The document summarizes key facts about religion and society in Georgia. It notes that Georgia is predominantly urban, low-income, and Orthodox Christian. Approximately 90% of Georgians adhere to Orthodox Christianity, primarily the Georgian Orthodox Church. While the Georgian Orthodox Church plays a distinct cultural role, other religious minorities like Muslims and Jews also have a presence. The document then provides historical context, describing how Christianity became the dominant religion in Georgia and how religious demographics have changed over time with foreign influences and Soviet rule.

1. The Republic of Georgia
I. Social Facts
The Republic of Georgia is a
predominantly urban, low-income, and
Orthodox Christian society. The largest city
in Georgia is the capital Tbilisi. Roughly
twenty percent of the population resides in
Tbilisi, and over half of the Georgian
population lives in urban areas. The median
income is approximately 6,100 USD, and
approximately one-third of Georgians
between ages 15 and 24 are unemployed.
The largest religious group in the
Republic of Georgia is the Georgian
Orthodox Church. Orthodox Christianity
including the Armenian, Georgian, and
Russian Orthodox Churches comprise
approximately 90 percent of Georgian
religious adherents. More than other
Orthodox sects, however, the Georgian
Orthodox Church occupies a distinct cultural
and historic place in Georgian society.
Georgia’s sizeable Azeri minority largely
adheres to Islam, and there is a historic
Roman Catholic presence. Smaller
protestant groups also claim congregations
in Georgia, although these groups comprise
a small percentage of Georgian believers.
Georgia has a small but historic Jewish
community as well. Less than one percent of
Georgians identify as atheists.
Since the early 1990s, the central
government in Tbilisi has not administered
de facto government over the regions of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia. During
Georgia’s 2008 war with the Russian
Federation these regions declared
independence from Georgia. Abkhazian
religious demography shows widespread
adherence to the Abkhazian Orthodox
Church, with sizeable Muslim, atheist, and
neo-pagan minorities. South Ossetia is
similar, with a large Orthodox Christian
majority and smaller Jewish and Muslim
communities.
II. Historical Background
Throughout its history, Georgia acted as
a buffer state between larger powers.
Neighboring Roman, Persian, Arab, and
Russian empires influenced Georgia’s
development throughout its history, but did
not prevent Georgia from developing a
distinct identity. With the exception of
outside a few outside sources, Georgia’s
internal chronicles provide much of its
history until 1783. During much of
antiquity, the current area the state of
Georgia occupies was the home of smaller
nations who spoke distinct but related
dialects. During this time the cult of Mithras
was likely the most widespread religion in
ancient Georgia and the trans-Caucasus.
While Orthodox Christianity eventually
occupied an integral place in Georgian
national identity, some historians link the
iconic Georgian image of St. George on
horseback to Georgia’s past association with
the cult of Mithras.
While Georgia has a long history of
religious diversity, Christianity in particular
played an integral role in Georgia’s history,
specifically in the form of the Georgian
Orthodox Church. A Georgian tradition
holds that devout Jewish Christians brought
Christ’s robe from the Holy Land to Georgia
shortly after Jesus Christ ascended into
heaven. Officially, however, Christianity’s
role as Georgia’s state religion began in the
early fourth century when the Georgian
Orthodox Church consecrated its archbishop
in 335 A.D. Historians note that adopting
Christianity, among other things, was likely
a means of resistance against a resurgent
Persian Empire and its official
Zoroastrianism. The Georgian chronicles

2. 2 GEORGIA
report miraculous healings and other events
as convincing early Georgian kings to
convert to Christianity. Georgia’s
conversion was likely more gradual,
however, but its rulers likely played an
integral part in promoting the new religion
throughout the nation.
Georgian Christianity developed
independently from other branches of
orthodox Christianity, especially in its early
structure. Due to Georgia’s largely rural
population, its Church did not develop along
a governance structure focused in urban
centers as was common in both eastern and
western Christianity. Georgia’s early
Christian period also saw the birth of its
script and first written works as Christian
monks translated religious works into
Georgian, representing significant
developments in early Georgian culture.
A strong Arab presence in the caucuses
during the seventh century caused Georgian
Orthodox Christianity to develop more
independently from other Christian
traditions, and began a period of cultural and
political strength for the Orthodox Church in
Georgia. By the eleventh century, it was the
most politically powerful force in Georgia.
A growing number of Orthodox clergyman
from the Middle East left the Holy Land
during this time, and further enriched
Georgia's religious culture. From the ninth
to the thirteenth centuries, Georgian
Orthodox Christianity flourished as the
predominant cultural influence in Georgia.
When the Mongol Empire conquered the
modern territory of Georgia and the
Ottoman Empire began to dominate the
region, however, Catholic and Islamic
influences began found room to expand in
Georgian society. As the Byzantine Empire
receded and the Ottoman Empire replaced it
Islam made significant inroads into
Georgian culture, although Georgian
Orthodox Christianity remained the most
socially dominant faith during the period. As
the Ottoman Empire's influence grew in the
Caucuses, French Catholic missionary
efforts expanded in the region as well. For
two hundred years beginning in the mid
seventeenth century, Catholicism built a
sizeable religious minority in Georgia and
provided a link to the rest of Europe. The
first printed works in Georgian, for example,
were Catholic missionary tracts.
During this period, traditionalist forces
in Georgia began looking to the growing
Russian Empire to strengthen Orthodoxy's
position in Georgian society. Although
Catholic missionaries were responsible for
the first works printed in the Georgian
language, a printing press in Moscow
produced the first bible printed in Georgian.
Georgia's links to Russia eventually led to
Georgia's absorption into the Empire by
1801.
For the first three decades of its
inclusion the Russian Empire, the Tsars
hoped that the Georgian Orthodox Church
would act as an intermediary between the
Orthodox monarchy and a largely Orthodox
population, much like the Russian Orthodox
Church did at that time. The Georgian
Orthodox hierarchy, however, traditionally
occupied a more influential role in Georgian
government and was less willing to
accommodate Imperial directives than its
Russian counterpart was. As a result, the
Russian Orthodox Church absorbed the
Georgian church in 1811. Thereafter, the
Bishop responsible for the Church in
Georgia was typically a Russian. During the
Russian Imperial period, Georgian Orthodox
Christianity became more like its Russian
counterpart and religious trends in general
followed those of the wider Russian Empire.
Although Georgian religious life moved
along with Russian religious trends, it
remained somewhat independent. When the
Russian Empire collapsed after the First

3. GEORGIA 3
World War, the Georgian Orthodox Church
regained its independent status. Although
Georgian Orthodoxy became independent of
the Russian Church at this time, public
attitudes towards religion in Georgia
reflected more apathy towards religion than
at any other point in Georgia's prior history,
weakening Georgian Orthodox Church's
social and political influence. When the
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic became
a republic of the Soviet Union in the 1920s,
however, religion in Georgia faced the same
official persecution religious groups endured
throughout the USSR. The Soviet
government imprisoned much of Georgia's
religious leadership during the 1920s and
1930s, and promulgated its official atheism
throughout Georgia.
During the Second World War, however,
the Soviet Union enlisted the aid of several
traditional religious groups, including the
Georgian Orthodox Church, to strengthen
national resolve. As a result, religious life in
Georgia became more open during the post-
war Soviet period. Like many institutions in
the post-war Soviet Union, however, the
Georgian Orthodox Church succumb to
pervasive corruption. The post-war Soviet
period also saw an increased focus on the
Church’s status in the world from a growing
Georgian diaspora.
After the Soviet Union’s collapse in
1991, the Georgian Orthodox Church
asserted itself in Georgian society by linking
itself to renewed Georgian nationalism.
While the first decade of post-Soviet
independence began with weak public
institutions throughout Georgian society, the
Georgian Orthodox Church presented a pre-
Soviet and even pre-Russian link to a unique
Georgian identity. Eduard Shevardnadze’s
election 1995 began a period of increased
isolationism and Georgian nationalism, and
the Georgian Orthodox Church became a
component of the new nationalism. During
this time, the Georgian government signed a
concordant agreement granting the Georgian
Orthodox Church special legal privileges,
and the Church adopted a more anti-western,
isolationist perspective.
Georgia’s 2003 rose revolution occurred
out of popular frustration with ineffective
and corrupt institutions, and reversed the
country’s previous anti-western, anti-global
perspective. Despite the value and policy
shifts of the Rose Revolution, the Georgian
Orthodox Church retained its post-Soviet
isolationist position and remains a principle
conservative force in Georgian society.
During the early twenty-first century, the
Church also maintained close relations with
the Russian Orthodox Church, even as
Georgian Society became more western.
Even after the 2008 war with the Russian
Federation, the Georgian Orthodox Church
maintained ties with the Russian Orthodox
Church and continues to have a presence in
the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia.
III. Legal Sources and Basic
Approaches to Religion and Belief
The Republic of Georgia articulates
separation between religion and the State in
the text of its Constitution, but this
separation is more often honored in the
breach. It also establishes a privileged space
for the Georgian Orthodox Church. Article
9, clause 1 of the Georgian Constitution
declares “complete freedom of belief and
religion.” It also recognizes the “special
role of the Apostle Autocephalous Orthodox
Church of Georgia in the history of its
independence from the state.” Clause 2
states a “constitutional agreement” will
determine the relationship between the
Georgian Orthodox Church and the
Georgian Government. Article 73, clause 1,
section a states that the President of Georgia
shall “conclude a constitutional agreement”

4. 4 GEORGIA
with the Georgian Orthodox Church. This
agreement gives the Georgian Orthodox
Church favorable tax and legal privileges
such as immunity for the Patriarch,
exemptions for clergy from military service,
and government subsidies. No other
religious group enjoys a legal status on par
with the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Georgian statutory law also expresses
freedom of religion. Georgia’s criminal
code, for example, prohibits religious
discrimination and hate crime in a variety of
ways. Article 109 punishes homicide
motivated by religious or ethnic intolerance
by a prison term of up to fifteen years.
Intentional damage to another’s health for
the same motivation warrants a sentence of
twelve years, and Article 126 punishes
torture committed with the same motivation.
Chapter XIII begins with Article 142’s
prohibition on violating another individual’s
human rights and freedoms as well.
Articles 155 and 156 in particular
address criminal prohibitions on interfering
in a religious right and religious persecution.
Violently interfering in religious rites or
insulting religious sensitivities. Persecuting
others for their religious beliefs is also
punishable with imprisonment and fines.
Other provisions prohibit preventing the
creation of religious organizations or unions,
desecrating religious burial sites, and
committing terrorism or genocide for
religious motivations.
The combination of Georgia’s
constitutional provisions on religion and
related legislation creates a tired system of
religious organizations. Religious
organizations can incorporate themselves as
“legal entities of public law” or “legal
entities of private law.” While both statuses
give religious organizations legal rights and
privileges, legal entities of public law enjoy
a higher legal status than legal entities of
private law. The Georgian Orthodox
Church, for example, is a legal entity of
public law.
While the Georgian Orthodox Church
enjoys a uniquely privileged status, the
Georgian Constitution articulates values
consistent with religious freedom. Article 14
of the constitution guarantees that all
citizens are free and equal before the law
regardless of numerous characteristics,
including religion. Article 19 further
protects religious freedom. Clause 1 states
that everyone has the right to freedom of
speech, thought, conscience, religion, and
belief. Clause 2 prohibits religious
persecution, and Clause 3 limits the
protection of religious freedom so that they
do not infringe “upon the rights of others.”
Georgian administrative law provides
unequal protection and opportunities for
Georgia’s religious minorities. Until 2011,
for example, only the Georgian Orthodox
Church could access prisoners in the
Georgian corrections system. However, the
Minster of Corrections now allows minority
religions to access their adherents in prison.
Minority religious groups also face
administrative obstacles in the course of
conducting their activities. Jehovah’s
Witnesses, for example, often face
procedural difficulties in obtaining
permission to construct new buildings. A
Muslim congregation recently faced similar
problems when Georgian customs officials
temporarily blocked the delivery of a
minaret skeleton manufactured in Turkey.
Georgian customs officials detained it for
alleged customs irregularities.
Education policy also reflects
administrative difficulties for minority
religious groups. The Georgian Ministry of
Education operates under conflicting laws,
creating an administrative dilemma within
Georgia’s public school system. While
Georgian classes traditionally began with

5. GEORGIA 5
prayer, Parliament passed a law secularizing
the education system. The Georgian
Orthodox Church’s elevated status,
however, may trump parliamentary actions
or administrative decisions. Regardless,
school prayer remains common in Georgia
and minority religious receive little to no
accommodation.
As a signatory to the European
Convention on Human Rights, the European
Court on Human Rights’ jurisprudence
binds Georgia as well, and its jurisprudence
speaks to religious freedom in Georgia
specifically. Begheluri and others v.
Georgia, for example, arose out of thirty
cases of persecution against Jehovah’s
Witnesses in Georgia. Much of this
persecution resulted from the work of a
fundamentalist Georgian Orthodox group
led by a priest named Father Basil. These
episodes of persecution fall into three
categories; incidents involving Georgian
authorities’ participation, incidents in which
Georgian authorities failed to protect
Jehovah’s Witnesses from violence, and
incidents where Georgian authorities had
little or no involvement. The plaintiffs
alleged that this treatment amounted to
violations of Article 3 (prohibition on
torture, inhuman, or degrading treatment and
punishment), Article 9 (protection of
religious freedom and thought), Article 13
(right to a remedy), and Article 14
(prohibition of discrimination based on race,
religion, sex, or other immutable
characteristics) of the European Convention
on Human Rights.
The Georgian government argued that
the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ claims were highly
exaggerated and that the Georgian criminal
justice system provided adequate remedies
to any actual offenses. The Court held,
however, that the Jehovah’s Witnesses
suffered a violation of Article 3 because of
the authorities’ “systematic practice” of
participation and compliance with
persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses. These
actions also prevented the Jehovah’s
Witnesses from exercising their rights under
Article 9, and constituted a violation of
Article 14.
IV. Individual Freedom of Religion
or Belief
Georgian statutory law enshrines
equality before the law regardless of, among
other things, religious belief. The law does
not, however, provide many exceptions for
religious objectors. Clause 3 of Article 14 of
the Constitution limits religious freedom so
that they do not infringe “upon the rights of
others.”
Conscientious objection to military
service is a primary source of important
constitutional rulings on individual freedom
of religion. In 2011, the Georgian
Constitutional Court heard five cases from
Jehovah’s Witnesses who objected to
compulsory military service. In two of the
cases, the Court found in favor of the
objectors. While the plain text of Georgia’s
law on Military Reserve Service does not
discriminate against religious pacifists,
Georgian state prosecutors often used it to
compel conscientious objectors into military
service or used to impose criminal sanctions
against them. Within Georgia’s military
service statute, the only state religious
exemption belongs to Georgian Orthodox
clergy. The Constitutional Court found that
sections of the law on Military Reserve
Service conflicted with Articles 14 and 19 of
the Constitution, and therefore
unconstitutional.
V. The Legal Status of Religious
Communities
The Georgian Orthodox Church’s
concordant agreement with the Georgian
government. Modeled after the concordant

6. 6 GEORGIA
agreements between the Catholic Church
and governments around the world. In some
senses, it resembles an arrangement between
two sovereigns rather than an agreement
between a government and a domestic entity
because of its superiority to other legislation
should a conflict between the concordant
agreement and other domestic law arise. The
Georgian Orthodox Church enjoys unique
privileges like the power to perform legally
recognized marriages, an exemption for its
clergy from military service, immunity for
the Georgian Orthodox Patriarch, and a
tendency towards affirming the Orthodox
Church’s property rights.
The Roman Catholic Church attempted
to reach a similar agreement with the
Georgian government in 2003, but failed to
do so. Although the Catholic Church
claimed 50,000 members in Georgia at the
time, only the Georgian Orthodox Church
enjoyed legal personality. While President
Shevardnadze expressed his support at the
time, a popular campaign the Orthodox
Church organized against recognizing the
Catholic Church is the likely reason the
agreement failed.
Despite the Orthodox Church’s
opposition, the Georgian civil code now
allows religious groups to become legal
entities. Article 1506 provided the first
avenue of legal incorporation by allowing
religious organizations to organize
themselves as funds or unions. While
religious organizations had some avenue of
legal incorporation, Article 1506 presented
only a narrow range of options for Georgia’s
religious organizations.
Georgia’s Parliament later amended civil
code article 1509 to allow religious groups
to organize themselves as legal persons of
public law or private law, as discussed
above. This allows religious groups to own
property, open their own bank accounts, and
go to court in their own names. Article 1153
prohibits religious discrimination in
“domestic relation” as well. Although
Article 1509 gives religious organizations
the ability to organize as legal entities,
specific issues like financing, when religious
entities and the government may cooperate,
and military exemptions for clergymen
remain unresolved in Georgia’s statutory
law.
Only registered entities may own
property, open bank accounts, or bring
matters before a court in their own names.
While the Georgian Orthodox Church is
incorporated as an entity of public law, other
religious organizations only have the option
of incorporating themselves as legal entities
of private law. This groups them with
entities such as secular non-governmental
entities, and may create difficulties for them
as they register for legal status. One
requirement to register as an entity of
private law, for example, is to list the
organizations founding members in Georgia.
For religious groups with a long history in
Georgia like the Catholic Church or
Georgian Muslim congregations this can
create an awkward situation. Membership
criteria is also a requirement for registration,
and can create similarly difficult situations
for some groups.
VI. Religious Autonomy
After Georgian religious groups
achieve legal entity status it is unclear the
amount of autonomy the law grants them. In
one respect, the law does not specifically
address how much autonomy religious
groups enjoy. With the exception of the
Orthodox Church’s unique legal status,
religious groups exist in the legal space also
reserved for non-profit, non-governmental
organizations who are largely autonomous
to pursue their aims within the greater
confines of Georgian law.

7. GEORGIA 7
In another respect, however,
minority religious groups face extra-legal
threats to their autonomy. As was the case in
Begheluri and others v. Georgia, Jehovah’s
Witnesses were unable fully exercise their
religious rights in part because of
government complacency with popular
persecution. The traditionally Muslim region
of Ajaria near the Georgia-Turkey border
experienced a wave of conversions to
Orthodox Christianity in part because
membership in the Georgian Orthodox
Church is considered a necessary component
of Georgian identity. This social trend
towards linking Georgian identity with the
Orthodox Church restricts the power
religious groups have to, in the case of the
Jehovah’s Witnesses, conduct their own
business or, in the case of Ajairan Muslims,
ensure the survival of their religious
community.
VII. Education
The role of Georgian Orthodox
Christianity in Georgia’s public school
system, as previously mentioned, is a legal
controversy. The traditional practice,
however, is to include Orthodox doctrine
into the public school curriculum. Minority
religious do not enjoy this same privilege.
Despite this tradition, the Ministry of
Education is statutorily obligated to provide
a secular education.
Georgia’s law on freedom of
conscience leaves religious instruction to
religious organizations, and protects the
ability of parents to pass their faith to their
children. The law also protects religious
groups’ ability to establish schools of
religious instruction. The Georgian
Orthodox Church, however, operates Tbel
Abuseridze State University and Saint
Andrews University while other religious
groups do not operate educational intuitions
on a similar scale.
VIII. Religion and Personnel
Matters
The Georgian Constitution forbids
religious discrimination in Article 14. The
increasingly public role of the Georgian
Orthodox Church and what scholar Ayşegül
Aydıngün calls the “depriviatization” of
religion, however, questions the amount of
actual protection religious minorities enjoy.
Georgian statutory law, however,
forbids religious discrimination in the
workplace. Section 17 forbids religious
preferences in hiring practices, and section
75 prohibits religious preferences in
compensating employees. As is the case
throughout Georgian statutory law, the law
does not contain many religious exceptions,
and Georgian labor law does not provide
special provisions to accommodate religious
practices or beliefs outside the social
mainstream.
IX. Finance
The tax code defines religious
organizations as conducting charitable
activities. Article 9 exempts both religious
and charitable activities from taxation as
“economic activities.” Article 10 also
includes religious organizations as charitable
activities. This only applies to recognized
religious organizations, however. Article
99(d) exempts any profits made from the
sale of religious paraphernalia by the
Georgian Orthodox Church. In practice, the
tax code applies religious exemptions
unequally. All religious groups but the
Georgian Orthodox Church pay taxes on
religious items, value added taxes, import
taxes, and taxes related construction and
restoration.
As is the case throughout Georgia’s
law regarding religion, the Georgian
Orthodox Church enjoys unique privileges.

8. 8 GEORGIA
The Tax Inspectorate of the Ministry of
Finance grants legal entities of private law a
“basic level” status while legal entities of
public law (i.e. the Georgian Orthodox
Church) enjoys special tax exemptions.
Although Article IX of the
Constitution articulates a separation between
the state and religion, the Republic of
Georgia provides significant financial
assistance to the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Much of this funding comes in the form of
financial assistance to the Orthodox
Church’s Tbel Abuseridze State University
and in-kind donations from the government
to the Orthodox Church. Observes estimate
that the government provided approximately
13.6 million USD in 2012. Other religious
groups do not enjoy such financial support.
X. Religious Assistance in and
Access to Public Institutions
Per a separate agreement between
the Ministry of Justice and the Georgian
Orthodox Patriarchate, the Orthodox Church
enjoys special access to Georgia’s prisons.
Only clergy from the Georgian Orthodox
Church, for example, serve as prison
chaplains. While other religious groups may
access their adherents in prison, the
Orthodox clergy within the prison typically
supervise all interactions between prisoners
and religious personnel.
Religious organizations occupy
contradictory legal space within the
Georgian education system. On one hand,
the 2005 General Education law recognized
the independence of public education from
religious education. This is a large step away
from the prior practice of beginning class
with mandatory prayer in the Georgian
Orthodox tradition. On the other hand, the
Orthodox Church’s concordant agreement is
legally superior to normal legislation and
may therefore render such measures
unconstitutional. Three months before the
Georgian Parliament passed the General
Education Law, the Ministry of Education
agreed with the Orthodox Patriarch that the
Orthodox Church’s would retain an
important role in public education. This
created a contradictory situation in which
the rights of students belonging to minority
religions and the Orthodox Church are both
unclear.
XI. Religion and Family Matters
The Georgian Orthodox Church is
unique in that it is the only religious
organization with the ability to legal ability
to perform civilly binding marriages. Civil
registrars must perform all other legal
marriages.
Other church positions on family law
issues do not have the same legal effect.
Abortion is legal and widely utilized in
Georgia despite the Orthodox Church’s
opposition. Divorce is also widely
acceptable in Georgia despite the Orthodox
Church’s doctrine against opposing divorce
and no provision within the Orthodox
Church’s doctrine for divorce. Georgia’s
Muslim community employs arranged
marriages, but this is only a social
convention.
Regardless of religion, Georgian society
is predominately patriarchal. This creates
gender imbalances within Georgia across all
religious groups. Other trends transcend
religious divides as well. Contraception, for
example, is prohibitively expensive for most
Georgian families. This makes abortion the
most common form of birth control despite
the opposition of Georgia’s largest religious
groups.
XII. Religion and Criminal Law
and Other Public Regulations
Other than the Georgian Orthodox
Church’s power to conduct legally binding

9. GEORGIA 9
marriage ceremonies, religious ceremonies
do not carry legal force in Georgia. The
Georgian government’s efforts to return
properties taken during the Soviet period
represent largest area in which public
regulations affect religious organizations. In
this effort, the government shows favoritism
toward the Georgian Orthodox Church in
addressing its claims. For example, the
Georgian Orthodox Church and the Roman
Catholic Church contest ownership over five
properties. Despite the conflicting claims,
the Georgian Orthodox Church legally
controls those properties. While the
government typically acts promptly to
secure the Orthodox Church’s property
claims, the Armenian Orthodox Church and
Georgian Muslim congregations find more
delays in enforcing their claims.
Select Bibliography and Leading
Documents
Periodicals
Aydıngün, Ayşegül. "The ethnification and
nationalisation of religion in the post-Soviet
Georgian nation-state building process: a
source of discrimination and minority rights
violations?." The International Journal of
Human Rights 17, no. 7-8 (2013): 810-828.
"Bad Location." The Economist, May 24,
2012.
Liles, Thomas. "Islam and Religious
Transformation in Adjara." (2012).
Seminar, UniDem. "European Commission
for Democracy through law (Venice
commission)." PhD diss., Universidade de
Coimbra, 2005.
Tsintsadze, Khatuna. "Legal Aspects of
Church-State Relations in Post-
Revolutionary Georgia." BYU L.
Rev. (2007): 751.
Legislative Documents
Law of the Republic of Georgia on Citizenship
of Georgia, as amended 24.06.2004
International Agreements
Council of Europe, European Convention
for the Protection of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms, as amended by
Protocols Nos. 11 and 14, 4 November 1950
Cases
Begheluri and others v. Georgia (App. No.
28490/02) (2014)
Internet Sources
Emery, Robert E. Cultural Sociology of
Divorce: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1, pages
492-495, 2013.
"Georgia." CIA: The Word Factbook.
Accessed June 1, 2015.
"Georgia's Mighty Orthodox Church." BBC
News, July 2, 2013.
Kyrlov, Aleksandr. "The Religious Situation
in Abkhazia." Abkhaz World. February 25,
1998. Accessed June 1, 2015.