Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the second-largest city of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

in Georgia's southwest, north of the border with Turkey. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. Much of Batumi's economy revolves around tourism and

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

(it is nicknamed "The Las Vegas of the Black Sea"), but the city is also an important seaport and includes industries like

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

food processing Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms. Food processing takes many forms, from grinding grain into raw flour, home cooking, and complex industrial methods used in the mak ...

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.

History

Early history

Batumi is located on the site of the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

colony in

Colchis In classical antiquity and Greco-Roman geography, Colchis (; ) was an exonym for the Georgian polity of Egrisi ( ka, ეგრისი) located on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, centered in present-day western Georgia. Its population, the ...

called "''Bathus"'' or "''Bathys"'', derived from (, ; or , ; lit. the 'deep harbor'). Under

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

(), it was converted into a fortified

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

port and later deserted for the fortress of

Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...

founded in the time of

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

(). Garrisoned by the Roman-

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

forces, it was formally a possession of the kingdom of

Lazica The Kingdom of Lazica (; ; ), sometimes called Lazian Empire, was a state in the territory of west Georgia in the Roman era, Georgia in the Roman period, from about the 1st century BC. Created as a result of the collapse of the kingdom of Colc ...

until being occupied briefly by the

Arabs Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...

, 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 (, viceroy) of the king of Georgia. In the late 15th century, after the disintegration of the Georgian kingdom, Batumi passed to the princes (, ) of

Guria Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia (country), Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 104,338 (2023), with Ozurgeti as the regional cap ...

, 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 The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, 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 The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

John IV of Trebizond.

Ottoman rule

In the 15th century in the reign of the prince Kakhaber Gurieli, the

Ottomans Ottoman may refer to: * Osman I, historically known in English as "Ottoman I", founder of the Ottoman Empire * Osman II, historically known in English as "Ottoman II" * Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empir ...

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

. After the Ottoman conquest,

Islamization The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates, expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted ...

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

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 The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

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 A free-trade zone (FTZ) is a class of special economic zone. It is a geographic area where goods may be imported, stored, handled, manufactured, or reconfigured and re-exported under specific customs regulation and generally not subject to ...

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 Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

–

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

Transcaucasus Railway (completed in 1883), and the

–Batumi pipeline which opened in 1907. 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. 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 Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

and

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

Russian Civil War, Soviet Union, and 1991 independence

During 1901, sixteen years prior to the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, the future leader of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, lived in the city organizing strikes. On 3 March 1918, the

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Soviet Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria), by which Russia withdrew from World War I. The treaty, whi ...

gave the city back to the Ottoman Empire, confirmed in the

Treaty of Batum The Treaty of Batum was signed in Batumi on 4 June 1918, between the Ottoman Empire and the three Transcaucasian states: the First Republic of Armenia, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and the Democratic Republic of Georgia. It was the first ...

of June 1918 between the Ottoman Empire and the new

Democratic Republic of Georgia The Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG; ka, საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა, tr) was the first modern establishment of a republic of Georgia (country), Georgia, which exist ...

. As result of the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the British took control over Batumi from December 1918, 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

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

s who reconquered the Transcaucasian republics, on the condition that it be granted autonomy for the sake of the Muslims among Batumi's mixed population. When Georgia regained its independence from the

in 1991,

Aslan Abashidze Aslan Abashidze ( ka, ასლან აბაშიძე; born 20 July 1938) is the former leader of the Ajarian Autonomous Republic in western Georgia. He served in this capacity from 18 August 1991 to 5 May 2004. He resigned under the press ...

was appointed head of Adjara's governing council and subsequently held onto power throughout the unrest of the 1990s. While

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

and

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

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. In May 2004, he fled to Russia after mass protests in Batumi, which concluded the 2004 Adjara crisis.

Post-1991

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. 20241123 Batumi 6

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. 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.

Geography

Climate

Batumi has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''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

and the entire

Region. The average annual temperature in Batumi is approximately . January is the coldest month with an average temperature of . August is the hottest month, with an average temperature of . The absolute minimum recorded temperature is , and the absolute maximum is . The number of days with daily temperatures above is 239. The city receives 1958 hours of sunshine per year. Batumi's average annual precipitation is . November is the wettest month with an average of of precipitation, while May is the driest, averaging . Batumi receives snow most years, but it is often limited in amount (accumulating snowfall of more than 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%.

Subdivisions

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)

Cityscape

Contemporary architecture

Batumi's skyline has been transformed since 2007 with remarkable buildings and monuments of contemporary architecture, including: *Marriott Hotel *Radisson Blu hotel *Public Service Hall *Hilton Batumi *Leogrand A large Kempinski hotel and casino is to open in 2013, a

Hilton Hotel Hilton Hotels & Resorts (formerly known as Hilton Hotels) is a global brand of full-service hotels and resorts and the flagship brand of American multinational hospitality company Hilton Worldwide. The original company was founded by Conrad Hi ...

as well as a 47-storey Trump Tower is also planned. Alliance Privilege, a building compromising Marriott Hotel, Casino and serviced apartments is one of the contemporary buildings with unique architecture by the beach.

Novelty architecture

Novelty architecture Novelty architecture, also called programmatic architecture or mimetic architecture, is a type of architecture in which buildings and other structures are given unusual shapes for purposes such as advertising or to copy other famous buildings. ...

in Batumi includes: * Sheraton Hotel, designed in the style of the Great Lighthouse at Alexandria, Egypt * Alphabetic Tower ( 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 An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

, and an upside-down

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

Sites of interest

Main sights

Attractions include * Adjara State Museum * Batumi Botanical Garden *Circus *Former resort area along the Black Sea coast.

Tourist attractions

* Batumi 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

Demographics

Religion

Of the 4,970 inhabitants in 1872, about 4,500 were Muslim ( Adjarians, Turks,

Circassians The Circassians or Circassian people, also called Cherkess or Adyghe (Adyghe language, Adyghe and ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation who originated in Circassia, a region and former country in t ...

, and

Abkhazians The Abkhazians or Abkhazes are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group, mainly living in Abkhazia, a disputed region on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. A large Abkhaz diaspora population resides in Turkey, th ...

). 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. As of 2014, out of 152,839 inhabitants of Batumi, 68,7% is

Eastern Orthodox Christian Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

, and they primarily adhere to the national

Georgian Orthodox Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonl ...

.georgia-religion 2014
/ref>National Statistics Office of Georgia
Population Census 2014: Population by Regions and Religion
, Retrieved: 6 May 2016

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

make up 25,3% of population, while there are also

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, Armenian Apostolic, Jehovah's Witness,

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

, and Jewish communities. The main places of worship in the city are: * Georgian Orthodox Cathedral of the Mother of God, and

Saint Barbara Saint Barbara (; ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an Early Christianity, early Christian Greek saint and martyr. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the origin ...

Church *

Church of the Holy Spirit *Saint Nicholas Church * Batumi Mosque * Batumi Synagogue

Culture

Batumi has 18 various museums, including State Art Museum of Adjara.

Rugby Union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club Batumi RC competes in the Georgian Didi 10 and previously competed in the Pan-European Rugby Europe Super Cup.

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club FC Dinamo Batumi play at the Batumi stadium. A sculpture by Tamara Kvesitadze of two standing figures on the seashore shows the story first told in the 1937 Austrian novel, Ali and Nino, of lovers who are parted after World War I. Each day, the two figures move toward each other but never stay together. Ali, an Azerbaijani Muslim, falls in love with Georgian princess, Nino, but sadly, after they are finally able to get together, the war hits home and Ali is killed. It was installed in 2010.

Notable people

Notable people who are from or have resided in Batumi: * Irakli Alasania (*1973), Georgian politician,

Minister of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

* Herbert Backe (1896–1947),

Reich ( ; ) is a German word whose meaning is analogous to the English word " realm". The terms and are respectively used in German in reference to empires and kingdoms. In English usage, the term " Reich" often refers to Nazi Germany, also ca ...

Minister of Food in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

* Ioseb Bardanashvili (*1948), composer * Khatia Buniatishvili (*1987), concert pianist * Odysseas Dimitriadis (1908–2005), Greek-Soviet music conductor * Roman Dolidze (*1988), mixed martial artist * Mary, Princess Eristavi (1888–1986), Georgian princess and model * Fadiko Gogitidze (1916-1940), Adjara's first woman pilot * , (1887–1978), writer * Devi Khajishvili (*1991), actor * Sopho Khalvashi (*1986), first Georgian entrant to the

Eurovision Song Contest 2007 The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Helsinki, Finland, following the country's victory at the with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" by Lordi. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

* Mindia Khitarishvili (*1973), composer * Konstantin Meladze (*1963), composer and producer * Valery Meladze (*1965), singer * Katie Melua, singer * Aramashot Papayan, Armenian playwright, screenwriter, actor and director * Lado Seidishvili (1931–2010), Georgian painter and poet *

Arkady and Boris Strugatsky The brothers Arkady Strugatsky (28 August 1925 – 12 October 1991) and Boris Strugatsky (14 April 1933 – 19 November 2012) were Soviet and Russian science-fiction authors who collaborated through most of their careers. Their notable works in ...

(1925–1991 ; 1933–2012), science fiction authors * William Horwood Stuart (1857–1906), British diplomat who was murdered there in 1906 * Sergei Yesenin (1895–1925), Russian lyrical poet *

Fyodor Yurchikhin Fyodor Nikolayevich Yurchikhin () is a Russian cosmonaut of Pontic Greeks, Pontic Greek descent, engineer and Energia (corporation), RSC Energia test-pilot who has flown on five spaceflights. His first spaceflight was a 10-day Space Shuttle mi ...

(*1959), astronaut * Lamara Chkonia (1930–2024), Georgian soprano

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

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

Education

Batumi has become an emerging centre for medical education in the

region, attracting international students due to its affordable tuition and English-language programs. Institutions such as Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University, BAU International University offer accredited medical degrees recognized across America, Europe and Asia. The city’s growth in medical education is supported by modern infrastructure and increasing foreign enrollment. According to ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'', many Indian students choose Batumi for MBBS studies due to simplified admission processes and NMC-recognized curriculum.

Postage stamps

Twin towns – sister cities

Batumi is twinned with: *

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, Italy (1987) *

Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

, United States (1992) *

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

, Turkey (2000) * Vanadzor, Armenia (2006) *

Volos Volos (; ) is a coastal port city in Thessaly situated midway on the Greek mainland, about north of Athens and south of Thessaloniki. It is the capital of the Magnesia (regional unit), Magnesia regional unit of the Thessaly Region. Volos ...

, Greece (2007) *

Yalta Yalta (: ) is a resort town, resort city on the south coast of the Crimean Peninsula surrounded by the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Yalta Municipality, one of the regions within Crimea. Yalta, along with the rest of Crime ...

, Ukraine (2008) *

Burgas Burgas (, ), sometimes transliterated as Bourgas, is the second largest city on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast in the region of Northern Thrace and the List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, fourth-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, Plovdiv, an ...

, Bulgaria (2009) *

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

, Spain (2010) * Kuşadası, Turkey (2010) *

Ordu Ordu () or Altınordu is a port city on the Black Sea coast of Turkey and the capital of Ordu Province. The city forms the urban part of the Altınordu, Ordu, Altınordu district, with a population of 235,096 in 2023. Name Kotyora, the origina ...

, Turkey (2011) *

Ternopil Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia and Podolia. The populatio ...

, Ukraine (2011) *

Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...

, Israel (2011) *

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Mogilev Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, about from the Belarus–Russia border, border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, ...

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Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

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References

*''Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia.'' Georgian SSR (Supplementary Edition). 1981. pp. 16–18.

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Georgian Black Sea coast Cities and towns in Adjara Batum oblast Kutaisi Governorate Pontus (region) Port cities in Asia Port cities of the Black Sea Greek colonies in Colchis Port cities in Europe Self-governing cities in Georgia (country)