Vale, Georgia

Whales (Georgian ვალე ) is a town in south Georgia, Samtskhe - Javakheti in the region. It belongs to the municipality of Akhaltsikhe and has about 5,000 inhabitants (2009 ).

The city is located in an inhabited a considerable degree of Armenians of Georgia. In the area of the municipality in 2002 almost 37 % of the population were Armenians. Also in the town whales, their share is high.

Location

Whales is about 160 miles as the crow flies west of the state capital Tbilisi and 10 kilometers west of the regional capital ( as the administrative seat of the municipality ) Akhaltsikhe, on a ridge of the Lesser Caucasus above the right bank of coming from Turkey left Kura Creek Pozchowi ( Turkish Posof Çayı ). The border with Turkey runs about five kilometers south of the city.

History

The place is known as a village since the 10th century.

In the Soviet period lignite deposits were discovered in the immediate vicinity of the place and in 1946 started their degradation. In this context, the population grew rapidly, the place was given the status of an urban-type settlement and 1962, the city rights. Mining and population since then, however, went back continuously.

Note: 1959-2002 census data, in 2009 calculation

Culture and sights

In whales, there are several Georgian Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic churches that date back to the 10th to 16th century.

Economy and infrastructure

Whales is end point of a 91 km long railway line, which in Chaschuri from the main line of the Georgian Railway Tbilisi - Poti branches. The already leading since 1899 to Borjomi route was extended from 1947 to whales and 1967 electrified as one of the last remaining stretches of Georgia at 3000 volts DC. The whales train station is about three kilometers to the north and several hundred meters below the city in the valley of Pozchowi.

The city is located on the European road E 691, which branches in the Turkish Khorasan from the E 80 passes through the provincial capital of Kars, south whales crossed the border into Georgia and via Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki to Armenia, where they Gyumri in Ashtarak e 117 achieved and thus constitutes the shortest road link between Turkey and Armenia, whose direct limit is closed.