Nature of Georgia: Photo Galleries

Georgia still has a high proportion of undisturbed areas, not least because of poorly developed countryside infrastructure. In spite of a relatively little area, the diversity of landscapes and habitats is surprisingly high. However, very roughly, the natural landscapes can be grouped into four main types:

Arid and semi-arid Mediterranean-like landscapes - Gallery 1

Mesophylic mountain forest landscapes - Gallery 2

Subalpine, alpine landscapes and mountain steppe - Gallery 3

Lakes and wetlands - Gallery 4

The photo galleries given here will help you to get some preliminary impression about Georgian landscapes, animals, and plants. In future, I plan to add a brief bibliography that could help to get some deeper impression on the Caucasian nature.

A lot of information on Georgia and its nature one can find in the website www.gccw.org and in other sites devoted to the Georgian wildlife. Here I would like to present a brief introduction into the wildlife of Georgia , its main landscapes, flora and fauna.

Georgia lies in the western part of the Caucasus ecoregion between Black and Caspian seas (1). The country is situated in the wesetrn and central part of the region, along the eastern coast of the Black Sea and southern slopes of the Great Caucasus mountains, at the latitude of Washington , northern Greece , or the northern Spain . Its main habitats and landscapes are very diverse, compared to the relatively small size of this country (70,000 km 2 , with the total population below 5,000,000). The Caucasus ecoregion is among the planet's 25 most diverse and endangered hotspots and probably a single one in the non-tropical Eurasia.

The country has many endemic animals and plants. Nearly quarter of terrestrial vertebrate, fish, and even more of flowering plants are endemics of the Caucasus region. All in all, the country has 12 amphibians, 54 reptiles, and over 100 mammal species. It is hard to estimate how many endemic insects live in the country. Reasons of this uniqueness of the country's biodiversity lie in its history, climate, and geography. Historically, the Caucasus for many millions of years existed as an island separated both from Europe and Asia and it was enough time to develop rich and unique species complexes. Climatically, the western Caucasus where Georgia lies is a relatively humid and forested region surrounded by dry treeless grasslands from south, east, and north. This caused isolation and development of endemic plants and animals. Georgia lies at the border between Eastern Europe and the Middle East, and its flora and fauna comprises the species typical for Central and Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, Central Asia and Mediterranean region.