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Georgia is the Western exonym for the nation in the Caucasus natively known as Sakartvelo ((グルジア語:საქართველო), ). The Russian exonym is ''Gruziya'' (Грузия). The native name is derived from the core central Georgian region of Kartli i.e. Iberia of the Classical and Byzantine sources around which the early medieval cultural and political unity of the Georgians was formed. Both the Western and the Russian exonyms are likely derived from the Persian designation of the Georgians, ''gurğān'', from a Middle Iranian ''varkâna'' "land of the wolves" (also reflected in Armenian ''Virk (Վիրք) and a source of the Greco-Roman ''Iberia''). == Endonym == The native Georgian name for the country is Sakartvelo (საქართველო). The word consists of two parts. Its root, ''kartvel-i'' (ქართველ-ი), originally referred to an inhabitant of the core central Georgian region of Kartli – Iberia of the Classical and Byzantine sources. By the early 9th century, the meaning of "Kartli" was expanded to other areas of medieval Georgia held together by religion, culture, and language. The Georgian circumfix ''sa''-X-''o'' is a standard geographic construction designating "the area where X dwell", where X is an ethnonym.〔Rapp, Stephen H. (2003), ''Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts'', pp. 419-423. Peeters Publishers, ISBN 90-429-1318-5〕 The earliest reference to "Sakartvelo" occurs in the c. 800 Georgian chronicle by Juansher Juansheriani. Within the next 200 years, this designation was reconfigured so that it came to signify the all-Georgian realm which came into existence with the political unification of Kartli/Iberia and Apkhazeti under Bagrat III in 1008. However, it was not until the early 13th century that the term fully entered regular official usage.〔 The memory and dream of a united Georgia – Sakartvelo – persisted even after the political catastrophe of the 15th century when the Kingdom of Georgia fell apart to form three separate kingdoms: Kartli, Kakheti, and Imereti, and five principalities: Samtskhe-Saatabago, Mingrelia, Guria, Svaneti, and Abkhazia. Thus, the later kings did not relinquish the titles of the all-Georgian monarchs whose legitimate successors they claimed to be. The idea of all-Georgian unity also dominated history-writing of the early 18th-century Georgian scholar and a member of the royal family, Prince Vakhushti, whose ''Description of the Kingdom of Georgia'' (''agtsera sameposa sakartvelosa'') had a noticeable influence on the latter-day conception of Sakartvelo. Although Georgia was politically divided among competing kingdoms and principalities during Vakhushti’s lifetime, the scholar viewed the past and present of these breakaway polities as parts of the history of a single nation.〔 Georgia fell under successive Ottoman, Iranian (Safavid, Afsharids, Qajars), and Russian rule during the 15th to 19th centuries. It was re-united as the short-lived Democratic Republic of Georgia (საქართველოს დემოკრატიული რესპუბლიკა ''sakartvelos demokratiuli respublika'') on May 26, 1918, transformed into the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა ''sakartvelos sabchota socialisturi respublika'') in 1921, and eventually gaining independence as the Republic of Georgia (საქართველოს რესპუბლიკა ''sakartvelos respublika'') on November 14, 1990. According to the 1995 constitution, the nation's official name is საქართველო ''sakartvelo'', with "Georgia" given as its English equivalent.〔(Constitution of Georgia. Chapter 1. Article 1.3 ). Parliament of Georgia. Retrieved on June 28, 2009〕 In other Kartvelian languages, like Mingrelian, Georgia is referred as საქორთუო ''sakortuo'', in Laz it's ოქორთურა ''okortura'', when in Svan it uses the same name as Georgian does, საქართველო ''sakartvelo''. This same root is also adopted in Abkhaz and Georgia is referred as Қырҭтәыла ''Kyrţtwyla'' (i.e. Sakartvelo). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Name of Georgia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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