Akhaltsikhe uezd
# Akhaltsikhe uezd

The Akhaltsikhe uezd was a county (uezd) of the Tiflis Governorate of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, and then of Democratic Republic of Georgia, with its administrative center in Akhaltsikh (present-day Akhaltsikhe). The uezd bordered the Gori uezd and the Kutaisi Governorate to the north, the Akhalkalaki uezd to the east, the Ardahan Okrug of the Kars Oblast to the south, and the Batum Okrug of the Batum Oblast to the west. The area of the uezd roughly corresponded to the contemporary Samtskhe-Javakheti region of Georgia.

## History

The territory of the Akhaltsikhe uezd, entered into the Kutais Governorate of the Russian Empire following the Russo-Turkish War of 1828. By 1840, the Аkhaltsikhe uezd was formed as a civilian district of the Tiflis Governorate. In 1874, the Akhalkalaki uezd was detached from it as a separate county.

Following the Russian Revolution, the Akhaltsikhe uezd was incorporated into the short-lived Democratic Republic of Georgia.

Lord Curzon during the Paris Peace Conference assessed the ethnographic situation in the southwestern uezds of the Tiflis Governorate:

   On the grounds of nationality, therefore, these districts ought to belong to Armenia, but they command the heart of Georgia strategically, and on the whole it would seem equitable to assign them to Georgia, and give their Armenian inhabitants the option of emigration into the wide territories assigned to the Armenians towards the south-west.

## Administrative divisions

The subcounties (uchastoks) of the Akhaltsikhe uezd in 1913 were as follows:

| Name | 1912 population | Area |
| - | - | - |
| Atskhurskiy uchastok (Ацхурскій участокъ) | 19,433 | 859.55 square versts (978.22 $km^2;$ 377.69 sq mi) |
| Koblianskiy uchastok (Кобліанскій участокъ) | 27,572 | 727.97 square versts (828.48 $km^2;$ 319.88 sq mi) |
| Uravelskiy uchastok (Уравельскій участокъ) | 20,230 | 744.46 square versts (847.24 $km^2;$ 327.12 sq mi) |

## Demographics

### Russian Empire Census

According to the Russian Empire Census, the Akhaltsikhe uezd had a population of 68,837 on 28 January [O.S. 15 January] 1897, including 36,807 men and 32,030 women. The plurality of the population indicated Turkish to be their mother tongue, with significant Armenian, Tatar, and Georgian speaking minorities.

Linguistic composition of the Akhaltsikhe uezd in 1897 :

| Language | Native speakers | % |
| - | - | - |
| Turkish | 24,137 | 35.06 |
| Armenian | 15,144 | 22.00 |
| Tatar | 12,370 | 17.97 |
| Georgian | 12,211 | 17.74 |
| Russian | 1,743 | 2.53 |
| Kurdish | 1,396 | 2.03 |
| Ukrainian | 490 | 0.71 |
| Jewish | 446 | 0.65 |
| Polish | 435 | 0.63 |
| Greek | 149 | 0.22 |
| German | 88 | 0.13 |
| Lithuanian | 88 | 0.13 |
| Chechen | 15 | 0.02 |
| Ossetian | 14 | 0.02 |
| Persian | 12 | 0.02 |
| Romanian | 12 | 0.02 |
| Assyrian | 10 | 0.01 |
| Avar-Andean | 6 | 0.01 |
| Belarusian | 5 | 0.01 |
| Czech | 5 | 0.01 |
| Kazi-Kumukh | 5 | 0.01 |
| Latvian | 3 | 0.00 |
| Chuvash | 2 | 0.00 |
| French | 2 | 0.00 |
| Imeretian | 2 | 0.00 |
| Kyurin | 1 | 0.00 |
| Talysh | 1 | 0.00 |
| Other | 45 | 0.07 |
| TOTAL | 68,837 | 100.00 |

### Kavkazskiy kalendar

According to the 1917 publication of Kavkazskiy kalendar, the Akhaltsikhe uezd had a population of 96,947 on 14 January [O.S. 1 January] 1916, including 51,549 men and 45,398 women, 93,847 of whom were the permanent population, and 3,100 were temporary residents:

| Nationality | Urban | Urban | Rural | Rural | TOTAL | TOTAL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Nationality | Number | % | Number | % | Number | % |
| Georgians | 2,783 | 10.93 | 42,709 | 59.75 | 45,492 | 46.92 |
| Armenians | 18,165 | 71.32 | 10,060 | 14.07 | 28,225 | 29.11 |
| Sunni Muslims | 30 | 0.12 | 16,680 | 23.34 | 16,710 | 17.24 |
| Jews | 3,246 | 12.74 | 5 | 0.01 | 3,251 | 3.35 |
| Kurds | 0 | 0.00 | 1,801 | 2.52 | 1,801 | 1.86 |
| Russians | 716 | 2.81 | 88 | 0.12 | 804 | 0.83 |
| Roma | 457 | 1.79 | 14 | 0.02 | 471 | 0.49 |
| Asiatic Christians | 0 | 0.00 | 89 | 0.12 | 89 | 0.09 |
| Other Europeans | 53 | 0.21 | 28 | 0.04 | 81 | 0.08 |
| North Caucasians | 16 | 0.06 | 3 | 0.00 | 19 | 0.02 |
| Shia Muslims | 4 | 0.02 | 0 | 0.00 | 4 | 0.00 |
| TOTAL | 25,470 | 100.00 | 71,477 | 100.00 | 96,947 | 100.00 |
