extraordinary programme of construction — churches, monasteries, fortresses — and for his patronage of culture and learning. He remains a national hero.

Gastronomy

Georgian cuisine is one of the most refined and distinctive in the world. It draws on influences from Persia, Turkey, Russia, and the Mediterranean, but the result is entirely its own. Must-try dishes include khinkali (dumplings), khachapuri (cheese bread), mtsvadi (grilled skewers), lobiani (bean-filled bread), badrijani nigvzit (aubergine with walnut paste), and churchkhela. Georgian food is hearty, generous, and deeply satisfying.

Georgian Script

The Georgian alphabet is one of the most beautiful and distinctive writing systems in the world. Dating back to the 5th century, it has 33 letters, all unique — no capital letters, no borrowed characters. It is used exclusively for the Georgian language and is a powerful symbol of national identity. Recognised by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Ghvino

The Georgian word for wine — and the probable origin of the word "wine" itself in most European languages. Georgia is considered the birthplace of wine, with evidence of viticulture dating back 8,000 years. The traditional method of fermenting wine in buried clay vessels called qvevri is inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Hospitality

Georgian hospitality is legendary and deeply rooted in the culture. The tradition holds that a guest is a gift from God — "stumari ghvtis mier aris". Visitors are welcomed with food, wine, and genuine warmth. Don't be surprised if a chance encounter leads to a dinner invitation at someone's home. This is not a performance; it is a way of life.

Khachapuri

Georgia's national dish: bread filled or topped with cheese. There are many regional varieties — the boat-shaped Adjarian khachapuri topped with egg and butter is perhaps the most iconic — but every region has its own version. Cheap, filling, and utterly irresistible. You will eat a lot of it.

Khinkali

Georgian dumplings, filled with spiced meat, mushrooms, or cheese. The art of eating them is almost ceremonial: hold by the knotted dough top, bite a small hole, drink the broth inside, then eat the rest — leaving the knot on the plate. A true khinkali master leaves a tidy pile of knots. Originating in the mountains, they are now loved across the whole country.

Khevsureti

A remote mountain region in northeast Georgia, on the border with Russia, known for its medieval fortified villages and the unique culture of the Khevsurs — highlanders who preserved ancient customs, armour, and warrior traditions well into the 20th century. One of the most intriguing and least-visited corners of the Caucasus.

Lari

The Georgian currency, introduced in 1995. The lari is subdivided into 100 tetri. Banknotes feature important figures from Georgian history and culture. As of April 2026, approximately 1 EUR = 3.15 GEL [VERIFY]. Georgia is an affordable country for European visitors, with accommodation, food and transport all at very reasonable prices.

Mariam

The most common female name in Georgia, reflecting the deep importance of the Virgin Mary in Georgian Orthodox Christianity. The country has hundreds of churches dedicated to the Virgin, and Marian devotion permeates Georgian religious and cultural life.

Georgian Monasteries

Monasticism is one of the most distinctive features of Georgian history: it spread across the country from the 6th century, guided by Saint David, founder of the important David Gareja complex. During the Middle Ages, Orthodox monasteries were centres of culture, housing scholars, scientists, and artists. Georgian monks created, between the 11th and 12th centuries, schools that were among the most flourishing of the age, developing the art of fresco painting, manuscript illumination, polyphonic liturgies, and original architectural techniques.

During the long periods of upheaval when Georgian states were wiped from the map, culture survived in the monasteries, sheltered in the mountains. Abroad, Georgian monasteries (in Palestine, Syria, and Sinai) were the main ambassadors of the country's culture and participated in the great monastic culture of the medieval East. Banned during the Soviet era, monks and nuns reappeared after Georgian independence, driving an unprecedented renewal of Orthodox life in the country.

They settled in the historic monasteries, repaired them, and repopulated them following in their ancestors' footsteps. The number of new monasteries founded in the country since the late 1990s is remarkable. In a turbulent period marked by difficult living conditions, monasteries became places of retreat and return to foundational ideals, contributing to a genuine revival of monastic life after seventy years of prohibition.

Ethnic Minorities

A sensitive issue in Georgia. During the collapse of the USSR, 30% of the population was not ethnically Georgian. Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Ossetians, Abkhazians, Russians, Greeks, Yazidi Kurds, Assyrians — the number of communities that had settled in Georgia over centuries ran counter to the image of a Georgian nation promoted by the independence and anti-Soviet movement. Even today, a significant proportion of the population belongs to an ethnicity other than Georgian (although the Georgian passport is issued to citizens without any ethnic criterion).

While most Georgians see themselves as a tolerant people (they point to the near-absence of antisemitism in Georgia as a genuine example), the general tendency is to overlook the presence of other communities. Russian remains a language of inter-community communication, though its use is gradually declining among younger generations, who lean more towards English.

Caucasus Mountains

The Caucasian peaks of Bubismta and Chanchakhi dominate Georgia's mountain landscape.

At the heart of the country's soul, the mountains are both its borders and its preserved sanctuary. Although the heartland of Georgian civilisation lies in the two plains separating the Greater Caucasus from the Lesser Caucasus — and it is there, in the Black Sea plain and the Kura valley, that most Georgians live — the mountains determine the country's very shape.

While isolating and protecting the country, the mountains also present its greatest challenges in terms of infrastructure and development. But above all, it is the Greater Caucasus that forms the knot of national identity. It is the highlanders of Svaneti — whom even the Soviets never fully subdued — and those of Khevsureti and Tusheti who preserved the icons, traditions, customs, and folklore through the countless invasions that ravaged the lowlands.

Far from the influences and mixing of the cities and lowlands, the mountain Georgians maintained their authenticity through the centuries, safeguarding the true values of the country's spirituality. Beyond this cultural factor, the mountains largely determine the entire geography of the country: the plains and steppes are shaped by the rushing rivers from the heights, and mountains are an omnipresent part of the landscape. There is nowhere in Georgia where, on a clear day, you cannot see a mountain range or a peak on the horizon. And largely they remain almost untouched by roads and infrastructure: nature displays all its rights before the eyes of visitors.

Saint Nino

The most common female name in Georgia comes from Saint Nino, who converted the royal family of Kartli to Christianity in the 4th century. According to legend, she planted the first cross in Georgia — made from grapevines — at the site where Jvari Monastery ("of the cross") stands today. An essential female figure in Georgia, not to be confused with the Italian name Nino, which is masculine.

Georgian Oligarchs

Georgia's oligarchs are closely linked to the Russian oligarchy. In the early 1990s in Russia, when Soviet resources were privatised with total lack of transparency, anyone with a sharp eye could become a millionaire overnight. Among the dozens of men who rapidly came to hold the majority of the country's economic capital, there were also Georgians.

The most well known, Badri Patarkatsishvili, was a partner of the famous Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky. Bidzina Ivanishvili is another major Georgian figure who made his fortune in Russia during the 1990s. When political power was forcefully re-established in the Kremlin in the late 1990s, these "oligarchs" quickly became the targets of the central government's attacks and had to flee.

The "new Russian" Georgians returned home to try their luck. They invested in major sectors of the Georgian economy and began acting as patrons, building hospitals and schools, sponsoring the renovation of theatres and the construction of churches, and became key national figures. Patarkatsishvili became an important figure in the opposition as a media magnate who owned Imedi television; he died in London in February 2008 in suspicious circumstances. As for Ivanishvili, he founded the Georgian Dream party and served as Prime Minister in 2012–2013. He funded numerous ecclesiastical projects, in particular the construction of the enormous Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, and is considered the most influential man in the country, wielding decisive power in Georgian politics ever since.

Orthodoxy

Georgia's declared national religion, rooted in the autocephalous tradition of the Georgian Church. The second state after Armenia to declare Christianity as the state religion — in the year 337 — Georgia has developed its own distinctive Orthodox spirituality, influenced by Byzantium but always independent. Monasticism, arts, architecture, texts, liturgy, and choral singing: the Orthodox faith has been the driving force behind a unique indigenous culture. While other religions have left their mark on the country and not all Georgians have always been Orthodox (there are Muslims, Jews, Catholics, and Apostolic Christians), Orthodoxy is promoted as the historic national religion by all political and social institutions.

Patruli

The "new" police force created under President Saakashvili — the Patruli (meaning "patrol") — was a revolution. The idea that a police officer would not extort a motorist, would do their duty, and would refuse bakchich (bribes) was far from self-evident before 2004. The new Interior Ministry built a new police force made up of young, well-paid, honest, and loyal officers. For the first time, Georgians were able to trust those who were supposed to protect them. The police reform was a symbol of the country's "normalisation" and one of the most significant changes of the Rose Revolution. Today, the Georgian police continues to enjoy a good reputation among citizens and visitors alike for its professionalism.

Pipelines and Energy Geopolitics

Without lucrative natural resources of its own, Georgia had few cards to play in the race for economic development. The new geopolitical interests following the collapse of the USSR therefore brought a major advantage: being on the energy route connecting Caspian oil and gas resources to European markets. The West, seeking to diversify its supplies, saw in Georgia an alternative that avoided Russian territory.

The construction of the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline (a Turkish Mediterranean port), which crosses 260 kilometres of Georgian territory in the Lesser Caucasus, was a landmark event in oil geopolitics. Launched in 2006, this pipeline cemented Georgia's role as a strategic energy corridor. The South Caucasus gas pipeline and other energy connectivity projects further reinforce Georgia's position as a bridge between Asia and Europe.

Georgian Polyphony

Georgian polyphonic singing — a true treasure of Georgian culture — has been alive for centuries. Liturgical chants, table songs, work songs, war songs: every context has its own polyphony. Each historic region has its own variant and its own technique: in Guria and Adjara in the west, the style is complex and resembles a Tyrolean yodel.

In Kakheti in the east it is sharp and hypnotic, with a strong oriental feel. Georgians maintain it as a living legacy, and groups of men or women will often break into song on the street, at the table, in the baths, in the car — filled with intense emotion. Traditionally men sing among themselves and women among themselves: polyphony seals friendship and brotherhood between members of the same sex. Georgian polyphonic singing is inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Occupied Territories and Separatist Republics

One of the central issues in Georgian politics. South Ossetia and Abkhazia, following the conflicts of the early 1990s, continue to have disputed status. These conflicts worsened in August 2008, when the Georgian army failed in its attempt to take Tskhinvali, the de facto capital of South Ossetia, and suffered a Russian attack that many considered a full-scale invasion. Since then, the remaining Georgian populations were expelled from these territories.

Russia carried out a policy of distributing Russian passports to Ossetians and Abkhazians, and deployed its military in both territories. After the 2008 war, they were recognised as independent states by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, and Syria. For the rest of the world they are Georgian territories under occupation, de iure. But de facto they do not answer to Tbilisi.

In December 2024, the Georgian Parliament abolished the Provisional Administration of South Ossetia, established in 2007, a decision that came into force on 1 January 2026. The territorial question remains one of the most sensitive issues in Georgian politics and a national tragedy in the eyes of the country's public opinion.

Rose Revolution

The emblem of the Saakashvili era, a symbol of democracy's arrival in Georgia. During the 2003 revolution, roses were distributed among the crowds. Throughout the Saakashvili years, fountains and monuments were built bearing this symbol. With the rise to power of Georgian Dream in 2012, the rose gradually became a symbol of a past era. Today, the Rose Revolution is remembered as a key moment in the country's democratic history, with both its lights and its shadows.

Semitshka: Sunflower Seeds

Sunflower seeds are, in Georgia as in much of the region, a much-loved pastime. Small street stalls — most often run by women — sell them on city pavements. You buy a small portion that the vendor tips into a paper cone, and you eat them while walking or chatting with friends, spitting out the shells as you go. They also make an effective snack, and you can often choose between salted and unsalted. Sound familiar?

Supra: The Georgian Feast

If there is one Georgian tradition par excellence, it is the ritualised feast, the supra, which synthesises the country's entire collective ideal and clan spirit. A very much alive tradition that marks the life of every Georgian, even if it is less appreciated by younger generations. It is often the centrepiece of any gathering, even a professional one. After two hours of meetings, Georgians may spend six at the banquet.

Hosts receive their guests at a lavishly laid table. A master of ceremonies, the tamada, is chosen to animate and pace the meal with skilfully declaimed toasts. It is his task to foster harmony within the group, to interrupt private conversations and compel everyone to listen to the toast and drink together. The other men will accompany the feast with polyphonic song. Everyone will eat magnificently — new dishes arrive continuously — and the hardiest will end up drunk, but while maintaining composure and dignity; open drunkenness is a source of shame in Georgia.

Shadow Economy

Historically the backbone of the Georgian economic system. Given the conditions of life in Georgia (unemployment, low wages and pensions), it is no surprise that smuggling and black-market dealings flourished as a coping mechanism. These practices were not new — they already existed in the Soviet era, where scarcity was a feature of daily life.

The chain runs from a wholesale buyer who "does their shopping" in Turkey, then resells with a margin to various Tbilisi traders, from whom dealers in smaller towns buy goods at slightly higher prices, and so on. Since the state gradually reclaimed its authority from 2004 onwards, the black market has shrunk considerably, but this kind of trade is far from gone and remains relevant in the country's economic life.

But the shadow economy is not only commerce: solidarity and mutual aid among family members and neighbours also play an important role. Parents living in the countryside supply the family with agricultural produce (cheese, meat, etc.). Kitchen gardens — even in the city — provide vegetables and herbs, and it is not unusual in villages and small towns to raise chickens or even a pig.

Tamada: The Master of Ceremonies

The head of the table at a supra. He leads the feast, declaiming toasts. His task is to unite the group and focus the attention of all present. To earn respect he must perform virtuosic rhetorical feats, excel in the art of the toast, know all the rules and customs of festive tradition, and move the whole table to laughter and tears. And he must keep a clear head after litres of wine — he will empty every cup and may use vessels such as a bowl or a drinking horn.

In theory he is chosen, but in practice he is tacitly designated — he is usually the most respected man in the gathering. Although traditionally a male role performed by the head of the family, in a modern supra it is increasingly acceptable for a woman to fulfil this role with great confidence.

Churchkhela

Georgia's favourite sweet, made from walnuts, hazelnuts, or dried plums coated in grape juice mixed with flour, dried along a string. It takes on the shape of a misshapen stick and is eaten cut into slices. A mountain tradition, churchkhela is sold at roadside kiosks — especially between Tbilisi and Kutaisi — cheap, filling, and eaten more as a snack than as a dessert. Churchkhela has also become a popular souvenir for tourists.

Georgian Wine

Georgia is recognised as the cradle of wine. Archaeological evidence discovered in 2017 demonstrated that the vine has been present in this territory for at least 8,000 years and that wine already held an important place in ancient Colchis. A source of immense national pride and a flagship export product, wine represents more than a tradition here: it is wrapped in a genuine cult.

In Georgia, the Christian dimension of wine as the blood of Christ has kept alive the pagan beliefs that surrounded the drink. A Georgian will not drink before making a toast — by superstition, drinking wine must be accompanied by ritual. A product of the land and the home, the centrepiece of hospitality, wine is a pleasure but also a challenge: at a supra, one must resist above all (never show drunkenness) rather than succumb.

Georgia has more than 500 indigenous grape varieties, and the traditional winemaking method in qvevri (buried clay amphorae) was inscribed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013. Today, wineries in Kakheti such as Teliani Valley, Tsinandali, and Kindzmarauli combine millennia-old tradition with modern techniques. Georgian wine is exported to dozens of countries and is gaining ever greater international recognition.

Article inspired by the Petit Futé – Georgia guide, updated and expanded by the Iberogeorgia team.