Imereti (Georgian: იმერეთი,pronounced[imeɾetʰi]) is aregion ofGeorgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of theRioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 municipalities and the city ofKutaisi, which is the capital of the region.
The Imereti region has one self governing city (Kutaisi) and 11 municipalities with 163 administrative communities (temi), totalling to 549 populated settlements:
* Research after 2014 census showed the 2002 census was inflated by 8-9 percent.[7] **Corrected data based on retro-projection 1994–2014 in collaboration with UN[8] *** Part of Sachkhere is outside Georgian government authority and has not been counted since 2002.
In the 17th–18th centuries, the kingdom of Imereti experienced frequent invasions by theTurks and paid patronage to theOttoman Empire until 1810, when it was invaded and annexed by theRussian Empire. The last King of Imereti wasSolomon II (1789–1810).
From 1918 to 1921, Imereti was part of the independentDemocratic Republic of Georgia. Within theUSSR, the region was part of theTranscaucasian SFSR from 1922 to 1936, and part of theGeorgian SSR from 1936 to 1991. Since Georgian independence in 1991, Imereti has been a region of Georgia with Kutaisi as the regional capital.
^South Ossetia's status is disputed. It considers itself to be an independent state, but this is recognised byonly a few other countries. TheGeorgian government and most of the world's other states consider South Ossetiade jure a part of Georgia's territory.
^Nominal area 6,680 km²,de facto controlled by Georgia 6,415 km².
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![Overlapping borders of de jure Imereti region and de facto South Ossetia[a]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aImereti_in_Georgia_(disputed_hatched).svg)
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