Sokhumi

Sukhumi
Аҟәа, სოხუმი
Akwa, Sokhumi

City

Seal

Sukhumi

Location of Sukhumi in Georgia

Coordinates: 43°00′12″N 41°00′55″E / 43.00333°N 41.01528°E

Country

Georgia

Partially recognized state

Abkhazia

Settled

6th century BC

City Status

1848

Government

• Mayor

Adgur Kharazia

Area

• Total

27 km² (10 sq mi)

Highest elevation

140 m (460 ft)

Lowest elevation

5 m (16 ft)

Population (2011)

• Total

62,914

Time zone

MSK (UTC+4)

Postal code

384900

Area code(s)

+7 840 22x-xx-xx

Vehicle registration

ABH

Sukhumi or Sokhumi (Abkhaz: Аҟәа, Aqwa; Georgian: სოხუმი, [sɔxumi]; Russian: Сухум(и), Sukhum(i)) is a city on the Black Sea coast. It is the capital of the breakaway Republic of Abkhazia which has controlled it since the 1992-93 war in Abkhazia, although most of the international community considers it legally part of Georgia.

Sukhumi's history can be traced back to the 6th century BC, when it was settled by Greeks, who named it Dioscurias. During this time and the subsequent Roman period, much of the city disappeared under the Black Sea. The city was named Tskhumi when it became part of the Kingdom of Abkhazia. Contested by local princes, it became part of the Ottoman Empire in the 1570s, where it remained until it was conquered by the Russian Empire in 1810. Following a period of conflict during Russian Civil War, it became part of the Soviet Union, where it was regarded as a holiday resort. As the Soviet Union broke up in the early 1990s, the city suffered significant damage during the Georgian–Abkhazian conflict. The present-day population of 60,000 is only half of the population living there towards the end of Soviet rule.

In Georgian, the city is known as სოხუმი (Sokhumi) or აყუ (Aqu), in Megrelian as აყუჯიხა (Aqujikha), and in Russian as Сухум (Sukhum) or Сухуми (Sukhumi). The toponym Sokhumi derives from the Georgian word Tskhomi/Tskhumi, meaning beech. It is significant, that "dia" in several dialects of the Georgian language and among them in Megrelian means mother and "skuri" means water. In Abkhaz, the city is known as Аҟәа (Aqwa) which according to native tradition signifies water.

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Wikipedia