"Sakartvelo, as the Georgians call their home, is a rugged land sandwiched between two mountain ranges. Its culture is ancient; Greek myths placed the bound Prometheus on a Georgian peak. The written language dates from the fifth century A.D., as does the capital, Tbilisi. Queen Tamara presided over Georgia's zenith -- a Caucasian empire -- from 1184 to 1213, after which Mongols invaded. For centuries a battleground between Turks and Persians, Georgia, which was Christian, turned to Russia for protection in 1783, only to be annexed in the early 1800s. Briefly independent, Georgia came under Soviet rule in 1921 and became a union republic in 1936. The republic's most notorious 'favorite son' was Joseph Stalin, who once studied for the priesthood in Tbilisi. Georgia produces 95 percent of the tea grown in the U.S.S.R."
Let's not forget the honorable mention the country gets in the Beatles' White Album opener, "Back in the USSR"....
-B.