Gali district is a district of Abkhazia. Its capital is Gali

Gali (town)

Gali is a town in Georgia, 77 km southeast to Sukhumi in region Abkhazia. It is the centre of Gali District and was previously in the UN security zone prior to the Russian veto of the UMOMIG Mission in 2009.- References :...

, the town by the same name. The district is smaller than the eponymous one in the de jure subdivision of Georgia, as some of its former territory is now part of Tkvarcheli District

Tkvarcheli district

Tquarchal district is a district of the Republic of Abkhazia. It has no equivalent Georgian district, as it was newly formed in 1995 from parts of Ochamchira District and Gali District, centered around its eponymous capital, Tkvarcheli . The population of the district is 14,477 according to the...

, formed by de facto Abkhaz authorities in 1995.

Gali district was populated almost entirely by Mingrelians

Mingrelians

The Mingrelians are a subethnic group of Georgians that mostly live in Samegrelo region of Georgia. They also live in considerable numbers in Abkhazia and Tbilisi...

, a Georgian

Georgians

The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....

 regional subdivision, in the pre-war Abkhazia. The majority of Georgians fled the district following the inter-ethnic clashes in 1993–1994 and again in 1998. From 40,000 to 60,000 refugees have returned to Gali district since 1998, including persons commuting daily across the ceasefire line and those migrating seasonally in accordance with agricultural cycles. Gali district is now the only district of Abkhazia with ethnic Georgians constituting clear majority.

The population of the district was 29,287 according to the 2003 census conducted in Abkhazia but that figure is questioned by many international observers; it was estimated at 45 thousand in 2006 although Abkhazian authorities contested this number claiming that at least 65,000 refugees had returned.

Together with the Kodori Valley

Kodori Valley

The Kodori Valley is a river valley in Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway autonomous republic. The valley's upper part, populated by Svans, was the only corner of the post-1993 Abkhazia, directly controlled by the central Georgian government, which officially styles the area as Upper Abkhazia...

, Gali district is one of the two real troublespots while the situation is relatively peaceful in the rest of Abkhazia. It was a battlefield of the 1998 escalation of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict

Georgian-Abkhaz conflict

The Georgian–Abkhazian conflict refers to the ethnic conflict between Georgians and Abkhazians in Abkhazia, which is presently a de facto independent partially recognized republic...

.

History

Historically, the present-day Gali district constituted the borderland between the principalities of Abkhazia

Principality of Abkhazia

The Principality of Abkhazia emerged as a separate feudal entity in the 15th-16th centuries, amid the civil wars in the Kingdom of Georgia that concluded with the dissolution of the unified Georgian monarchy...

 and Samegrelo

Samegrelo

Samegrelo/Samargalo or Megrelia, Mingrelia is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly also known as Odishi.It is inhabited by the Megrelians, an ethnic subgroup of the Georgians.-Geography and Climate:...

, the two breakaway feudal domains of the Kingdom of Georgia, and frequently changed its masters as the borders of these princedoms fluctuated during the dynastic feuds between the Shervashidze

Shervashidze

Shervashidze was a noble family in Abkhazia which, according to later sources, can be traced at least as far back as the twelfth century.Although this is quite clearly a Georgian form , the family is said to have derived from the Shirvanshahs, a dynasty of Shirvan in what is now Azerbaijan...

 and Dadiani

Dadiani

Dadiani was a Georgian family of nobles, dukes and princes, and a ruling dynasty of the western Georgian province of Samegrelo.- The House of Dadiani :...

 clans. In the second half of the 17th century, the Shervashidze princes of Abkhazia succeeded in conquering the territories up the Inguri River including the Gali district. With the dissolution of the Principality of Abkhazia c. 1700, the district between the Galidzga to the Inguri came to be ruled by a branch of the Shervashidze family whose one member, Murzakan, gave to his new fiefdom the name "Samurzakano" (i.e., "land of Murzakan"). The upper class of this new principality was composed chiefly of the Georgian-speaking Abkhaz nobility, whereas the peasants were of both Abkhaz and Georgian (Mingrelian) background. In contrast to the rest of Abkhazia largely Islamized

Islamization

Islamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...

 under the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

, Samurzakano remained adherent to the Georgian Orthodox Christianity. Eventually the princedom came under the Mingrelian possession, but retained a degree of autonomy even after the expanding Imperial Russia established its protectorate over Mingrelia in 1804. In 1840, however, Russia outrightly annexed Samurzakano. In the 1860s-70s, the Abkhaz revolts and the systematic persecution of Muslim population at the hands of Russian authorities forced many Abkhaz to become Muhajirs

Muhajir (Caucasus)

Circassians, the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Caucasus were cleansed from their homeland at the end of the Caucasian War by victorious Russia, which by its manner of suppression of the Caucasus directed at the Crimean Tartars and Circassians can be credited with "inventing the strategy of...

 to the Ottoman possessions. The Orthodox Christian population of Samurzakano remained relatively unaffected though. The decline in Abkhaz population left Mingrelian a dominant culture in the area. Furthermore, some Georgian peasants from the left bank of the Inguri River also emigrated to the right bank into Abkhazia where weaker practices of serfdom prevailed.
The rate of intermarriages between the Georgians and Abkhaz was high that resulted in the mixed heritage of the district's population and the introduction of the special category "Samurzakanians" in the 1897 Imperial Russian census. This group was made up chiefly by the Mingrelians with a minority of Abkhaz. 38% and 35% of the district's population identified themselves as Mingrelian and Georgian respectively during the first Soviet census of 1926, with another 26% identifying themselves as Abkhaz. The latter group in Gali district declined greatly so that they formed only a few percent of its population. As the Soviet censuses carried out after 1926 didn't distinguish Georgians and Mingrelians as separate nationalities they together constituted the overwhelming majority in the district.

The subsequent history of Samurzakano/Gali basically follows that of modern Abkhazia, which became an autonomous entity within the Democratic Republic of Georgia

Democratic Republic of Georgia

The Democratic Republic of Georgia , 1918–1921, was the first modern establishment of a Republic of Georgia.The DRG was created after the collapse of the Russian Empire that began with the Russian Revolution of 1917...

 (1918–1921), then the Abkhazian SSR associated with the Georgian SSR (1921–1931) and finally the Abkhaz ASSR within Georgia. Under Stalin, from 1944/5 to 1953, Abkhaz schools were closed and cultural institutions were suppressed which is sometimes seen as an attempt at the assimilation of Abkhaz into Georgians.

At the height of the secessionist war in Abkhazia in 1993, the Georgians of Gali were subjected to systematic ethnic cleansing

Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia

The Ethnic Cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia, also known as the Massacres of Georgians in Abkhazia and Genocide of Georgians in Abkhazia — refers to ethnic cleansing, massacres and forced mass expulsion of thousands of ethnic Georgians living in Abkhazia during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict...

 at the hands of the Abkhaz militias and their allies from Russia's North Caucasian

North Caucasus

The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....

 republics. By November 1993, most of the Gali district had been controlled by the secessionist with the exception of a few isolated enclaves evacuated by the Georgian forces according to the Russian-brokered ceasefire accord in 1994. Since then, some 40,000-60,000 Georgians have sporadically returned to the Gali district, but the process was significantly thwarted by the outbreak of hostilities in May 1998. In response to the attempt by the Georgian guerrillas to recover the area, the Abkhaz forces launched a large sweep into the district. Despite the criticism from opposition, Eduard Shevardnadze

Eduard Shevardnadze

Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...

, President of Georgia

President of Georgia

The President of Georgia is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Government of Georgia. Executive power is split between the President and the Prime Minister, who is the head of government...

, refused to deploy troops against Abkhazia. A ceasefire was negotiated on May 20, 1998. The hostilities resulted in hundreds of casualties on both sides and displaced additional 30.000-40.000 Georgians. Although Many families soon came back, the clashes left some 1,500 homes and infrastructure, including some that had been recently rehabilitated with international funding, in ruins. The United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 Joint Assessment Mission to the Gali District confirmed, in 2000, that homes and infrastructure were deliberately burned and looted during the Abkhaz offensive.

Demographics

According to 2003 census, the population of the district included:

• Georgians (98.7%)
• Russians (0.5%)
• Abkhaz (0.4%)
• Armenians (0.1%)
• Greeks (0.1%)

Human rights

In the Georgian-populated areas in Gali district, where local authorities are almost exclusively made up of ethnic Abkhaz, human right situation remains precarious. The United Nations and other international organizations have been fruitlessly urging the Abkhaz de facto authorities "to refrain from adopting measures incompatible with the right to return and with international human rights standards, such as discriminatory legislation… [and] to cooperate in the establishment of a permanent international human rights office in Gali and to admit United Nations civilian police without further delay."

The security situation in the district improved since February, 2006 and was generally calm in 2006. However, both Abkhaz and Georgian criminal networks continue to harass the locals. Georgia regularly criticizes the Abkhaz authorities and the Russian peacekeeping forces for failing to assure the local population’s safety and prevent human rights abuses. It proposed, on February 3, 2003, to create a join Georgian-Abkhaz administration in Gali, but the Abkhaz side rejected the proposal. The UNOMIG and Georgian side have proposed the deployment of a U.N. civilian police mission on both sides of the ceasefire line. Since 2003 U.N. police
have been present on the Georgian-controlled side, but de facto Abkhaz authorities oppose their deployment in Gali, because it would undermine their own political authority.

Georgia has also reported several cases of forcible recruitment of Georgian returnees into the Abkhaz military

Military of Abkhazia

The Abkhazian Armed Forces is the military of Abkhazia.The Ministry of Defence and the General Staff of the Abkhazian armed forced were officially created on 12 October 1992, after the outbreak of the 1992-1993 war with Georgia. The basis of the armed forces was formed by the ethnic Abkhaz National...

, but the Sukhumi-based authorities categorically deny this, claiming that all citizens are obliged to serve, but no
one is forcibly recruited. Threats made by Georgian security services (aimed at the prevention of the participation of the district's residents in the elections and against the inhabitants of the district working in its administration) were also reported.

After the Russian-Georgian war

2008 South Ossetia war

The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....

 of August 2008, the situation in Gali significantly deteriorated with the Russian and Abkhaz military buildup and increased pressure on local Georgians from the Abkhaz authorities. In April 2009, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities called om "the de facto authorities to put an end to the pressure being exercised on the Georgian population in the Gali District through the limitation of their education rights, compulsory "passportization", forced conscription into the Abkhaz military forces and restrictions on their freedom of movement."

On July 31, 2009, the breakaway region's Parliament passed amendment to the law making ethnic Georgians living in Gali district eligible for the Abkhaz citizenship. The move triggered wave of protest among opposition groups forcing the Parliament to revoke its decision on August 6.

Administration

The current head of the Gali district administration is Beslan Arshba. His predecessor, Yuri Kvekveskiri, had not participated in the March 2007 local election, and hence could not keep his post. He remained acting head until Arshba was appointed 23 May 2007.

Economy

The Gali district is a rich agricultural area for tea, citrus, hazelnuts and vegetables. The Inguri

Inguri Dam

The Inguri Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Inguri River in Georgia. Currently it is the world's highest concrete arch dam with a height of . It is located north of the town Jvari...

 hydroelectric station, a major supplier to Abkhazia and part of Georgia proper, is located on the Abkhaz-Georgian ceasefire line and is operated jointly.

Gali's residents are allowed to relatively freely cross into the neighboring Georgian districts, but must pay 50 Russian roubles. Customs fees are also levied upon any goods they are carrying into/out of Georgia proper.

The district's 2006 budget was 7.5 million Russian roubles ($300,000) but 30 per cent is tax revenue

Tax revenue

Tax revenue is the income that is gained by governments through taxation.Just as there are different types of tax, the form in which tax revenue is collected also differs; furthermore, the agency that collects the tax may not be part of central government, but may be an alternative third-party...

 forwarded to Sukhumi. The remaining 70 per cent is spent on salaries, pensions and administration expenses. However, the district's budget does not include allocations from the central budget, which tend to be ad hoc

Ad hoc

Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....

, dependent on particular needs. The infrastructure remains in the state of collapse and, in spite of the limited international humanitarian aid, the majority of returnees continue to live in damaged houses or temporary shelters.