Ninotsminda ( Georgian: ნინოწმინდა ;

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

: Նինոծմինդա) is a town and a center of the Ninotsminda Municipality located in Georgia's southern district of Samtskhe-Javakheti. According to the 2014 census the town has a population of 5,144. The vast majority of the population are

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

History

Translation of the current official name of the settlement means "Saint Nino" in English and it was given to the town in honor of the illuminator of Georgians

St. Nino Saint Nino (sometimes St. Nune or St. Ninny; ka, წმინდა ნინო, tr; ; ; c. 296 – c. 338 or 340) was a woman who preached Christianity in the territory of the Kingdom of Iberia in what is now Georgia (country), Georgia. Her pr ...

, in 1991. During the Ottoman rule, this was a

sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

of Çıldır Eyaleti, called Altunkale, which means "golden castle" in Turkish. Ninotsminda market

Before 1991, the town of Ninotsminda was called Bogdanovka () - a name going back to the history of the

Doukhobor The Doukhobors ( Canadian spelling) or Dukhobors (; ) are a Spiritual Christian ethnoreligious group of Russian origin. They are known for their pacifism and tradition of oral history, hymn-singing, and verse. They reject the Russian Ortho ...

settlement in the region in the 1840s.Hedwig Lohm, "Dukhobors in Georgia: A Study of the Issue of Land Ownership and Inter-Ethnic Relations in Ninotsminda rayon (Samtskhe-Javakheti)". November 2006. Available i
English
an
Russian
After the conquest of

Kars Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District.� ...

in 1878, some Doukhobors from Bogdanovka moved to the newly created Kars Oblast. Twenty years later, some of them (or their descendants) emigrated from Kars Oblast to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, where they established a short-lived village named Bogdanovka in Langham district of

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 ...

. Another group of emigrants, coming straight from Georgian Bogdanovka, established another Bogdanovka near

Pelly, Saskatchewan Pelly (Canada 2016 Census, 2016 population: ) is a village in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of St. Philips No. 301 and Division No. 9, Saskatchewan, Census Division No. ...

Demographics

The Georgian census of 2014 counted 24,491 residents in Ninotsminda municipality, of which 23,262 (95%) were

, and 1,029 (4.2%) were

Georgians Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and Peoples of the Caucasus, Caucasian ethnic group native to present-day Georgia (country), Georgia and surrounding areas historically associated with the Ge ...

. In Soviet Union, Doukhobor population of the region was in comparatively favorable conditions, isolated from attention of civil officials as population of ethnically mixed borderline region. In the 1990s, following the collapse of Soviet Union and rise of nationalist pressure (both local Armenian and state-imposed Georgian), a significant part of remaining Russian settlers abandoned their homes to settle in Russia.Джавахетские проблемы Грузии. России ахалкалакцы здесь больше не нужны? 18.06.2006. России ахалкалакцы здесь больше не нужны? Иракли Чихладзе, "Солидарность" выпуск №2
Ninotsminda 01

Notable people

* Artur Goroyan - Armenian racing driver *

Gurgen Dalibaltayan Gurgen Harutyun Dalibaltayan (; 5 June 1926 – 1 September 2015) was an Armenian military commander. He was the Chief of General Staff of Armenian Armed Forces during the 1992 Battle of Shusha, a battle to capture the city from Azerbaijan. He ...

- Armenian general * Davit Lokyan - Armenian minister of Territorial and Development * Nairi Sedrakyan - Armenian mathematician

References

External links

Ninotsminda District
* Kalmakoff, Jonathan J

{{coord, 41, 15, 52, N, 43, 35, 27, E, region:GE_type:city, display=title Cities and towns in Samtskhe–Javakheti

History

Demographics

Notable people

See also

References

External links