History of Georgia - First States

The history of Georgian statehood begins with emergence of Colchis and Iberian kingdoms. Colchis or West Georgian kingdom was formed approximately in the 6 th century BC by means of resettlement of Assyrian tribes. Iberian or East Kartlian kingdom appeared in the 4 th century BC when Anatolian tribes came from Turkey . Both were developed states with political and economic relations with Greeks, Akhemenid and Parthian states. From the 4 th BC the people living there have been calling themselves the Kartveli and their country - Sakartvelo (“the land of the Kartvels”).