Bochorna ( ka, ბოჭორნა) is a highland village in
Akhmeta Municipality
Akhmeta ( ka, ახმეტის მუნიციპალიტეტი, ''Axmeṫis municiṗaliṫeṫi'') is the administrative – territorial unit in Eastern Georgia, in the region of Kakheti. The administrative center of Akhmeta munic ...
, northeast
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 ...
. Located in the
Caucasus Mountains
The Caucasus Mountains
*
* Azerbaijani: ,
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*
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* is a mountain range at the intersection of Asia and Europe. Stretching between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, they are surrounded by the Caucasus region ...
, at above sea level, it is the
highest inhabited place in the country and one of the highest in
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
.
Bochorna had a permanent resident population of only one man at the time of the 2014 national census.
Geography
Bochorna lies in the Gometsari gorge, on the southern slopes of the Makratela range, a spur of the
Greater Caucasus
The Greater Caucasus, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains. It stretches for about from west-northwest to east-southeast, from the Taman Peninsula of the Black Sea to the Absheron Peninsula of t ...
crest, northeast of the town of
Akhmeta
Akhmeta ( ) is a town in Kakheti, Georgia, and is the administrative centre of Akhmeta Municipality. It is situated on the left side of Alazani, close to the Pankisi Gorge. The town is situated at 567 m. In 1966, it received the status of '' Kala ...
. According to the traditional subdivision of Georgia, the village is included in the Chaghma community of the province of
Tusheti
Tusheti ( ka, თუშეთი, tr; Bats: თუშითა, romanized: tushita) is a historic region in northeast Georgia. A mountainous area, it is home to the Tusheti National Park. By the conventional definition of the Europe-Asia boundar ...
, part of the modern-day region (''
mkhare
A ''mkhare'' ( ka, მხარე, ''mxare'') is a type of administrative division in the country of Georgia (country), Georgia. It is usually translated into English as "region".
According to presidential decrees issued in 1994 and 1996, Geo ...
'') of
Kakheti
Kakheti (; ) is a region of Georgia. Telavi is its administrative center. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta.
Kakhetians speak the ...
and home to the
Tush subgroup of Georgians, who have historically been involved in
transhumant
Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower ...
lifestyle of sheep farming. The environs are part of the
Tusheti National Park.
History
Bochorna, then known as Bochorma (ბოჭორმა), like many other highland hamlets in Tusheti, was an abandoned settlement at the time of the 2002 census, but was reported resettled—by one elderly man continuously and a few others in summer months—in the next national census of 2014. Thus, the government of Georgia restored the locale to a village status and announced it to be the "highest permanently inhabited place in Europe," a status hitherto claimed by the northwestern Georgian village of
Ushguli
Ushguli ( ka, უშგული ) is a community of five medieval villages located at the head of the Enguri gorge in Svaneti, Georgia. Ushguli is one of the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe. Compared to somewhat more develo ...
.
References
{{Reflist
Populated places in Kakheti