An independence referendum was held in the Republic of Georgia on 31 March 1991. It was approved by 99.5% of voters.
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👉 1991 Georgian independence referendum in the context of Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Coterminous with the present-day republic of Georgia as well as the contested regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, it was based on the traditional territory of Georgia, which had existed as a series of independent states in the Caucasus prior to the first occupation of annexation in the course of the 19th century. The Georgian SSR was formed in 1921 and subsequently incorporated in the Soviet Union in 1922. Until 1936 it was a part of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, which existed as a union republic within the USSR. From November 18, 1989, the Georgian SSR declared its sovereignty over Soviet laws. The republic was renamed the Republic of Georgia on November 14, 1990, and subsequently became independent before the dissolution of the Soviet Union on April 9, 1991, whereupon each former SSR became a sovereign state.
Geographically, the Georgian SSR was bordered by Turkey to the south-west and the Black Sea to the west. Within the Soviet Union it bordered the Russian SFSR to the north, the Armenian SSR to the south and the Azerbaijan SSR to the south-east.
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1991 Georgian independence referendum in the context of Russo-Georgian War
The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia, was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the Russian-backed separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The fighting took place in the strategically important South Caucasus region. It is regarded as the first European war of the 21st century.
Georgia declared its independence from the Soviet Union in April 1991, following a referendum during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, fighting (1991–92) between Georgia and Ossetian separatists resulted in parts of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast being under the de facto control of Russian-backed but internationally unrecognised separatists. In 1992, a joint peacekeeping force of Georgian, Russian, and Ossetian troops was stationed in the territory. A similar stalemate developed in the region of Abkhazia, where the separatists had waged a war in 1992–1993, culminating in the ethnic cleansing of Georgians. Following the election of Vladimir Putin in Russia in 2000 and a pro-Western change of power in Georgia in 2003, relations between Russia and Georgia began to severely deteriorate, reaching a full diplomatic crisis by April 2008.
1991 Georgian independence referendum in the context of Adjarians
The Adjarians (Georgian: აჭარლები, romanized: ach'arlebi), sometimes also known by the misnomer of Muslim Georgians, are an ethnographic group of Georgians indigenous to Adjara in southwestern Georgia. Adjarian settlements are also found in the Georgian provinces of Guria, Kvemo Kartli, and Kakheti, as well as in several areas of neighbouring Turkey.
Under the lengthy Ottoman rule, which actively favored Muslims over Christians, many Adjarians converted to Islam; however, most of them have since reverted back to Christianity following their reunification with the Georgian mainland. Despite an extended period under Turkish rule, Adjarians have kept the Georgian language (with their own dialect) and traditions. In the 1926 census, Adjarians were categorised as a distinct ethnic group. In the 1939 census, they were included in the same category as Georgians. Since Georgian independence, most Adjarians consider themselves Georgians, but some segments of the Georgian society continue to view Muslim Adjarians as second-class "Turkicized" Georgians.