Abkhazia (Abkhāz) lies in the northwest Caucasus on the east coast of the Black Sea. Its present name is the Republic of Abkhazia. It comprises 8600 (Akiner, 222) or 8700 square kilometres (Narody Kavkaza, 2/373), and had a population of approximately 550,000 (1991 census), which had fallen by 2003 to an estimated 250,000 at a density of 29 per square kilometre. It is internationally recognised as part of Georgian territory, although it declared de facto independence from Georgia in 1994 and its status has been disputed ever since.

Abkhazia comprises a number of contrasting regions…