Editing Geography of Georgia (country) (section)

==Topography==
[[Image:Georgia Topography.png|left|thumb|Topography of Georgia]]
[[Image:Satellite image of Georgia in May 2003.jpg|left|thumb|Satellite image of Georgia in late spring]]
Despite its small area, Georgia has one of the most varied topographies of the former Soviet republics.<ref name=":02">{{citation-attribution|1={{Cite book|last=Curtis|first=Glenn E.|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/94045459/|title=Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia : country studies|date=1995|publisher=[[Federal Research Division]]|isbn=0-8444-0848-4|edition=1st|location=Washington, D.C.|pages=175–177|oclc=31709972}}}}</ref> It is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe,<ref>Economic Commission for Europe. "Environmental Performance Reviews: Georgia", [[United Nations]]: 2016, p. 105</ref> lying mostly in the [[Caucasus Mountains]], with its northern boundary partly defined by the Greater Caucasus range.<ref name=":02" /> The Lesser Caucasus range, which runs parallel to the Turkish and Armenian borders, and the [[Likhi Range|Surami Range]], which connects the Greater Caucasus and the Lesser Caucasus, create natural barriers that are partly responsible for cultural and linguistic differences among regions.<ref name=":02" /> Because of their elevation and a poorly developed transportation infrastructure, many mountain villages are virtually isolated from the outside world during the winter.<ref name=":02" /> [[Earthquake]]s and [[landslide]]s in mountainous areas present a significant threat to life and property.<ref name=":02" /> Among the most recent natural disasters were massive rock- and mudslides in Ajaria in 1989 that displaced thousands in southwestern Georgia, and two earthquakes in 1991 that destroyed several villages in [[Racha]], upper [[Imereti]] and the [[Tskhinvali Region]] (South Ossetia).<ref name=":02" />

Georgia has about 25,000 rivers, many of which power small [[hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] stations.<ref name=":02" /> Drainage is into the Black Sea to the west and through Azerbaijan to the Caspian Sea to the east.<ref name=":02" /> The largest river is the [[Kura (Caspian Sea)|Kura River]], which flows 1,364&nbsp;km from northeast Turkey across the plains of eastern Georgia, through the capital, Tbilisi, and into the Caspian Sea.<ref name=":02" /> The [[Rioni River]], the largest river in western Georgia, rises in the Greater Caucasus and empties into the Black Sea at the port of [[Poti]].<ref name=":02" /> Soviet engineers turned the river lowlands along the Black Sea coast into prime subtropical agricultural land, embanked and straightened many stretches of river, and built an extensive system of canals.<ref name=":02" /> Deep mountain gorges form topographical belts within the Greater Caucasus.<ref name=":02" />