Shida Kartli in the context of "Tskhinvali"

Gori (Georgian: გორი [ˈɡoɾi]) is a city in eastern Georgia, which serves as the regional capital of Shida Kartli. It is located at the confluence of two rivers, the Mtkvari and the Liakhvi. Gori is the fifth most populous city in Georgia. Its name comes from the Georgian word gora (გორა), meaning "heap", "hill", or "mountain".

A settlement known here from the Hellenistic period, with the Gori Fortress built at least in 7th century, it received town status in the 12th century. Gori was an important military stronghold in the Middle Ages and maintains a strategic importance due to its location on the principal highway connecting eastern and western parts of Georgia. In the course of its history, Gori has been invaded by the armies of regional powers several times. The city was occupied by Russian troops during the 2008 Russo–Georgian War.

Khashuri (Georgian: ხაშური [χaʃuɾi]) is a city in the central part of Georgia and is the 9th largest settlement in Georgia. It is the administrative centre of Khashuri Municipality. It is located on the Shida Kartli plain, on the Suramula riverside, 700 metres (2,300 feet) above sea level.

Khashuri is first mentioned in a 1693 document. Modern Khashuri was founded in 1872 as a modest railway stop called "Mikhaylovo" after Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia, Viceroy of the Caucasus. In 1917, it was renamed Khashuri. The city was granted city status in 1921. It was known as Stalinisi, after Joseph Stalin, from 1928 to 1934. In the 19th century after the leading Tbilisi-Poti main line, Khashuri gradually became a major transportation node. The railways and highways were heading towards Borjomi and Akhaltsikhe. The population of the city is 28.435 (2023). There is rail transport, glass container, food industry enterprises, educational and cultural institutions (public theatre, a museum of local lore). The 18th-century tower, St. John and St. Marine's churches are preserved in the city. There are the Surami and Khashuri residence in Khasuri.

Tori (Georgian: თორი [t̪ʰo̞ɾi]) is a historic region in central Georgia, now part of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, together with Javakheti and Meskheti. It borders on Trialeti to the east, Imereti to the northwest and Shida Kartli to the northeast. The province chiefly lay in what is now known as the Borjomi Gorge. In medieval Georgia, Tori was in hereditary possession of the Gamrekeli (Toreli) family. The name "Tori" went obsolete in the 15th century. Around the same time, it became a hereditary fiefdom of the Avalishvili family.

Samachablo (Georgian: სამაჩაბლო [ˈsämät͡ʃʰäbɫo̞]) is a Georgian historical district in Shida Kartli, Georgia, which has been occupied in 2008 by Russia, lies entirely within the disputed Tskhinvali Region (controlled by the partially recognised Republic of South Ossetia). The name Samachablo (literally, "of Machabeli") derives from the Georgian aristocratic family of Machabeli who once held possession of the area. With the rise of Georgian-Ossetian interethnic tensions in the late 1980s, the name was revived by the Georgians and has sometimes been semi-officially used since then.

Although the territory is officially referred to as Tskhinvali region by Georgian authorities after the name of its only city, the term has become dominant among the Georgian public, in particular following the 2008 Russo-Georgian War.

Eastern Georgia (Georgian: აღმოსავლეთ საქართველო, aghmosavlet' sak'art'velo) is a geographic area encompassing the territory of the Caucasian nation of Georgia to the east and south of the Likhi and Meskheti Ranges, but excluding the Black Sea region of Adjara.

Eastern Georgia includes the historic Georgian provinces of Samtskhe, Javakheti, Kartli with the national capital city of Tbilisi, Kakheti, Pshavi, Mtiuleti, Tusheti, Khevsureti, and Khevi. Current administrative regions (mkhare) of eastern Georgia are: Samtskhe-Javakheti, Shida Kartli, Kvemo Kartli, the city of Tbilisi, Mtskheta-Mtianeti, and Kakheti.

The Georgia–South Ossetia separation line is a de facto boundary set up in aftermath of the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War and Russo-Georgian War, which separates the self-declared Republic of South Ossetia from the territory controlled by the Government of Georgia. South Ossetia, and those states that recognise its independence, view the line as an international border separating two sovereign states, whereas the Georgian government views it as an occupation line in accordance with the Georgian "Law on Occupied Territories of Georgia". The Constitution of Georgia does not recognize South Ossetia as having any special status within Georgia, therefore the line does not correspond to any Georgian administrative area, with the territory claimed by the Republic of South Ossetia shared out amongst several Georgian Mkhares: Shida Kartli, Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti and Mtskheta-Mtianeti.

Racha (also Račha, Georgian: რაჭა [ˈɾät͡ʃ'ä], Račʼa) is a highland area in western Georgia, located in the upper Rioni river valley and hemmed in by the Greater Caucasus mountains. Under Georgia's current subdivision, Racha is included in the Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region (mkhare) as the municipalities of Oni and Ambrolauri. Native inhabitants of Racha are called Rachians, an ethnographic group of Georgians.

Racha occupies 2,854 km in the north-eastern corner of western Georgia. Spurs of the Greater Caucasus crest separates Racha from the Georgian historical regions of Svaneti and Lechkhumi on the north-west and from Imereti on the south, while the main Caucasus ridge forms a boundary with Russia’s North Ossetia. On the east, Racha is bordered by breakaway South Ossetia, officially part of Georgia's Shida Kartli region.

Khashuri Municipality (Georgian: ხაშურის მუნიციპალიტეტი) is a municipality of Georgia, in the region of Shida Kartli. Khashuri municipality is located at 690 meters above sea level. It is bordered on the east and north by Kareli Municipality, on the north by Sachkhere Municipality, on the south and west by Borjomi Municipality, and on the west by Kharagauli Municipality. Area of Khashuri municipality is 585.2 km. The total length of the boundaries of the municipality is 118 kilometers. Distance from the capital to Khashuri is 120 km, and from the regional center is 47 km. Khashuri Municipality also has a favorable strategic location, as it is located at the crossroads of Eastern, Western and Southern Georgia.

The municipality has a moderately humid subtropical climate. Knows moderately cold winters and warm summers. The main rivers are the Mtkvari and Suramula, which cross the municipality. Vegetation is varied from steppe to subalpine.