The National Atlas of Georgia was presented at the 70th Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2018. Georgia was the single guest of honor at the book fair; thus more than 60 Georgian novel writers got the chance to have their books translated in German and to visit Germany for a book launch over several months. This first National Atlas of Georgia in the English language gives a comprehensive and contemporary picture of the country with information in introductory text pages for each chapter, followed by hundreds of maps and figures. This required intense interdisciplinary cooperation of all involved scientists during many years of work, and the support of several national institutions in Georgia and Germany. Georgia was a comparably privileged republic within the Soviet Union due to its agriculture and industry, and the tourist areas on the Black Sea and in the Caucasus mountains. However, knowledge of Georgia was very limited in the Western world until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Thereafter, the three-year civil war produced a decade of political instability with a long-lasting financial, economic and social crisis. About 1.5 million Georgians have emigrated since 1991, some starting businesses with Georgian products, others opening Georgian restaurants, thus raising interest in Georgia, a country known for its hospitality, wine and cuisine. Today, Georgia has again become an attractive destination for tourism to its historical treasures and unspoiled mountain areas with national parks. But few people know that there are different languages and ethnic groups in Georgia, that a separate script exists and that Georgia has a fascinating history of more than 2000 years. The National Atlas presents detailed information covering all topics for visitors as well as for scientists and business travelers. The detailed table of contents of the National Atlas is bilingual (English and German), and helps to find texts and maps easily.
Early geographical maps and atlases Cartography has a long tradition in Georgia. Scientific and cartographic depictions of Georgia by Georgian scholars date back to the first half of the 18th century. Prince Vakhushti of Kartli, a family member of King Vakhtang VI of Kartli (the core region of Georgia), prepared a geographical description of Georgia and adjacent territories as well as geographical atlases. Vakhushti had compiled two manuscript atlases of Georgia, and the maps by Vakhushti evoked strong interest in Russia and Europe. In 1731 the Wissenschaftliche Zeitung (Leipzig) published a report about a "Prinz aus Tiflis" (prince from Tbilisi) who authored remarkable maps of the Caucasus Mountains. The famous French cartographer, Academician Joseph-Nicolas Delisle, had copied a map from Vakhushti's first atlas and published it in 1766 in Paris as "General Map of Georgia and Armenia". The text and part of the maps by Prince Vakhushti were translated into French by Marie-Félicité Brosset in the mid-19th century. In 1947 the map of Kartli and a plan of Tbilisi were printed in Paris. The originals of Vakhushti's atlases are kept in the archives in Tbilisi. For the 300th anniversary of his birth, the Institute of Geography reprinted in 1997 the Geographical Atlas of Georgia by Vakhushti Bagrationi. In 2013 the “Description of the Kingdom of Georgia” and Bagrationi's "Geographical Atlas" were registered in UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme.
Linguistic background After the Red Army invasion of Georgia early in 1921, the Democratic Republic of Georgia, which existed from May 1918 to February 1921, lost its independence, and Georgia was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. During this period, some publications in Georgia were printed in Russian language; however, the Georgian language (Kartuli) remained the official state language in government, schools and universities. Georgia achieved this extraordinary status within the USSR thanks to the commitment of Edvard Shevardnadze, native-born Georgian and Soviet foreign minister from 1985 to 1991. After Georgia's independence was restored in 1991, a difficult period with civil wars followed until Edvard Shevardnadze took power in 1995. With the rose revolution, Mikheil Saakashvili took power in November 2003. The opposition party “Georgian Dream” won the 2012 Georgian parliamentary election. Until today, the Georgian language remains the official language in the administration of the country and in daily life. It is also widely used in science. After 2004, the Russian language has been gradually replaced as the second language by English in schools and universities, and this is strongly supported by the government. However, the older generation of teachers and scientists are Georgian speaking and retain Russian as a second language. Even today, dissertations at universities have usually to be written in Georgian. Considering this linguistic background, it is understandable that the first National Atlas of Georgia that appeared in 2012 was published entirely in Georgian, a language that hardly anyone outside the country can read. It is a masterpiece of cartography with comprehensive information, maps and data on Georgia. At the Frankfurt Book Fair 2018, a Geographical Atlas of Georgia (2018) was presented by the publisher “Palitra L”, again in the Georgian language.
Political background After 1992 and under the leadership of Eduard Shevardnadze, Georgia established diplomatic relations with other countries and joined major international organizations: the UN (1992), OSCE (1992), Council of Europe (1999), and WTO (2000). In 2002 President Shevardnadze announced Georgia's desire to join NATO. At a NATO summit in 2008 Georgia was promised that in the "future" it would become a member of the alliance. For the vast majority of Georgians, European and Euro-Atlantic perspectives became central to their country's economic and strategic future. Georgia has signed free trade agreements with a number of political entities including the European Union (EU), neighbouring Turkey and faraway China. In 2014 Georgia signed an Association Agreement with the EU together with a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (in force from 2016). And Georgia participates in the EU's "Eastern Partnership" program. In view of this wish for closer connections with Europe, it is understandable that a national atlas of Georgia in English or other western languages was needed.
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