.:Virtual Travel of City KUTAISI:.

Kutaisi is situated in the central part of the western Georgia. The city is settled on the territory where the river Rhioni takes off from a narrow, but rather deep, canyon and spates over flat lowland. Geographic coordinates of Kutaisi are 420 150 West and 420 450 North; its space reaches 70,0km2, whereof the plain surface makes 67,9km2, including 55.0km2 of urban land. The length of primary roads of the city reaches 231.3 kilometers.

 The housing quarters stretch for 7 kilometers from the North to the South, and 10 kilometers from the East to the West. The lowest suburbs are located south-westward at an elevation of 125-130 meters above the sea level, while the suburbs running north-westwardly gradually ascend reaching the altitude of 300 meters aboard the Tkibuli highway.   

To the North the urbanized territory of Kutaisi bounds the Samgurali Range subjacent lowlands and a rolling area situated between the rivers Rhioni and Tskaltsitela, to the East – the river Tskaltsitela, and to the South and West – the Colchis Valey. 

The natural-geographic conditions of close neighborhood around Kutaisi directly impact the city’s environment, urbanization development, the city’s economy, etc.

Kutaisi is surrounded with rather populous districts able to fully satisfy the human resource needs of the city virtually in all fields of culture and economy, such as industry, transport, public utilities, civil engineering, culture and education, etc. Almost the entire space ranging from the Likhi Range to the western coast of the Black Sea and from the Meskheti Range to Samegrelo and the Lechkhumi Mountains is cross-settled with quite a dense network of village areas. Therefore, due to the very low per capita ratio of rural space, the so-called “redundant” village manpower gravitates to the city.  

Kutaisi is the largest city in Georgia next to Tbilisi. As a matter of many historical factors, this statement pertains to the city’s territory and population, as well as many other parameters. 

The city is located advantageously close to such important ports on the eastern coast of the Black Sea as the Poti and Batumi ports. Both are directly accessible via main automobile and railroads; the railway distances are 139 kilometers to Batumi, and 103 kilometers to Poti. Such nearness to the seaports gives the city an advantage of effective transport communication with the southern regions of Europe as in terms of importing the raw materials and equipment required for effective operation of its industry, as in terms of exporting the locally produced industrial goods (mainly, the raw materials, minerals, and ironwork).