Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s. In Abkhaz, the city is known as Аҟәа which according to native tradition signifies water. In Georgian, the city is known as სოხუმი or აყუ , in Megrelian as აყუჯიხა , and in Russian as Сухум or Сухуми . The etymology of the name Sokhumi is disputed.... The medieval Georgian sources knew the town as Tskhumi . Later, under the Ottoman control, the town was known in Turkish as Suhum-Kale, which can be derived from the earlier Georgian form Tskhumi or can be read to mean 'water-sand fortress'. Tskhumi in turn is supposed to be derived from the Svan language word for 'hot', or the Georgian word for 'hornbeam tree'. The competing etymologies have been used as putative evidence in the argument over the ethnicity of Sukhumi's historical inhabitants. The ending -i in the above forms represents the Georgian nominative-suffix.
more
| Country: | Georgia, Abkhazia |
| Population: | 43,700 |
| Time zone: | Moscow Time |