Akhalkalaki ახალქალაქი | |
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Town | |
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  Akhalkalaki Location of Akhalkalaki in Georgia Show map of Georgia Akhalkalaki Akhalkalaki (Samtskhe-Javakheti) Show map of Samtskhe-Javakheti | |
| Coordinates:41°24′20″N43°29′10″E / 41.40556°N 43.48611°E /41.40556; 43.48611 | |
| Country |  Georgia |
| Mkhare | Samtskhe-Javakheti |
| District | Akhalkalaki |
| Elevation | 1,707 m (5,600 ft) |
| Population (2024)[1] | |
• Total | 7,483 |
| Time zone | UTC+4 (Georgian Time) |
| Website | Official |
Akhalkalaki (Georgian:ახალქალაქი,romanized:akhalkalaki;Armenian:Ախալքալաք / Նոր-Քաղաք,romanized: Axalk’alak’ / Nor-K’aġak’) is a town inGeorgia's southern region ofSamtskhe–Javakheti and the administrative centre of theAkhalkalaki Municipality. Akhalkalaki lies on the edge of theJavakheti Plateau. The city is located about 29 kilometres (18 mi) from the border withArmenia. The town'srecorded history goes back to the 11th century. As of the 2014 Georgian census the town had a population of 8,295, with 93.8%Armenian majority.[2]
The nameAkhalkalaki, first recorded in the 11th-centuryGeorgian chronicle,[3] means "a new town", from Georgian[ɑxɑli], "new", and[kʰɑlɑkʰi], "city" or "town". The 19th-century ethnographic accounts also mention another names for the town -Akhalkatak andNor-Katak, also meaning which in Armenian meansNor - "new",katak - "city".[4]
Akhalkalaki was founded byBagrat IV of Georgia in 1064.[citation needed] In 1066, the city was destroyed during theSeljuq invasions of theKingdom of Georgia.[5] In the 11th century, Akhalkalaki became one of thepolitical and economical centres ofJavakheti. In the 16th century, the city came under the rule of theOttoman Empire and became asanjak centre inÇıldır Eyaleti. Under the Ottoman rule, the town was known as"Ahılkelek". The city was passed from the Ottomans to theRussians after theRusso-Turkish War in 1828–1829. On January 4, 1900, an earthquake destroyed much of the town and killed 1,000 people in the area.[6] The citizens predominantly dwelled indugouts till the 1920s.[7] The city was the administrative center of theAkhalkalaki uezd of theTiflis Governorate. In May 1918, the town and its district were occupied by theOttoman army until their withdrawal by theArmistice of Mudros—the occupation resulted in the exodus of the local Armenian population which nearly perished due to starvation and disease.[8]
By the time of the region's annexation to the Russian Empire in 1829, the population was mainly IslamicizedGeorgians.[9] After the Russian takeover, most of the Muslim Georgians left the area for the Ottoman Empire, and in their place Christian Armenian refugees fromErzurum andBayazid settled here.[9] Since then the city and the region ofJavakheti has been largely populated by Armenians.
| Year | Armenians | Georgians | Russians | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1886 | 4,083 | 94.9% | 51 | 1.2% | 57 | 1.3% | 4,303 |
| 1897[11] | 4,136 | 76% | 129 | 2.4% | 479 | 8.8% | 5,440 |
| 1916[12] | 6,151 | 87.2% | 265 | 3.8% | 429 | 6.1% | 7,055 |
| May 1918:Ottoman occupation and escape of Armenian population | |||||||
| 1926[13] | 3,185 | 90.9% | 197 | 5.7% | 61 | 1.8% | 3,475 |
| 1939[14] | 4,666 | 87.5% | 337 | 6.3% | 245 | 4.6% | 5,331 |
| 1959[15] | 6,522 | 74.1% | 433 | 4.9% | 1,424 | 16.2% | 8,804 |
| 1979[16] | 11,879 | 89.8% | 506 | 3.8% | 563 | 4.3% | 13,224 |
| 1989[17] | 15,572 | ||||||
| 2014[18] | 7,782 | 93.8% | 471 | 5.7% | 18 | 0.2% | 8,295 |
The climate of Akhalkalaki is moderately humid with relative cold dry winters and long cool summers. (Köppen:Dfb)
| Climate data for Akhalkalaki (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 9.0 (48.2) | 12.0 (53.6) | 19.2 (66.6) | 25.7 (78.3) | 27.3 (81.1) | 30.7 (87.3) | 37.4 (99.3) | 35.0 (95.0) | 33.6 (92.5) | 27.9 (82.2) | 20.0 (68.0) | 16.1 (61.0) | 37.4 (99.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −0.8 (30.6) | 0.2 (32.4) | 5.3 (41.5) | 11.9 (53.4) | 17.0 (62.6) | 20.8 (69.4) | 24.4 (75.9) | 25.2 (77.4) | 21.4 (70.5) | 15.7 (60.3) | 8.5 (47.3) | 1.8 (35.2) | 12.6 (54.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −6.1 (21.0) | −5.4 (22.3) | −0.1 (31.8) | 5.8 (42.4) | 10.4 (50.7) | 13.7 (56.7) | 16.9 (62.4) | 17.3 (63.1) | 13.3 (55.9) | 8.6 (47.5) | 2.4 (36.3) | −3.5 (25.7) | 6.1 (43.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −11.4 (11.5) | −11.0 (12.2) | −5.5 (22.1) | −0.3 (31.5) | 3.8 (38.8) | 6.5 (43.7) | 9.3 (48.7) | 9.3 (48.7) | 5.1 (41.2) | 1.4 (34.5) | −3.8 (25.2) | −8.8 (16.2) | −0.4 (31.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −29.6 (−21.3) | −29.2 (−20.6) | −22.1 (−7.8) | −16.6 (2.1) | −11.0 (12.2) | −5.6 (21.9) | −2.6 (27.3) | −0.9 (30.4) | −5.1 (22.8) | −13.7 (7.3) | −20.0 (−4.0) | −25.6 (−14.1) | −29.6 (−21.3) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 31.2 (1.23) | 27.1 (1.07) | 38.0 (1.50) | 50.8 (2.00) | 85.3 (3.36) | 80.0 (3.15) | 63.5 (2.50) | 47.1 (1.85) | 38.0 (1.50) | 40.6 (1.60) | 30.7 (1.21) | 30.7 (1.21) | 563.0 (22.17) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 6.7 | 6.5 | 7.4 | 9.2 | 13.4 | 11.1 | 9.0 | 8.3 | 6.3 | 7.2 | 5.9 | 6.3 | 97.3 |
| Source:NOAA[19] | |||||||||||||
Thecrossroads village meets from south the streets from the border toArmenia and Turkey, from north toBorjomi–Gori and east–west fromBatumi to Tiflis south of theLesser Caucasus.
A 160 kilometres (99 mi) longrailway line was constructed between 1982 and 1986 in three parts. Thejunction from the lineTbilisi–Yerevan is inMarabda.
In April 2005, an agreement was signed to build a newrailway connectingTurkey withGeorgia andAzerbaijan, passing nearby Akhalkalaki. This would bypass an existing line throughGyumri inArmenia which has been closed by Turkey, blockadingArmenia, for political reasons since the 1990s.[20]The railway became operational on October 30, 2017.[21] It is here where thebreak-of-gauge is.[22]
In compound with the military base was constructed anairport.[1] With military dismantling it was closed.
The city was home to theSoviet-era 147th Motor Rifle Division (part of the9th Army of theTranscaucasian Military District) up until the early 1990s. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Division became the Russian 62nd Military Base. It was officially transferred, according to theSochi agreement, to Georgia on June 27, 2007.[23]
On September 19, 2020, a newbasic combat training center was opened on the site of the former base in Akhalkalaki. The center is designed to accommodate and train up to 800 military personnel and conscripts.[24]
