About Tbilisi
Tbilisi (formerly Tiflis) is the capital and largest city of Georgia, in the east central part of the country. The city, situated on the Kura River in a valley sheltered by the Caucasus Mountains, is a major economic, transportation, and cultural center. Among the principal manufactures are processed food, machinery, textiles, railroad equipment, printed materials, leather goods, and wine. Tbilisi is located at the southern end of the Georgian Military Road and is served by the Transcaucasian Railroad. Tbilisi is famous for its ancient churches, including the 5th-century Cathedral of Zion and the 6th-century Saint David's monastery. Tbilisi is the seat of a university (1918) and the Georgian Academy of Sciences and has several theaters and museums. Although settlements have existed on the site since 4000 BC, Tbilisi was not mentioned until the 4th century. In the 5th century it became the capital of Iberia, a kingdom of eastern Georgia. The city suffered frequently during succeeding centuries from raids by Byzantines, Arabs, Persians, Mongols, Seljuk Turks, and tribes of the region of Caucasia. It was, however, the capital of an independent Georgian state in the 12th and 13th centuries. The last great raid occurred in 1795, when Persian troops invaded and sacked the city. Tbilisi came under Russian rule in 1801. It was made the capital of the newly created Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) in 1936, and in 1991 it became the capital of an independent Georgia. Population (1990 estimate) 1,268,000.
