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Batumi

Batumi (/bɑːˈtmi/; Georgian: ბათუმი pronounced [ˈbatʰumi] ) is the second-largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest, 20 kilometers north of the border with Turkey. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of the Caucasus. Much of Batumi's economy revolves around tourism and gambling (it is nicknamed "The Las Vegas of the Black Sea"), but the city is also an important seaport and includes industries like shipbuilding, food processing and light manufacturing. Since 2010, Batumi has been transformed by the construction of modern high-rise buildings, as well as the restoration of classical 19th-century edifices lining its historic Old Town.[3]

Batumi
ბათუმი
Batumi sunset
Batumi at night
Boulevard
Nuri Lake and Central Park
Batumi
Location within Georgia
Batumi
Location within Adjara
Batumi
Location within Caucasus
Batumi
Location within Europe
Batumi
Batumi (Europe)
Coordinates: 41°38′45″N 41°38′30″E / 41.64583°N 41.64167°E / 41.64583; 41.64167
Country Georgia
Autonomous republic Adjara
Founded8th century
City status1866
Government
 • TypeMayor–Council
 • BodyBatumi City Assembly
 • MayorArchil Chikovani (GD)
Area
 • City64.9 km2 (25.1 sq mi)
Elevation
3 m (10 ft)
Population
 (2023)[2]
 • City179,185[1]
 • Metro
302,497[a]
Time zoneUTC+4 (Georgian Time)
Postal code
6000-6010
Area code(+995) 422
Websitebatumi.ge

History edit

Timeline of Batumi
Historical affiliations

 Lazica (to 780)
  Kingdom of Abkhazia, 780–1010
  Kingdom of Georgia, 1010–1455
  Kingdom of Imereti, 1455–1703
  Ottoman Empire, 1703–1878
  Russian Empire, 1878–1918
  British Empire, 1918–1920
  Dem. Rep. of Georgia, 1920–1921
  USSR (Adj. ASSR in G.SSR) 1921–1991
  Adjara (de facto independent, de jure part of Georgia) 1991–2004
  Georgia (AR of Adjara), 1991 (2004)–present

Early history edit

Batumi is located on the site of the ancient Greek colony in Colchis called "Bathus" or "Bathys", derived from (Greek: βαθύς λιμεν, bathus limen; or βαθύς λιμήν, bathys limēn; lit. the 'deep harbour'). Under Hadrian (c. 117–138 AD), it was converted into a fortified Roman port and later deserted for the fortress of Petra founded in the time of Justinian I (c. 527–565). Garrisoned by the Roman-Byzantine forces, it was formally a possession of the kingdom of Lazica until being occupied briefly by the Arabs, who did not hold it; In 780 Lazica fell to kingdom of Abkhazia via a dynastic union; the latter led the unification of the Georgian monarchy in the 11th century.

From 1010, it was governed by the eristavi (ერისთავი, viceroy) of the king of Georgia. In the late 15th century, after the disintegration of the Georgian kingdom, Batumi passed to the princes (mtavari, მთავარი) of Guria, a western Georgian principality under the sovereignty of the kings of Imereti.

A curious incident occurred in 1444 when a Burgundian flotilla, after a failed crusade against the Ottoman Empire, penetrated the Black Sea and engaged in piracy along its eastern coastline until the Burgundians under the knight Geoffroy de Thoisy were ambushed while landing to raid Vaty, as Europeans then knew Batumi. De Thoisy was taken captive and released through the mediation of the emperor John IV of Trebizond.

Ottoman rule edit

In the 15th century in the reign of the prince Kakhaber Gurieli, the Ottomans conquered the town and its district but did not hold them. They returned to it in force a century later and inflicted a decisive defeat on the Georgian armies at Sokhoista. Batumi was recaptured by the Georgians several times, first in 1546 by prince Rostom Gurieli, who lost it soon afterwards, and again in 1609 by Mamia II Gurieli. In 1703, Batumi again became part of the Ottoman Empire. In the one-and-a-half century of Ottoman rule it grew into a provincial port serving the Empire's hinterlands on the eastern fringes of the Black Sea. After the Ottoman conquest, Islamization of the hitherto Christian region began but this was terminated and to a great degree reversed, after the area was annexed to Russian Imperial Georgia after the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78.

Imperial Russian rule edit

It was the last Black Sea port annexed by Russia during the Russian conquest of that area of the Caucasus. In 1878, Batumi was annexed by the Russian Empire in accordance with the Treaty of San Stefano between Russia and the Ottoman Empire (ratified on 23 March). Occupied by the Russians on 28 August 1878, the town was declared a free port until 1886. It functioned as the center of a special military district until being incorporated in the Kutaisi Governorate on 12 June 1883. Finally, on 1 June 1903, with the Artvin Okrug, the Batum Okrug was established as the Batum Oblast and placed under the direct administration of the Viceroy of the Caucasus.

The expansion of Batumi began with the construction of the Batumi–TiflisBaku Transcaucasus Railway (completed in 1883[4][5]), and the Baku–Batumi pipeline which opened in 1907.[6] Henceforth, Batumi became the chief Russian oil port in the Black Sea. The population increased rapidly doubling within 20 years: from 8,671 inhabitants in 1882 to 12,000 in 1889. By 1902 the population had reached 16,000, with 1,000 working in the refinery for Baron Rothschild's Caspian and Black Sea Oil Company.[7][8]

In the late 1880s and after, more than 7,400 Doukhobor emigrants sailed for Canada from Batumi, after the government agreed to let them emigrate. Quakers and Tolstoyans aided in collecting funds for the relocation of the religious minority, which had come into conflict with the Imperial government over its refusal to serve in the military and other positions. Canada settled them in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Russian Civil War, Soviet Union, and 1991 independence edit

During 1901, sixteen years prior to the October Revolution, Joseph Stalin, the future leader of the Soviet Union, lived in the city organizing strikes. On 3 March 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk gave the city back to the Ottoman Empire, confirmed in the Treaty of Batum of June 1918 between the Ottoman Empire and the new Democratic Republic of Georgia. As result of the end of World War I the British took control over Batumi from December 1918,[9] who stayed until July 1920 when the city and province was transferred to the Democratic Republic of Georgia, which gave Adjara autonomy. In 1921 Kemal Atatürk ceded the northern part of Adjara, including Batumi, to the Bolsheviks who reconquered the Transcaucasian republics, on the condition that it be granted autonomy for the sake of the Muslims among Batumi's mixed population.[10]

When Georgia regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Aslan Abashidze was appointed head of Adjara's governing council and subsequently held onto power throughout the unrest of the 1990s. While Abkhazia and South Ossetia areas attempted to break away from the Georgian state, Adjara remained an integral part of the republic. Instead, Abashidze turned Adjara into his personal fiefdom.[11] In May 2004, he fled to Russia[12] after mass protests in Batumi,[13] which concluded the 2004 Adjara crisis.

Post-1991 edit

Batumi today is one of the main port cities of Georgia. It has the capacity for 80,000-ton tankers to take materials such as oil that are shipped through Georgia from Central Asia. Additionally, the city exports regional agricultural products. Since 1995 the freight conversion of the port has constantly risen, with an approximate 8 million tons in 2001. The annual revenue from the port is estimated at between $200 million and $300 million.

 
As Georgia's Black Sea coast continues to develop, high-rises are being built amongst Batumi's traditionally classical cityscapes.

Since the change of power in Adjara, Batumi has attracted international investors, and the prices of real estate in the city have trebled since 2001. In July 2007, the seat of the Constitutional Court of Georgia was moved from Tbilisi to Batumi to stimulate regional development.[14] Several new hotels opened after 2009, first the Sheraton in 2010 and the Radisson Blu in 2011. The city features several casinos that attract tourists from Turkey, where gambling is illegal.

Batumi was host to the Russian 12th Military Base. Following the Rose Revolution, the central government pushed for the removal of these forces and reached an agreement in 2005 with Moscow. According to the agreement, the process of withdrawal was planned to be completed in 2008, but the Russians completed the transfer of the Batumi base to Georgia on 13 November 2007, ahead of schedule.[15]

Geography edit

Climate edit

 
Sunset on the black sea

Batumi has a very wet humid subtropical climate (Cfa) according to Köppen's classification. The city's climate is heavily influenced by the onshore flow from the Black Sea and is subject to the orographic effect of the nearby hills and mountains, resulting in significant rainfall throughout most of the year, making Batumi the wettest city in both Georgia and the entire Caucasus Region.

The average annual temperature in Batumi is approximately 14 °C (57 °F). January is the coldest month with an average temperature of 7 °C (45 °F). August is the hottest month, with an average temperature of 22 °C (72 °F). The absolute minimum recorded temperature is −6 °C (21 °F), and the absolute maximum is 40 °C (104 °F). The number of days with daily temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F) is 239. The city receives 1958 hours of sunshine per year.

Batumi's average annual precipitation is 2,435 mm (95.9 in). November is the wettest month with an average of 312 mm (12.3 in) of precipitation, while May is the driest, averaging 84 mm (3.3 in). Batumi receives snow most years, but it is often limited in amount (accumulating snowfall of more than 30 cm (11.8 in) is rare), and the number of days with snow cover for the year is 12. The average level of relative humidity ranges from 70 to 80%.

Climate data for Batumi
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 25.3
(77.5)
27.4
(81.3)
32.2
(90.0)
38.3
(100.9)
37.2
(99.0)
39.9
(103.8)
40.6
(105.1)
39.5
(103.1)
38.1
(100.6)
35.4
(95.7)
30.1
(86.2)
28.3
(82.9)
40.6
(105.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 10.3
(50.5)
11.2
(52.2)
12.5
(54.5)
16.2
(61.2)
20.1
(68.2)
24.3
(75.7)
26.2
(79.2)
26.5
(79.7)
23.5
(74.3)
20.3
(68.5)
15.8
(60.4)
12.7
(54.9)
18.3
(64.9)
Daily mean °C (°F) 6.6
(43.9)
6.7
(44.1)
8.8
(47.8)
12.3
(54.1)
16.0
(60.8)
20.2
(68.4)
22.6
(72.7)
23.1
(73.6)
19.9
(67.8)
16.4
(61.5)
11.9
(53.4)
9.0
(48.2)
14.5
(58.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 4.1
(39.4)
3.8
(38.8)
5.5
(41.9)
9.3
(48.7)
13.1
(55.6)
17.3
(63.1)
19.9
(67.8)
20.3
(68.5)
16.9
(62.4)
13.4
(56.1)
9.1
(48.4)
6.4
(43.5)
11.6
(52.9)
Record low °C (°F) −7.7
(18.1)
−8.2
(17.2)
−6.7
(19.9)
−2.5
(27.5)
3.4
(38.1)
8.1
(46.6)
12.9
(55.2)
12.6
(54.7)
7.5
(45.5)
2.0
(35.6)
−3.9
(25.0)
−4.2
(24.4)
−8.2
(17.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 238
(9.4)
189
(7.4)
153
(6.0)
113
(4.4)
108
(4.3)
142
(5.6)
168
(6.6)
205
(8.1)
262
(10.3)
277
(10.9)
312
(12.3)
268
(10.6)
2,435
(95.9)
Mean monthly sunshine hours 99 105 126 148 199 235 214 223 201 176 125 107 1,958
Source 1: Climate Data[16]
Source 2: [17][18]

Subdivisions edit

According to the 31 March 2008, decision of the Batumi City Council, Batumi is divided into seven boroughs, those of:

  • Old Batumi (ძველი ბათუმის უბანი)
  • Rustaveli (რუსთაველის უბანი)
  • Khimshiashvili (ხიმშიაშვილის უბანი)
  • Bagrationi (ბაგრატიონის უბანი)
  • Aghmashenebeli (აღმაშენებლის უბანი)
  • Javakhishvili (ჯავახიშვილის უბანი)
  • Tamar (თამარის უბანი)
  • Boni-Gorodok (ბონი-გოროდოკის უბანი)
  • Airport (აეროპორტის უბანი)
  • Gonio-Kvariati (გონიო-კვარიათის უბანი)
  • Kakhaberi (კახაბრის უბანი)
  • Batumi Industrial (ბათუმის სამრეწველო უბანი)
  • Green Cape (მწვანე კონცხის უბანი)[19]

Cityscape edit

 
Port of Batumi in 1881

Contemporary architecture edit

 
Batumi Neptun Square
 
Batumi boulevard and beach
 
Radisson Blu Hotel, Batumi

Batumi's skyline has been transformed since 2007 with remarkable buildings and monuments of contemporary architecture,[3] including:[20]

  • Radisson Blu hotel
  • Public Service Hall
  • Hilton Batumi
  • Leogrand

A large Kempinski hotel and casino is to open in 2013, a Hilton Hotel as well as a 47-storey Trump Tower is also planned.[21] Alliance Privilege, a building compromising Marriot Hotel, Casino and serviced apartments is one of the contemporary buildings with unique architecture by the beach.

Novelty architecture edit

Novelty architecture in Batumi includes:

Sites of interest edit

Main sights edit

Attractions include

Tourist attractions edit

 
Panorama view of Batumi Europe Square and Medea Statue

Demographics edit

 
Georgian Orthodox Cathedral of the Mother of God
Historical population and ethnic composition of Batumi[24]
Year Georgians Armenians Russians Greeks Others Total
1886 2,518 17% 3,458 23.4% 2,982 20.1% 1,660 11.2% 4,185 28.3% 14,803
1897[25][26] 6,087 21.4% 6,839 24% 6,224 21.8% 2,764 9.7% 6,594 23.1% 28,508
1916[27] 6,481 32.4% 5,524 27.6% 4,825 24.1% 3,190 15.9% 20,020
1926 17,804 36.7% 10,233 21.1% 8,760 18.1% 2,844 5.9% 8,833 18.2% 48,474
1959 40,181 48.8% 12,743 15.5% 20,857 25.3% 1,668 2% 6,879 8.4% 82,328
2002[28] 104,313 85.6% 7,517 6.2% 6,300 5.2% 587 0.5% 3,089 2.5% 121,806
2014[29] 142,691 93.4% 4,636 3.0% 2,889 1.9% 289 0.2% 2,334 1.5% 152,839

Religion edit

Of the 4,970 inhabitants in 1872, about 4,500 were Muslim (Adjarians, Turks, Circassians, and Abkhazians). In the 1897 census, the Orthodox Christian population was 15,495 (mostly Slavs) while Muslims numbered 3,156, including some of whom were citizens of Turkey.[30]

Although there is no religious data available separately for Batumi, the majority of the region's inhabitants are Eastern Orthodox Christian, and primarily adhere to the national Georgian Orthodox Church.[31] There are also Muslim, Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, Jehovah's Witness, Seventh-day Adventist, and Batumi Synagogue.[31]

The main places of worship in the city are:

Culture edit

Batumi has 18 various museums, including State Art Museum of Adjara. Rugby Union club Batumi RC competes in the Pan-European Rugby Europe Super Cup and the Georgian Didi 10. Football club FC Dinamo Batumi play at the Batumi stadium.

Notable people edit

Notable people who are from Batumi:

Economy and infrastructure edit

 
Seaport of Batumi

Transport edit

The city is served by Batumi Airport, one of three international airports in the country.[33] A bike-sharing system named BatumVelo allows you to rent a bicycle on the street with a smart card.[34]

The main types of public transport are buses, minibusses, and taxis. Batumi has modern electric buses. Using the service is possible by BATUMICARD, transit card, or debit/credit cards. Buses connect almost everywhere in the city.[35]

The port of Batumi is on one of the routes of China's proposed Eurasian Land Bridge (part of the "New Silk Road"), which would see an eastern freight link to China via Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea, and a western link by ferry to Ukraine and on to Europe.[36]

Postage stamps edit

Twin towns – sister cities edit

Batumi is twinned with:[37]

References edit

  1. ^ Population figure includes Khelvachauri and Kobuleti municipalities[1]
  1. ^ a b "Population by regions". National Statistics Office of Georgia. from the original on 10 May 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Population – National Statistics Office of Georgia". from the original on 5 March 2023. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  3. ^ a b Spritzer, Dinah (9 September 2010). "Glamour revives port of Batumi". The New York Times. from the original on 21 July 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  4. ^ А.Э. Котов (A.E. Kotov) (17 July 2009). (in Russian). Archived from the original on 6 September 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Каспийско-Черноморское нефтепромышленное и торговое общество (Баку) - Ротшильды и Баку" [Caspian-Black Sea Oil Industry and Trade Society – Rothschilds and Baku] (in Russian). Our Baku. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  6. ^ Mir-Yusif Mir-Babayev (February 2015). "Baku-Batumi – The world's longest pipeline". Visions of Azerbaijan. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  7. ^ Simon Sebag Montefiore, Young Stalin, page 77.
  8. ^ Yergin, Daniel (1991). The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 60–61. ISBN 9780671799328.
  9. ^ Andersen, Andrew (2014). Abkhazia and Sochi – The roots of the conflict 1918-1921. Asteroid Publishing. p. 71. ISBN 978-1495381454.
  10. ^ Nazaroff, Alexander (1922). "Russia's Treaty with Turkey". Current History (1916-1940). 17 (2): 276–279. ISSN 2641-080X.
  11. ^ "Aslan Abashidze". BBC. 4 May 2004. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Abashidze Flees Georgia". Civil.ge. 6 May 2004. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  13. ^ "15,000 Protesters Demand Abashidze's Resignation". Civil.ge. 5 May 2004. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  14. ^ . constcourt.ge. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011.
  15. ^ "Russia Hands Over Batumi Military Base to Georgia". Civil Georgia, Tbilisi. 13 November 2007. from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2007.
  16. ^ . Archived from the original on 21 April 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  17. ^ "The duration of sunshine in some cities of the former USSR" (in Russian). Meteoweb.ru. from the original on 19 May 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  18. ^ "37496: Batumi (Georgia)". OGIMET. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  19. ^ (in Georgian) დადგენილება N 3-1 ბათუმის უბნები[permanent dead link] (Decision #3.1. Boroughs of Batumi). Batumi City Council. Accessed 15 November 2009
  20. ^ Planet, Lonely; Noble, John; Kohn, Michael; Systermans, Danielle (1 April 2012). Lonely Planet Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781743213032. from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016 – via Google Books.
  21. ^ "TOURISM IS FLOURISHING IN BLACK SEA RESORT", AP, November 11, 2012 17 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ^ "News & Events". Archived from the original on 4 January 2013.
  23. ^ . Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  24. ^ "население грузии". from the original on 8 February 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  25. ^ . Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  26. ^ "Батумский округ 1897". from the original on 9 May 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  27. ^ [Caucasian calendar for 1917] (in Russian) (72nd ed.). Tiflis: Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom. 1917. pp. 182–185. Archived from the original on 4 November 2021.
  28. ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  29. ^ "georgia-ethnic-2014". from the original on 4 November 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  30. ^ Sichinava, V (1958). Batumis ist'oriidan ბათუმის ისტორიიდან [From the History of Batumi] (in Georgian). Batumi. p. 110.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  31. ^ a b National Statistics Office of Georgia. Population Census 2014: Population by Regions and Religion 14 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved: 6 May 2016
  32. ^ "Batumi: sights". Official website of Batumi. from the original on 17 March 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  33. ^ "Batumi Airport". batumiairport.com. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  34. ^ "BatumVelo". www.batumvelo.ge. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  35. ^ "Batumi Cost of Living, Georgia – ExpatHub.GE". 2 August 2021.
  36. ^ Dyussembekova, Zhazira (21 January 2016). "Silk Road Renewed With Launch of New Commercial Transit Route". The Astana Times. from the original on 22 January 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  37. ^ "ჩვენი ქალაქი – დამეგობრებული ქალაქები". batumi.ge (in Georgian). Batumi. from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  38. ^ "Ბათუმი და ბალარუსის ქალაქი მოგილიოვი დამეგობრდნენ – TV25". from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  39. ^ "Batumi miastem partnerskim Wrocławia". wroclaw.pl (in Polish). Wrocław. 17 July 2019. from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  40. ^ "Კონსტანცასა და ბათუმს შორის თანამშრომლობის მემორანდუმი გაფორმდა". from the original on 28 May 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  • Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia. Georgian SSR (Supplementary Edition). 1981. pp. 16–18.

External links edit

  • Official website

batumi, batum, redirects, here, other, uses, batum, disambiguation, ɑː, georgian, ბათუმი, pronounced, ˈbatʰumi, second, largest, city, georgia, capital, autonomous, republic, adjara, located, coast, black, georgia, southwest, kilometers, north, border, with, t. Batum redirects here For other uses see Batum disambiguation Batumi b ɑː ˈ t uː m i Georgian ბათუმი pronounced ˈbatʰumi is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia s southwest 20 kilometers north of the border with Turkey It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of the Caucasus Much of Batumi s economy revolves around tourism and gambling it is nicknamed The Las Vegas of the Black Sea but the city is also an important seaport and includes industries like shipbuilding food processing and light manufacturing Since 2010 Batumi has been transformed by the construction of modern high rise buildings as well as the restoration of classical 19th century edifices lining its historic Old Town 3 Batumi ბათუმიBatumi sunsetBatumi at nightBoulevardBatumi SeaportNuri Lake and Central ParkFlagCoat of armsBatumiLocation within GeorgiaShow map of GeorgiaBatumiLocation within AdjaraShow map of AdjaraBatumiLocation within CaucasusShow map of Caucasus mountainsBatumiLocation within EuropeShow map of AsiaBatumiBatumi Europe Show map of EuropeCoordinates 41 38 45 N 41 38 30 E 41 64583 N 41 64167 E 41 64583 41 64167CountryGeorgiaAutonomous republicAdjaraFounded8th centuryCity status1866Government TypeMayor Council BodyBatumi City Assembly MayorArchil Chikovani GD Area City64 9 km2 25 1 sq mi Elevation3 m 10 ft Population 2023 2 City179 185 1 Metro302 497 a Time zoneUTC 4 Georgian Time Postal code6000 6010Area code 995 422Websitebatumi wbr ge Contents 1 History 1 1 Early history 1 2 Ottoman rule 1 3 Imperial Russian rule 1 4 Russian Civil War Soviet Union and 1991 independence 1 5 Post 1991 2 Geography 2 1 Climate 2 2 Subdivisions 2 3 Cityscape 2 3 1 Contemporary architecture 2 3 2 Novelty architecture 2 4 Sites of interest 2 4 1 Main sights 2 4 2 Tourist attractions 3 Demographics 3 1 Religion 4 Culture 4 1 Notable people 5 Economy and infrastructure 5 1 Transport 6 Postage stamps 7 Twin towns sister cities 8 References 9 External linksHistory editTimeline of Batumi Historical affiliations Lazica to 780 nbsp Kingdom of Abkhazia 780 1010 nbsp Kingdom of Georgia 1010 1455 nbsp Kingdom of Imereti 1455 1703 nbsp Ottoman Empire 1703 1878 nbsp Russian Empire 1878 1918 nbsp British Empire 1918 1920 nbsp Dem Rep of Georgia 1920 1921 nbsp USSR Adj ASSR in G SSR 1921 1991 nbsp Adjara de facto independent de jure part of Georgia 1991 2004 nbsp Georgia AR of Adjara 1991 2004 present Main articles History of Batumi and Timeline of Batumi Early history edit Batumi is located on the site of the ancient Greek colony in Colchis called Bathus or Bathys derived from Greek ba8ys limen bathus limen or ba8ys limhn bathys limen lit the deep harbour Under Hadrian c 117 138 AD it was converted into a fortified Roman port and later deserted for the fortress of Petra founded in the time of Justinian I c 527 565 Garrisoned by the Roman Byzantine forces it was formally a possession of the kingdom of Lazica until being occupied briefly by the Arabs who did not hold it In 780 Lazica fell to kingdom of Abkhazia via a dynastic union the latter led the unification of the Georgian monarchy in the 11th century From 1010 it was governed by the eristavi ერისთავი viceroy of the king of Georgia In the late 15th century after the disintegration of the Georgian kingdom Batumi passed to the princes mtavari მთავარი of Guria a western Georgian principality under the sovereignty of the kings of Imereti A curious incident occurred in 1444 when a Burgundian flotilla after a failed crusade against the Ottoman Empire penetrated the Black Sea and engaged in piracy along its eastern coastline until the Burgundians under the knight Geoffroy de Thoisy were ambushed while landing to raid Vaty as Europeans then knew Batumi De Thoisy was taken captive and released through the mediation of the emperor John IV of Trebizond Ottoman rule edit In the 15th century in the reign of the prince Kakhaber Gurieli the Ottomans conquered the town and its district but did not hold them They returned to it in force a century later and inflicted a decisive defeat on the Georgian armies at Sokhoista Batumi was recaptured by the Georgians several times first in 1546 by prince Rostom Gurieli who lost it soon afterwards and again in 1609 by Mamia II Gurieli In 1703 Batumi again became part of the Ottoman Empire In the one and a half century of Ottoman rule it grew into a provincial port serving the Empire s hinterlands on the eastern fringes of the Black Sea After the Ottoman conquest Islamization of the hitherto Christian region began but this was terminated and to a great degree reversed after the area was annexed to Russian Imperial Georgia after the Russo Turkish War of 1877 78 Imperial Russian rule edit It was the last Black Sea port annexed by Russia during the Russian conquest of that area of the Caucasus In 1878 Batumi was annexed by the Russian Empire in accordance with the Treaty of San Stefano between Russia and the Ottoman Empire ratified on 23 March Occupied by the Russians on 28 August 1878 the town was declared a free port until 1886 It functioned as the center of a special military district until being incorporated in the Kutaisi Governorate on 12 June 1883 Finally on 1 June 1903 with the Artvin Okrug the Batum Okrug was established as the Batum Oblast and placed under the direct administration of the Viceroy of the Caucasus The expansion of Batumi began with the construction of the Batumi Tiflis Baku Transcaucasus Railway completed in 1883 4 5 and the Baku Batumi pipeline which opened in 1907 6 Henceforth Batumi became the chief Russian oil port in the Black Sea The population increased rapidly doubling within 20 years from 8 671 inhabitants in 1882 to 12 000 in 1889 By 1902 the population had reached 16 000 with 1 000 working in the refinery for Baron Rothschild s Caspian and Black Sea Oil Company 7 8 In the late 1880s and after more than 7 400 Doukhobor emigrants sailed for Canada from Batumi after the government agreed to let them emigrate Quakers and Tolstoyans aided in collecting funds for the relocation of the religious minority which had come into conflict with the Imperial government over its refusal to serve in the military and other positions Canada settled them in Manitoba and Saskatchewan Russian Civil War Soviet Union and 1991 independence edit During 1901 sixteen years prior to the October Revolution Joseph Stalin the future leader of the Soviet Union lived in the city organizing strikes On 3 March 1918 the Treaty of Brest Litovsk gave the city back to the Ottoman Empire confirmed in the Treaty of Batum of June 1918 between the Ottoman Empire and the new Democratic Republic of Georgia As result of the end of World War I the British took control over Batumi from December 1918 9 who stayed until July 1920 when the city and province was transferred to the Democratic Republic of Georgia which gave Adjara autonomy In 1921 Kemal Ataturk ceded the northern part of Adjara including Batumi to the Bolsheviks who reconquered the Transcaucasian republics on the condition that it be granted autonomy for the sake of the Muslims among Batumi s mixed population 10 When Georgia regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 Aslan Abashidze was appointed head of Adjara s governing council and subsequently held onto power throughout the unrest of the 1990s While Abkhazia and South Ossetia areas attempted to break away from the Georgian state Adjara remained an integral part of the republic Instead Abashidze turned Adjara into his personal fiefdom 11 In May 2004 he fled to Russia 12 after mass protests in Batumi 13 which concluded the 2004 Adjara crisis Post 1991 edit Batumi today is one of the main port cities of Georgia It has the capacity for 80 000 ton tankers to take materials such as oil that are shipped through Georgia from Central Asia Additionally the city exports regional agricultural products Since 1995 the freight conversion of the port has constantly risen with an approximate 8 million tons in 2001 The annual revenue from the port is estimated at between 200 million and 300 million nbsp As Georgia s Black Sea coast continues to develop high rises are being built amongst Batumi s traditionally classical cityscapes Since the change of power in Adjara Batumi has attracted international investors and the prices of real estate in the city have trebled since 2001 In July 2007 the seat of the Constitutional Court of Georgia was moved from Tbilisi to Batumi to stimulate regional development 14 Several new hotels opened after 2009 first the Sheraton in 2010 and the Radisson Blu in 2011 The city features several casinos that attract tourists from Turkey where gambling is illegal Batumi was host to the Russian 12th Military Base Following the Rose Revolution the central government pushed for the removal of these forces and reached an agreement in 2005 with Moscow According to the agreement the process of withdrawal was planned to be completed in 2008 but the Russians completed the transfer of the Batumi base to Georgia on 13 November 2007 ahead of schedule 15 Geography editClimate edit nbsp Sunset on the black seaBatumi has a very wet humid subtropical climate Cfa according to Koppen s classification The city s climate is heavily influenced by the onshore flow from the Black Sea and is subject to the orographic effect of the nearby hills and mountains resulting in significant rainfall throughout most of the year making Batumi the wettest city in both Georgia and the entire Caucasus Region The average annual temperature in Batumi is approximately 14 C 57 F January is the coldest month with an average temperature of 7 C 45 F August is the hottest month with an average temperature of 22 C 72 F The absolute minimum recorded temperature is 6 C 21 F and the absolute maximum is 40 C 104 F The number of days with daily temperatures above 10 C 50 F is 239 The city receives 1958 hours of sunshine per year Batumi s average annual precipitation is 2 435 mm 95 9 in November is the wettest month with an average of 312 mm 12 3 in of precipitation while May is the driest averaging 84 mm 3 3 in Batumi receives snow most years but it is often limited in amount accumulating snowfall of more than 30 cm 11 8 in is rare and the number of days with snow cover for the year is 12 The average level of relative humidity ranges from 70 to 80 Climate data for BatumiMonth Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high C F 25 3 77 5 27 4 81 3 32 2 90 0 38 3 100 9 37 2 99 0 39 9 103 8 40 6 105 1 39 5 103 1 38 1 100 6 35 4 95 7 30 1 86 2 28 3 82 9 40 6 105 1 Mean daily maximum C F 10 3 50 5 11 2 52 2 12 5 54 5 16 2 61 2 20 1 68 2 24 3 75 7 26 2 79 2 26 5 79 7 23 5 74 3 20 3 68 5 15 8 60 4 12 7 54 9 18 3 64 9 Daily mean C F 6 6 43 9 6 7 44 1 8 8 47 8 12 3 54 1 16 0 60 8 20 2 68 4 22 6 72 7 23 1 73 6 19 9 67 8 16 4 61 5 11 9 53 4 9 0 48 2 14 5 58 0 Mean daily minimum C F 4 1 39 4 3 8 38 8 5 5 41 9 9 3 48 7 13 1 55 6 17 3 63 1 19 9 67 8 20 3 68 5 16 9 62 4 13 4 56 1 9 1 48 4 6 4 43 5 11 6 52 9 Record low C F 7 7 18 1 8 2 17 2 6 7 19 9 2 5 27 5 3 4 38 1 8 1 46 6 12 9 55 2 12 6 54 7 7 5 45 5 2 0 35 6 3 9 25 0 4 2 24 4 8 2 17 2 Average precipitation mm inches 238 9 4 189 7 4 153 6 0 113 4 4 108 4 3 142 5 6 168 6 6 205 8 1 262 10 3 277 10 9 312 12 3 268 10 6 2 435 95 9 Mean monthly sunshine hours 99 105 126 148 199 235 214 223 201 176 125 107 1 958Source 1 Climate Data 16 Source 2 17 18 Subdivisions edit According to the 31 March 2008 decision of the Batumi City Council Batumi is divided into seven boroughs those of Old Batumi ძველი ბათუმის უბანი Rustaveli რუსთაველის უბანი Khimshiashvili ხიმშიაშვილის უბანი Bagrationi ბაგრატიონის უბანი Aghmashenebeli აღმაშენებლის უბანი Javakhishvili ჯავახიშვილის უბანი Tamar თამარის უბანი Boni Gorodok ბონი გოროდოკის უბანი Airport აეროპორტის უბანი Gonio Kvariati გონიო კვარიათის უბანი Kakhaberi კახაბრის უბანი Batumi Industrial ბათუმის სამრეწველო უბანი Green Cape მწვანე კონცხის უბანი 19 Cityscape edit nbsp Port of Batumi in 1881Contemporary architecture edit nbsp Batumi Neptun Square nbsp Batumi boulevard and beach nbsp Radisson Blu Hotel BatumiBatumi s skyline has been transformed since 2007 with remarkable buildings and monuments of contemporary architecture 3 including 20 Radisson Blu hotel Public Service Hall Hilton Batumi LeograndA large Kempinski hotel and casino is to open in 2013 a Hilton Hotel as well as a 47 storey Trump Tower is also planned 21 Alliance Privilege a building compromising Marriot Hotel Casino and serviced apartments is one of the contemporary buildings with unique architecture by the beach Novelty architecture edit Novelty architecture in Batumi includes Sheraton Hotel designed in the style of the Great Lighthouse at Alexandria Egypt 22 Alphabetic Tower 145 m 476 ft high celebrating Georgian script and writing Batumi Piazza a mixed used development in the form of an Italian piazza Buildings designed in the style of a lighthouse the Acropolis and an upside down White HouseSites of interest edit Main sights edit Attractions include Adjara State Museum Aquarium Batumi Botanical Garden Circus Former resort area along the Black Sea coast Tourist attractions edit nbsp Panorama view of Batumi Europe Square and Medea StatueBatumi Boulevard The statue of Man and Woman AKA Ali and Nino by Georgian artist Tamara Kvesitadze Batumi Botanical Gardens Cafe Fantasy Dancing Fountains Batumi Dolphinarium Piazza Square Panoramic Wheel Astronomical clock Argo Cable Car 6 May Park Europe Square Alphabetic Tower Batumi Sea Port Miracle Park Chacha Clock Tower defunct Fountain of Neptun Batumi Archeological Museum Monument of Ilia Chavchavadze 23 Demographics edit nbsp Georgian Orthodox Cathedral of the Mother of GodHistorical population and ethnic composition of Batumi 24 Year Georgians Armenians Russians Greeks Others Total1886 2 518 17 3 458 23 4 2 982 20 1 1 660 11 2 4 185 28 3 14 8031897 25 26 6 087 21 4 6 839 24 6 224 21 8 2 764 9 7 6 594 23 1 28 5081916 27 6 481 32 4 5 524 27 6 4 825 24 1 3 190 15 9 20 0201926 17 804 36 7 10 233 21 1 8 760 18 1 2 844 5 9 8 833 18 2 48 4741959 40 181 48 8 12 743 15 5 20 857 25 3 1 668 2 6 879 8 4 82 3282002 28 104 313 85 6 7 517 6 2 6 300 5 2 587 0 5 3 089 2 5 121 8062014 29 142 691 93 4 4 636 3 0 2 889 1 9 289 0 2 2 334 1 5 152 839Religion edit Of the 4 970 inhabitants in 1872 about 4 500 were Muslim Adjarians Turks Circassians and Abkhazians In the 1897 census the Orthodox Christian population was 15 495 mostly Slavs while Muslims numbered 3 156 including some of whom were citizens of Turkey 30 Although there is no religious data available separately for Batumi the majority of the region s inhabitants are Eastern Orthodox Christian and primarily adhere to the national Georgian Orthodox Church 31 There are also Muslim Catholic Armenian Apostolic Jehovah s Witness Seventh day Adventist and Batumi Synagogue 31 The main places of worship in the city are Georgian Orthodox Cathedral of the Mother of God and Saint Barbara Church Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit Saint Nicholas Church Batumi Mosque Batumi Synagogue 32 Culture editBatumi has 18 various museums including State Art Museum of Adjara Rugby Union club Batumi RC competes in the Pan European Rugby Europe Super Cup and the Georgian Didi 10 Football club FC Dinamo Batumi play at the Batumi stadium Notable people edit Notable people who are from Batumi Sesilia Takaishvili 1906 1984 georgian actress Anzor Erkomaishvili 1940 2021 singer composer and folk music researcher Valery Meladze 1965 pop singer Zaza Khalvashi 1957 2020 film director Katie Melua 1984 georgian british singer songwriter Sopho Khalvashi 1986 singer first Georgian entrant to the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 Mindia Khitarishvili 1973 israeli and georgian composer Ioseb Bardanashvili 1948 israeli and georgian composer Aleksandre Khomeriki 1948 2020 georgian opera singer Nino Nizharadze 1945 artistEconomy and infrastructure edit nbsp Seaport of BatumiTransport edit The city is served by Batumi Airport one of three international airports in the country 33 A bike sharing system named BatumVelo allows you to rent a bicycle on the street with a smart card 34 The main types of public transport are buses minibusses and taxis Batumi has modern electric buses Using the service is possible by BATUMICARD transit card or debit credit cards Buses connect almost everywhere in the city 35 The port of Batumi is on one of the routes of China s proposed Eurasian Land Bridge part of the New Silk Road which would see an eastern freight link to China via Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea and a western link by ferry to Ukraine and on to Europe 36 Postage stamps editMain article Postage stamps of Batum under British occupationTwin towns sister cities editSee also List of twin towns and sister cities in Georgia country Batumi is twinned with 37 nbsp Bari Italy 1987 nbsp Savannah United States 1992 nbsp Trabzon Turkey 2000 nbsp Vanadzor Armenia 2006 nbsp Volos Greece 2007 nbsp Yalta Ukraine 2008 nbsp Burgas Bulgaria 2009 nbsp Marbella Spain 2010 nbsp Kusadasi Turkey 2010 nbsp Ordu Turkey 2011 nbsp Ternopil Ukraine 2011 nbsp Ashdod Israel 2011 nbsp New Orleans United States 2012 nbsp Yalova Turkey 2012 nbsp Nakhchivan Azerbaijan 2012 nbsp Daugavpils Latvia 2012 nbsp Donetsk Ukraine 2013 nbsp Prague 1 Czech Republic 2013 nbsp Sharm El Sheikh Egypt 2014 nbsp Urumqi China 2015 nbsp Brest Belarus 2015 nbsp Paphos Cyprus 2016 nbsp Nysa Poland 2017 nbsp Mogilev Belarus 2017 38 nbsp Netanya Israel 2018 nbsp Wroclaw Poland 2019 39 nbsp Constanța Romania 2020 40 References edit Population figure includes Khelvachauri and Kobuleti municipalities 1 a b Population by regions National Statistics Office of Georgia Archived from the original on 10 May 2023 Retrieved 10 May 2023 Population National Statistics Office of Georgia Archived from the original on 5 March 2023 Retrieved 10 May 2023 a b Spritzer Dinah 9 September 2010 Glamour revives port of Batumi The New York Times Archived from the original on 21 July 2016 Retrieved 24 December 2014 A E Kotov A E Kotov 17 July 2009 Iz istorii Yuzhno Kavkazskoj zheleznoj dorogi From the History of the South Caucasus Railway in Russian Archived from the original on 6 September 2009 Retrieved 31 December 2021 Kaspijsko Chernomorskoe neftepromyshlennoe i torgovoe obshestvo Baku Rotshildy i Baku Caspian Black Sea Oil Industry and Trade Society Rothschilds and Baku in Russian Our Baku Retrieved 31 December 2021 Mir Yusif Mir Babayev February 2015 Baku Batumi The world s longest pipeline Visions of Azerbaijan Retrieved 31 December 2021 Simon Sebag Montefiore Young Stalin page 77 Yergin Daniel 1991 The Prize The Epic Quest for Oil Money and Power New York Simon amp Schuster pp 60 61 ISBN 9780671799328 Andersen Andrew 2014 Abkhazia and Sochi The roots of the conflict 1918 1921 Asteroid Publishing p 71 ISBN 978 1495381454 Nazaroff Alexander 1922 Russia s Treaty with Turkey Current History 1916 1940 17 2 276 279 ISSN 2641 080X Aslan Abashidze BBC 4 May 2004 Retrieved 11 November 2021 Abashidze Flees Georgia Civil ge 6 May 2004 Retrieved 31 December 2021 15 000 Protesters Demand Abashidze s Resignation Civil ge 5 May 2004 Retrieved 31 December 2021 საქართველოს საკონსტიტუციო სასამართლო constcourt ge Archived from the original on 21 July 2011 Russia Hands Over Batumi Military Base to Georgia Civil Georgia Tbilisi 13 November 2007 Archived from the original on 14 May 2011 Retrieved 13 November 2007 Climate Data Archived from the original on 21 April 2017 Retrieved 26 November 2016 The duration of sunshine in some cities of the former USSR in Russian Meteoweb ru Archived from the original on 19 May 2019 Retrieved 27 September 2012 37496 Batumi Georgia OGIMET 14 January 2021 Retrieved 14 January 2021 in Georgian დადგენილება N 3 1 ბათუმის უბნები permanent dead link Decision 3 1 Boroughs of Batumi Batumi City Council Accessed 15 November 2009 Planet Lonely Noble John Kohn Michael Systermans Danielle 1 April 2012 Lonely Planet Georgia Armenia amp Azerbaijan Lonely Planet ISBN 9781743213032 Archived from the original on 7 May 2016 Retrieved 8 October 2016 via Google Books TOURISM IS FLOURISHING IN BLACK SEA RESORT AP November 11 2012 Archived 17 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine News amp Events Archived from the original on 4 January 2013 باتومی گرجستان Archived from the original on 19 August 2014 Retrieved 8 October 2016 naselenie gruzii Archived from the original on 8 February 2008 Retrieved 8 October 2016 Demoskop Weekly Prilozhenie Spravochnik statisticheskih pokazatelej Archived from the original on 18 August 2016 Retrieved 8 October 2016 Batumskij okrug 1897 Archived from the original on 9 May 2013 Retrieved 8 October 2016 Kavkazskij kalendar na 1917 god Caucasian calendar for 1917 in Russian 72nd ed Tiflis Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye I V na Kavkaze kazenny dom 1917 pp 182 185 Archived from the original on 4 November 2021 Ethnic groups by major administrative territorial units PDF Archived from the original PDF on 7 April 2014 Retrieved 8 October 2015 georgia ethnic 2014 Archived from the original on 4 November 2018 Retrieved 5 November 2020 Sichinava V 1958 Batumis ist oriidan ბათუმის ისტორიიდან From the History of Batumi in Georgian Batumi p 110 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link a b National Statistics Office of Georgia Population Census 2014 Population by Regions and Religion Archived 14 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 6 May 2016 Batumi sights Official website of Batumi Archived from the original on 17 March 2019 Retrieved 10 May 2009 Batumi Airport batumiairport com Retrieved 22 December 2023 BatumVelo www batumvelo ge Retrieved 22 December 2023 Batumi Cost of Living Georgia ExpatHub GE 2 August 2021 Dyussembekova Zhazira 21 January 2016 Silk Road Renewed With Launch of New Commercial Transit Route The Astana Times Archived from the original on 22 January 2016 Retrieved 11 July 2017 ჩვენი ქალაქი დამეგობრებული ქალაქები batumi ge in Georgian Batumi Archived from the original on 31 October 2019 Retrieved 13 February 2020 Ბათუმი და ბალარუსის ქალაქი მოგილიოვი დამეგობრდნენ TV25 Archived from the original on 28 May 2021 Retrieved 8 March 2021 Batumi miastem partnerskim Wroclawia wroclaw pl in Polish Wroclaw 17 July 2019 Archived from the original on 22 April 2020 Retrieved 13 February 2020 Კონსტანცასა და ბათუმს შორის თანამშრომლობის მემორანდუმი გაფორმდა Archived from the original on 28 May 2021 Retrieved 8 March 2021 Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia Georgian SSR Supplementary Edition 1981 pp 16 18 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Batumi nbsp Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Batumi Official website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Batumi amp oldid 1197204638, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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