Samtredia ( ka, სამტრედია ) is a town in

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 munic ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, lying in a lowland between the rivers Rioni and

Tskhenis-Tsqali Tskhenistsqali ( ka, ცხენისწყალი, ''Cxenisċqali'', also: ''Tskhenistskali'') is a river in northern Georgia. Its source is in the main range of the Caucasus Mountains, in the easternmost part of the Lentekhi Municipality, l ...

, west of the capital

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

, and west of Georgia's second largest city

Kutaisi Kutaisi (, ka, ქუთაისი ) is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the third-most populous city in Georgia, traditionally, second in importance, after the capital city of Tbilisi. Situated west of Tbil ...

. Georgia’s most important roads and railways converge there, making Samtredia the country’s vital transport hub. The Kopitnari Airport is also located in from Samtredia. The town's population is 25,318 as of the 2014 all-Georgia census. The climate is humid subtropical, with mild and warm winters and hot summers.

History

Samtredia evolved from a crucial railway junction in the 1870s and acquired town status in 1921. In the 1895s there was built the first school in town, 14th public school which today is known as 12th public school. Under

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

rule, the local economy diversified from transportation to food and wood production. Due to its strategic location, Samtredia played a prominent role in the civil unrest early in the 1990s when anti-Soviet opposition groups blocked the Samtredia junction from July 26 to 31 1990 in order to force the Soviet Georgian leadership to adopt a liberal election code. The junction was again blocked in March–April 1991, this time by the new government of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, in an attempt to exert pressure on the central Soviet authorities. This blockade, however, inflicted heavy damage not only to the economy of Georgia but to the neighbouring

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

, which was largely dependent on Georgia’s railways. In 1993, Samtredia became one of the major battlegrounds in the Georgian Civil War in which the forces loyal to the ousted

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Gamsakhurdia confronted the post-coup government troops, and briefly controlled the town from October 17 to October 23, 1993, putting all communications to Tbilisi under threat. Cornell, Svante (2001), ''Small Nations and Great Powers: A Study of Ethnopolitical Conflict in the Caucasus'', p. 173.

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

, . Although Samtredia has been stable ever since, the post-Soviet crisis resulted in a significant economic decline that have since only been partially reversed.

Climate

Notable people

Kakha Kaladze Kakhaber "Kakha" Kaladze ( ka, კახაბერ (კახა) კალაძე, ; born 27 February 1978) is a Georgian politician and former footballer who serves as the Mayor of Tbilisi since November 2017. A versatile player, he was ...

– Incumbent mayor of Tbilisi, former defender of Dynamo Kyiv, A.C. Milan and Georgia national football team ex-captain. *

Andrea Razmadze Andrea Mikhailovich Razmadze (sometimes spelled Andria/Andrei Razmadze, 12 August 1889 – 2 October 1929) was a Georgian mathematician, and one of the founders of Tbilisi State University, whose Mathematics Institute was renamed in his hono ...

- Mathematician, co-founder of Tbilisi State University.

References

{{Cities and towns in Georgia (country) Cities and towns in Imereti Populated places in Samtredia Municipality

History

Climate

Notable people

See also

References