Imereti

Imereti: A historic province in western Georgia, situated along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni[?] River. The province's main city is Kutaisi[?]; other urban industrial centers include Samtredia[?], Chiatura[?] (food processing), Tkibuli[?] (coal mining), and Zestaphoni[?] (metals). Traditionally, Imereti is an agricultural region, known for its mulberries and grapes.

The 800,000 Imeretians speak a Georgian dialect. Though they were probably among the earliest inhabitants of the Caucasus, they first emerged as a distinct entity in 1442, when Alexander of Georgia[?] divided his realm between his three sons: one son received Imereti as his kingdom. The country suffered frequented invasions by the Turks, but managed to maintain its independence from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. It fought against Russia from 1804 to 1810, when Imereti was finally annexed.