Kartli

a historical region of eastern Georgia. In classical and Byzantine sources it is referred to as Iberia. Under the hegemony of Kartli, the eastern Georgian state, with its center at Mtskheta, was formed during the fourth and third centuries B.C. Feudal relations began to develop in Kartli in the fourth century A.D. This development was facilitated by the conversion to Christianity circa 337. In the late tenth century, Kartli became the nucleus of the single Georgian state. After its fall in the second half of the 15th century, the region was partitioned into the independent Kartli Kingdom. In 1762 it joined with Kakhetia to form a united state, which was subsequently annexed to Russia in 1801.

a mountain range on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus in the Georgian SSR, between the Pshavskaia Aragvi and Iori rivers. Length, greater than 100 km; maximum elevation (in the north), 3, 000 m. It is composed primarily of sandstones, marls, and shales. Beech and oak forests cover the slopes; meadows cover the northern and central heights.