What should we call our country?
By Messenger Staff
Tuesday, December 8
Georgia is not a young state, it has a centuries-long history. It has been given different names throughout its history by its neighbours and other countries. Georgians call their country Sakartvelo, meaning a place inhabited by Kartveli, Georgian. This term has been used with its modern meaning since the eleventh century.
If Georgia had been a newly-emerged state it would have decided for itself what it preferred to be called and other countries would have accepted this. The term 'Czechia' did not last very long after that country decided it wanted to be called the Czech Republic, and other name changes, such as Ceylon to Sri Lanka and Rhodesia to Zimbabwe, have met no resistance. But Georgia's various names have been embedded by history in the languages and cultures of its neighbours. They are an already established tradition, even though there is still no consistency of usage in this global age.
There are three names this country is generally called. The first is the Turkish-Arabic-Persian language variant, Gurjistan. Reportedly Georgia is Gurji. In European countries it is called Georgia, pronounced differently in Spanish, French, English. In Slavic countries and in Russia our country is called Gruzia, and no attempt has been made to change to Georgia despite the accelerating integration of most of these countries with Western Europe. In a very real sense, Western and Eastern Europe do not speak the same language when they come to talk about Georgia.
An interesting event took place during the recent NATO Ministerial. Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze asked his Lithuanian counterpart to call his country Georgia instead of Gruzia. The Lithuanian Minister met this suggestion with understanding and commented that this issue had been raised before. The Lithuanian authorities would not find it difficult to replace the term Gruzia with the Western Georgia, but the Russian media reacted very painfully to the suggestion, even though Vashadze was not asking Russia to change its usage. Komsomolskaia Pravda stated that there is already one Georgia, the US state, and by demanding to be called Georgia this country is confirming its subordination to the United States. The newspaper asked the sarcastic question: Does the United States need a second Georgia?
Georgia does not like being referred to by the Russian version of its name, just as an individual Georgian would want their name spelled and pronounced correctly by official bodies in other countries, and has therefore asked Lithuania to adopt Western usage. This annoys Russia, which seem to want exclusive naming rights to its former colonies, a practice other former colonial overlords abandoned long ago. However it is difficult to see what will change in reality if we are called Georgia instead of Gruzia in Lithuania. Choosing or own name is an expression of Georgia's independence, but Lithuania knows and respects the fact that Georgia is an independent state, unlike that big country next to it.
As a matter of interest Armenian neighbours call us Vrastan, whereas Georgians call Armenia – Somkheti. Armenians themselves call their country Haiastan. These are real people with real lives and real problems. Does the name matter?
If Georgia had been a newly-emerged state it would have decided for itself what it preferred to be called and other countries would have accepted this. The term 'Czechia' did not last very long after that country decided it wanted to be called the Czech Republic, and other name changes, such as Ceylon to Sri Lanka and Rhodesia to Zimbabwe, have met no resistance. But Georgia's various names have been embedded by history in the languages and cultures of its neighbours. They are an already established tradition, even though there is still no consistency of usage in this global age.
There are three names this country is generally called. The first is the Turkish-Arabic-Persian language variant, Gurjistan. Reportedly Georgia is Gurji. In European countries it is called Georgia, pronounced differently in Spanish, French, English. In Slavic countries and in Russia our country is called Gruzia, and no attempt has been made to change to Georgia despite the accelerating integration of most of these countries with Western Europe. In a very real sense, Western and Eastern Europe do not speak the same language when they come to talk about Georgia.
An interesting event took place during the recent NATO Ministerial. Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze asked his Lithuanian counterpart to call his country Georgia instead of Gruzia. The Lithuanian Minister met this suggestion with understanding and commented that this issue had been raised before. The Lithuanian authorities would not find it difficult to replace the term Gruzia with the Western Georgia, but the Russian media reacted very painfully to the suggestion, even though Vashadze was not asking Russia to change its usage. Komsomolskaia Pravda stated that there is already one Georgia, the US state, and by demanding to be called Georgia this country is confirming its subordination to the United States. The newspaper asked the sarcastic question: Does the United States need a second Georgia?
Georgia does not like being referred to by the Russian version of its name, just as an individual Georgian would want their name spelled and pronounced correctly by official bodies in other countries, and has therefore asked Lithuania to adopt Western usage. This annoys Russia, which seem to want exclusive naming rights to its former colonies, a practice other former colonial overlords abandoned long ago. However it is difficult to see what will change in reality if we are called Georgia instead of Gruzia in Lithuania. Choosing or own name is an expression of Georgia's independence, but Lithuania knows and respects the fact that Georgia is an independent state, unlike that big country next to it.
As a matter of interest Armenian neighbours call us Vrastan, whereas Georgians call Armenia – Somkheti. Armenians themselves call their country Haiastan. These are real people with real lives and real problems. Does the name matter?