Georgia, a poor Caucasian nation with a population of some 4.5 million people, has been wrestling with two breakaway regions within its territory since it declared independence in 1991.

• Declarations of autonomy remain unrecognised
• Quarter of a million people displaced by violence
• High level of poverty in breakaway regions

Since then, internal diplomacy and international mediation have failed to resolve the twin issues of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which want to separate from Georgia.

Since the early 1990s, both Abkhazia (in the northwest) and South Ossetia (in the north) have declared autonomy.

Their demands sparked bloodshed as Tbilisi cracked down on the rebel regions, leading to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.

Tensions rose in April 2008 when Russia moved to strengthen ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which border Russia in the Caucasus. Georgia called it a move towards annexation and NATO immediately urged Moscow to reverse the decision.

Estimated number of Georgian migrants abroad	1 million (Georgian State Department of Statistics, 2006)
Estimated number of internally displaced people	240,000 (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, 2006)
Landmine casualties in 2005	31 (Source: Landmine Monitor Report, 2006)