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Mingrelia (Samegrelo)Mingrelia (Samegrelo in Georgian) is a historic province in the western part of the republic of Georgia, formerly also known as Odishi.Mingrelia is bordered by the rebellious province of Abkhazia to the north-west, Svaneti to the north, Imereti to the east, Guria to the south and the Black Sea to the west. Mingrelians (Megrelebi in Georgian) are one of the local culture-groups of ethnically subdivided Georgian people, who speak both Mingrelian and Georgian, but have only Georgian script. Administratively, the province of Mingrelia is incorporated with the northern part of the neighboring mountainous province of Svaneti into the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, capital of which is Mingrelia's main city Zugdidi. In ancient times Mingrelia was a major part of the kingdom of Kolkha (Colchis) (9th-6th centuries BC) and kingdom of Egrisi (4th century BC-6th century AD). In 11th-15th centuries Mingrelia was a part of the united Georgian Kingdom. In 16th century-1857 the independent Principality of Mingrelia was under ruling of Georgian dynasty Dadiani. In December of 1803 the Principality came under the patronage of the Russian Empire by agreement between the Tsar and the Mingrelian Prince Grigol Dadiani. In 1857 the Principality was abolished officially by the Tsarist Russian Empire. In 1918-1921 Mingrelia was part of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. in 1921 Georgia was occupied by Soviet Russia. In 1921-1990 this region was part of the Georgian SSR. In April 9, 1991 was restored the state independence of Georgia, when Mingrelia is part of it. First elected president of independent Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, was Mingrelian. Therefore, after his deposition by armed opposition, Mingrelia became epicentre of civil war, which ended whith the defeat of his supporters. Even so, this region was unmanageable by the central government throughout the presidency of Eduard Shevardnadze (1992-2003). The stability in the region is further deteriorated by the fact that the Georgian refugees from the Abkhazian war zone (who are considered by Georgians as victims of ethnic cleansing) are mostly Mingrelians. In 2004, newly elected Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili, who vowed to resolve the conflict whith breakaway region of Abkhazia solely by peaceful means, had to disarm groups of Mingrelians, who tried to fight guerrilla war against Abkhazians by incursions from Mingrelia.
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