Akhalkalaki

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title: "Akhalkalaki" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cities-and-towns-in-samtskhe–javakheti", "tiflis-governorate", "armenian-diaspora-communities"] topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akhalkalaki" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
official_nameAkhalkalaki
native_nameახალქალაქი

| | native_name_lang | ka | | settlement_type | Town | | image_skyline | Akhalkalaki, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Georgia.jpg | | pushpin_map | Georgia (country)#Samtskhe-Javakheti | | mapsize | 280px | | map_caption | Location of Akhalkalaki in Georgia | | subdivision_type | Country | | subdivision_name | | | subdivision_type1 | Mkhare | | subdivision_name1 | Samtskhe-Javakheti | | subdivision_type2 | District | | subdivision_name2 | Akhalkalaki | | population_as_of | 2024 | | population_footnotes | | | population_total | 7483 | | timezone | Georgian Time | | utc_offset | +4 | | coordinates | | | elevation_m | 1707 | | website | Official | ::

| official_name = Akhalkalaki | native_name = ახალქალაქი

| native_name_lang = ka | settlement_type = Town | image_skyline = Akhalkalaki, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Georgia.jpg | pushpin_map = Georgia (country)#Samtskhe-Javakheti | mapsize = 280px | map_caption = Location of Akhalkalaki in Georgia | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = | subdivision_type1 = Mkhare | subdivision_name1 = Samtskhe-Javakheti | subdivision_type2 = District | subdivision_name2 = Akhalkalaki | area_magnitude = | area_total_km2 = | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = | population_as_of = 2024 | population_footnotes = | population_total = 7483 | population_density_km2 = | timezone = Georgian Time | utc_offset = +4 | timezone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = | coordinates = | elevation_m = 1707 | website = Official | footnotes = Akhalkalaki (ახალქალაქი ; ) is a town in Georgia's southern region of Samtskhe–Javakheti and the administrative centre of the Akhalkalaki Municipality. Akhalkalaki lies on the edge of the Javakheti Plateau. The city is located about 29 km from the border with Armenia. The town's recorded history goes back to the 11th century. As of the 2014 Georgian census the town had a population of 8,295, with 93.8% Armenian majority.

Etymology

The name Akhalkalaki, first recorded in the 11th-century Georgian chronicle, means "a new town", from Georgian [ɑxɑli], "new", and [kʰɑlɑkʰi], "city" or "town". The 19th-century ethnographic accounts also mention another names for the town - Akhalkatak and Nor-Katak, also meaning which in Armenian means Nor - "new", katak - "city".

History

Akhalkalaki was founded by Bagrat IV of Georgia in 1064. In 1066, the city was destroyed during the Seljuq invasions of the Kingdom of Georgia. In the 11th century, Akhalkalaki became one of the political and economic centers of Javakheti. In the 16th century, the city came under the rule of the Ottoman Empire and became a sanjak center in Çıldır Eyaleti. Under the Ottoman rule, the town was known as "Ahılkelek". The city was passed from the Ottomans to the Russians after the Russo-Turkish War in 1828–1829. Around 1830, approximately 30,000 Armenian refugees from Turkey’s Erzurum region settled here. On January 4, 1900, an earthquake destroyed much of the town and killed 1,000 people in the area. The citizens predominantly dwelled in dugouts until the 1920s. The city was the administrative center of the Akhalkalaki uezd of the Tiflis Governorate. In May 1918, the town and its district were occupied by the Ottoman army until their withdrawal by the Armistice of Mudros—the occupation resulted in the exodus of the local Armenian population which nearly perished due to starvation and disease.

Population

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Akhalkalaki.jpg" caption="Downtown of Akhalkalaki"] ::

By the time of the region's annexation to the Russian Empire in 1829, the population was mainly Islamicized Georgians. After the Russian takeover, most of the Muslim Georgians left the area for the Ottoman Empire, and in their place Christian Armenian refugees from Erzurum and Bayazid settled here. Since then the city and the region of Javakheti has been largely populated by Armenians.

::data[format=table title="{{big|'''Population and ethnic composition of Akhalkalaki from the late 19th century'''}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ethno-kavkaz.narod.ru/rngeorgia.html|title=население грузии|access-date=October 8, 2016}}"]

YearArmeniansGeorgiansRussiansTotal4,3035,4407,055May 1918: Ottoman occupation and escape of Armenian population3,4755,33113,22415,5728,295
18864,08394.9%511.2%571.3%
18974,13676%1292.4%4798.8%
19166,15187.2%2653.8%4296.1%
19263,18590.9%1975.7%611.8%
19394,66687.5%3376.3%2454.6%
19596,52274.1%4334.9%1,42416.2%8,804
197911,87989.8%5063.8%5634.3%
1989
20147,78293.8%4715.7%180.2%
::

Climate

The climate of Akhalkalaki is moderately humid with relative cold dry winters and long cool summers. (Köppen: Dfb){{Weather box | width = auto | single line = yes | metric first = yes | location = Akhalkalaki (1991–2020)

| Jan record high C = 9.0 | Feb record high C = 12.0 | Mar record high C = 19.2 | Apr record high C = 25.7 | May record high C = 27.3 | Jun record high C = 30.7 | Jul record high C = 37.4 | Aug record high C = 35.0 | Sep record high C = 33.6 | Oct record high C = 27.9 | Nov record high C = 20.0 | Dec record high C = 16.1 | year record high C = 37.4

| Jan high C = -0.8 | Feb high C = 0.2 | Mar high C = 5.3 | Apr high C = 11.9 | May high C = 17.0 | Jun high C = 20.8 | Jul high C = 24.4 | Aug high C = 25.2 | Sep high C = 21.4 | Oct high C = 15.7 | Nov high C = 8.5 | Dec high C = 1.8 | year high C = 12.6

|Jan mean C = -6.1 |Feb mean C = -5.4 |Mar mean C = -0.1 |Apr mean C = 5.8 |May mean C = 10.4 |Jun mean C = 13.7 |Jul mean C = 16.9 |Aug mean C = 17.3 |Sep mean C = 13.3 |Oct mean C = 8.6 |Nov mean C = 2.4 |Dec mean C = -3.5 |year mean C =

| Jan low C = -11.4 | Feb low C = -11.0 | Mar low C = -5.5 | Apr low C = -0.3 | May low C = 3.8 | Jun low C = 6.5 | Jul low C = 9.3 | Aug low C = 9.3 | Sep low C = 5.1 | Oct low C = 1.4 | Nov low C = -3.8 | Dec low C = -8.8 | year low C = -0.4 C

| Jan record low C = -29.6 | Feb record low C = -29.2 | Mar record low C = -22.1 | Apr record low C = -16.6 | May record low C = -11.0 | Jun record low C = -5.6 | Jul record low C = -2.6 | Aug record low C = -0.9 | Sep record low C = -5.1 | Oct record low C = -13.7 | Nov record low C = -20.0 | Dec record low C = -25.6 | year record low C = -29.6

| precipitation colour = green | Jan precipitation mm = 31.2 | Feb precipitation mm = 27.1 | Mar precipitation mm = 38.0 | Apr precipitation mm = 50.8 | May precipitation mm = 85.3 | Jun precipitation mm = 80.0 | Jul precipitation mm = 63.5 | Aug precipitation mm = 47.1 | Sep precipitation mm = 38.0 | Oct precipitation mm = 40.6 | Nov precipitation mm = 30.7 | Dec precipitation mm = 30.7 | year precipitation mm = 563.0

| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm | Jan precipitation days = 6.7 | Feb precipitation days = 6.5 | Mar precipitation days = 7.4 | Apr precipitation days = 9.2 | May precipitation days = 13.4 | Jun precipitation days = 11.1 | Jul precipitation days = 9.0 | Aug precipitation days = 8.3 | Sep precipitation days = 6.3 | Oct precipitation days = 7.2 | Nov precipitation days = 5.9 | Dec precipitation days = 6.3 | year precipitation days = 97.3

|source 1 = NOAA{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230902231954/https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Georgia/CSV/Akhalkhalakhi_37602.csv | archive-date = 2 September 2023 | url = https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/1.1/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Georgia/CSV/Akhalkhalakhi_37602.csv | title = Akhalkhalakhi Climate Normals 1991–2020 | work = World Meteorological Organization Climatological Standard Normals (1991–2020) | publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | access-date = 2 September 2023}}

Transport

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Zatta-1784-extract.jpg" caption="The fragment from the map By Antonio Zatta, published in Venice in 1784. The map shows Akhalkalaki, Georgia"] ::

The crossroads village meets from south the streets from the border to Armenia and Turkey, from north to Borjomi–Gori and east–west from Batumi to Tiflis south of the Lesser Caucasus.

A 160 km long railway line was constructed between 1982 and 1986 in three parts. The junction from the line Tbilisi–Yerevan is in Marabda.

In April 2005, an agreement was signed to build a new railway connecting Turkey with Georgia and Azerbaijan, passing nearby Akhalkalaki. This would bypass an existing line through Gyumri in Armenia which has been closed by Turkey, blockading Armenia, for political reasons since the 1990s. The railway became operational on October 30, 2017. It is here where the break-of-gauge is.

In compound with the military base was constructed an airport.http://ourairports.com/airports/GE-0004/ With military dismantling it was closed.

Bases

The city was home to the Soviet-era 147th Motor Rifle Division (part of the 9th Army of the Transcaucasian Military District) up until the early 1990s. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the Division became the Russian 62nd Military Base. It was officially transferred, according to the Sochi agreement, to Georgia on June 27, 2007.

On September 19, 2020, a new basic combat training center was opened on the site of the former base in Akhalkalaki. The center is designed to accommodate and train up to 800 military personnel and conscripts.

Notable people

Gallery

File:Akhalkalaki RB (7).JPG|Akhalkalaki Castle Complex File:Akhalkalaki 6.jpg|Main square of Akhalkalaki File:Սուրբ Խաչ եկեղեցին.jpg|Armenian Apostolic Church in Akhalkalaki File:Karapet Bagratuni-Akhalkalak.JPG|Statue of Karapet Bagratuni

References

References

  1. "Population by regions". National Statistics Office of Georgia.
  2. {{Georgian census 2014
  3. Kartlis Tskhovreba. Istoria Gruzii. Artanudzhi, Tbilisi, 2008, 454 p. (In Russian)
  4. "181 Царь Картли Вахтанг VI. Комментарии". Восточная литература.
  5. [[Ronald Grigor Suny. Suny, Ronald Grigor]] (1994), ''The Making of the Georgian Nation: 2nd edition''. [[Indiana University Press]], p. 34
  6. ''The Annual Register of World Events, 1900'' (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1901) p461
  7. Закарая, П. (1983) Monuments of Eastern Georgia. Art, Moscow, 376 p. [Zakaraya, P. Monuments of Eastern Georgia](In Russian)
  8. Hovannisian, Richard G.. (1971–1996). "The Republic of Armenia". University of California Press.
  9. Richard G. Hovannisian. (1971). "The Republic of Armenia: The first year, 1918-1919". University of California Press.
  10. "население грузии".
  11. "АХАЛКАЛАКСКИЙ УЕЗД (1897 г.)".
  12. (1917). "Кавказский календарь на 1917 год". Tipografiya kantselyarii Ye.I.V. na Kavkaze, kazenny dom.
  13. "Ахалкалакский уезд 1926".
  14. "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Всесоюзная перепись населения 1939 года".
  15. "Ахалкалакский район 1959".
  16. "Ethnic composition of Georgia 1979".
  17. "Демоскоп Weekly - Приложение. Справочник статистических показателей".
  18. "Ethnic composition of Georgia 2014".
  19. [[Railway Gazette International]] February 2009, p54
  20. (30 October 2017). "Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway track becomes operational to carry Chinese goods to Europe".
  21. Ltd, DVV Media International. "Stadler signs Baku – Tbilisi – Kars sleeping car contract".
  22. link. (2012-02-06 ''Civil Georgia''. June 27, 2007. Accessed on June 29, 2007.)
  23. "New primary combat training center opened in Akhalkalaki". The Georgian Public Broadcaster.

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cities-and-towns-in-samtskhe–javakhetitiflis-governoratearmenian-diaspora-communities