Sociocultural Geography

Abstract

The current situation in Georgia is reflected in the structure of the consumer’s basket. Nowadays the majority of income of an average Georgian family (about 70 %) is spent on food and the share of expenditure on other issues is relatively small. This structure of a consumer basket is typical of a developing country. In many ways, Georgia is a developed country but in other ways it is still a developing country. According to the 2002 census, of every 1000 persons aged 15 and above, 817 had secondary education and 224 had higher education. Now there are 2541 state and private schools in Georgia with an enrollment of more than 636,000 students. About 40–50 years ago, the number of schools and schoolchildren started to decrease and it keeps going even today. Higher education in Georgia has a long history. Tbilisi State University, opened in 1918, is the first University in Caucasus. All other higher educational institutions were created in Georgia. Nowadays, 52 higher education institutions function in Georgia. In 1990, 155 scientific institutions existed in Georgia, more than 40 of which were scientific institutions of the Academy of Science of Georgia. In 1990, 184 newspapers were published with a circulation of 6 million copies and 35 magazines with a circulation of 1.2 million copies. Theatrical art is popular and more than 40 theaters function in the country. This chapter discusses the sociocultural aspects of Georgian society that provide contrasting views of Georgia.