Instruct: Given a question, retrieve documents that can help answer the question.
Query: Is Georgia currently occupied by Russia?
Occupied territories of Georgia () are the territories occupied by Russia after the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. They consist of the regions of Abkhazia and the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast of Soviet Georgia (currently divided between several administrative divisions of independent Georgia), whose status is a matter of international dispute.
According to the Georgian law titled Law on Occupied Territories of Georgia, the term “the occupied territories and territorial waters” or “The Occupied Territories” covers the territories of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, Tskhinvali Region (territory of the former South Ossetia Autonomous Region) and waters in the Black Sea located in the aquatic territory of the Black Sea, along Georgia’s state border with the Russian Federation, to the South of the Psou river, up to the administrative border at the estuary of the Engury River. The term also covers the air space over the aforementioned territories.
On July 9, 2012, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly passed a resolution at its annual session in Monaco, underlining Georgia’s territorial integrity and referring to breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia as “occupied territories”. The resolution “urges the Government and the Parliament of the Russian Federation, as well as the de facto authorities of Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia, Georgia, to allow the European Union Monitoring Mission unimpeded access to the occupied territories.” It also says that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is “concerned about the humanitarian situation of the displaced persons both in Georgia and in the occupied territories of Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia, Georgia, as well as the denial of the right of return to their places of living.” The Assembly is the parliamentary dimension of the OSCE with 320 lawmakers from the organization’s 56 participating states, including Russia.
On 17 April 2014, the European Parliament adopted a resolution about Russian pressure on Eastern Partnership countries. The resolution, which called on the EU-member states to consider strengthening sanctions against Russia for its support of rebels in eastern Ukraine, also mentioned Georgia's occupied regions, saying that Russia "... is still occupying the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali / South Ossetia, in violation of the fundamental norms and principles of international law". The resolution said that under the effective control of the occupying power there had been ethnic cleansing and forced demographic changes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and Russia bore responsibility for human rights violations. The resolution also declared that Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine "... have a European perspective and may apply to become members of the Union provided that they adhere to the principles of democracy, respect fundamental freedoms and human and minority rights and ensure the rule of law".
In May 2014, President François Hollande had three-day trip to South Caucasus countries and finished by visiting Georgia on 13 May. Speaking at a joint news conference with his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Margvelashvili, he said that Georgia’s territories remain occupied and the cease-fire agreement is not fully respected. "France did everything for the agreement to be reached and the conflict to stop. However we see today that occupation still exists and Georgia still has to regain territorial integrity," Hollande said while speaking about the 2008 Georgia-Russia war.
Russian was granted official status in Gagauzia, a region in the south of the country inhabited mostly by ethnic Gagauz, and in the breakaway region of Transnistria in the east of the country.
In November 2010, NATO Parliamentary Assembly adopted a resolution containing the terms "occupied territories" and "ethnic cleansing" referring to Russian military presence and actions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. NATO parliamentarians urged Russia "to reverse" the results of ethnic cleansing and allow the "safe and dignified" return of all internally displaced persons to their homes. The Resolution condemned the tightening by Russian FSB Border Troops of procedures for crossing the Administrative Border Line, enhancement of Russia's military presence on the occupied territories as well as Russia's blocking of the extension of the OSCE and UN missions in Georgia. It urged Russia to allow EUMM unimpeded access to the entire territory of Georgia.
NATO Parliamentary Assembly also welcomed Georgia's State Strategy on Occupied Territories and the Action Plan for Engagement.
According to the October 2014 Joint Statement between Japan and Georgia on "Solidarity for Peace and Democracy": "Both sides shared the view that peaceful resolution to the conflict in Georgia's occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia in line with the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders are essential for the peace and stability of the country and the entire South Caucasus region". Japan's position on "Georgia's occupied regions of Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia and Abkhazia" was reaffirmed in the 1 March 2017 statement by the Embassy of Japan in Georgia.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly held its annual session in Monaco on 9 July 2012. It passed a resolution supporting Georgia, and referring to breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia as occupied territories. The resolution urged the Government and the Parliament of the Russian Federation, and the "de facto" authorities of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to allow the European Union Monitoring Mission access to the occupied territories. It also said that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly was “concerned about the humanitarian situation of the displaced persons both in Georgia and in the occupied territories of Abkhazia, Georgia, and South Ossetia, Georgia, as well as the denial of the right of return to their places of living”. Russian Foreign Ministry reacted harshly, saying that "the majority of deputies in the Assembly (parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE) once again don't wish to objectively accept the realities of the situation today in the Caucasus."
Eastern Georgia, throughout its history, has been several times been annexed by the Persian Empire, specifically under the Achaemenid, Parthian, Sassanid, Safavid, Afsharid and Qajar dynasties. Western Georgia, throughout its history had been annexed by the Persian Achaemenids, Sassanids and Afsharids. Due to this, there has been a lot of political, cultural and ethnic exchange between the two nations for thousands of years, and thus Georgia was and is often considered a part of Greater Iran.
The demographics of Georgia are inclusive of the ninth most populous state in the United States, with over 9.68 million people (2010 census), just over 3% of America's population.
On 3 March 2009, Latvian President Valdis Zatlers met Giorgi Baramidze, the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia. The president expressed his support for Georgia's domestic reforms and foreign policy. He also asked Baramidze what Russia was doing in those parts of Georgia that it had occupied.
According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Georgia had a population of 9,687,653. In terms of race the population was: 
The largest ancestry groups are: 10.8% American (mostly British descent), 9.5% Irish, 8.9% English and 8.2% German. In the 1980 census 1,584,303 Georgians cited that they were of English ancestry out of a total state population of 3,994,817 making them 40% of the state, and the largest ethnic group at the time. Today, many of these same people cite that they are of "American" ancestry are actually of English descent and some are of Scots-Irish descent, however, they have families that have been in the state so long, in many cases since the colonial period, that they choose to identify simply as having "American" ancestry or do not, in fact, know their own ancestry. Their ancestry primarily goes back to the original thirteen colonies and for this reason many of them today simply claim "American" ancestry, though they are of predominantly English ancestry.
The 49 generally recognized sovereign states listed herein include two countries that generally are classified as European or African nations but with portions of their territory being in Asia, while the two substantially but not generally recognized states are both fully encompassed in Asia. While most of Russia's area is in Asia, it generally is classified as a European country because its capital (Moscow) and most of its population is in Europe. In addition, while Egypt extends into Asia through the Sinai Peninsula, it generally is considered an African country because most of its population and geographic area is in Africa.
Fancy Bear's targets have included Eastern European governments and militaries, the country of Georgia and the Caucasus, Ukraine, security-related organizations such as NATO, as well as US defense contractors Academi (formerly known as Blackwater), Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon. Fancy Bear has also attacked citizens of the Russian Federation that are political enemies of the Kremlin, including former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and Maria Alekhina of the band Pussy Riot. SecureWorks, a cybersecurity firm headquartered in the United States, concluded that from March 2015 to May 2016, the "Fancy Bear" target list included not merely the United States Democratic National Committee, but tens of thousands of foes of Putin and the Kremlin in the United States, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, and Syria. Only a handful of Republicans were targeted, however. An AP analysis of 4,700 email accounts that had been attacked by Fancy Bear concluded that no country other than Russia would be interested in hacking so many very different targets that seemed to have nothing else in common other than their being of interest to the Russian government.
The state of Georgia has of Interstate Highways within its borders. Georgia's major Interstate Highways are Interstate 16 (I-16), I-20, I-75, I-85, and I-95. Other important interstate highways are I-24 and I-59. I-285 is Atlanta, Georgia's perimeter route and I-575 connects counties in North Georgia to I-75. The Georgia Department of Transportation maintains only 16% of the roads in the state. The other 84% are the responsibility of the counties and cities; 75% of those roads are county roads.
In 1478, his father Bagrat VI died and Alexander became king of Georgia, initially ruling its two major regions, Imereti in the west and Kartli in the east. Alexander was expelled from the kingdom by a rival prince Constantine II. Alexander retired to the mountainous western provinces of Racha and Lechkhumi. Alexander recovered Imereti after Constantine’s defeat at the hands of Qvarqvare II Jaqeli, a powerful atabeg of Samtskhe, in 1483, but lost the capital Kutaisi to Constantine again a year later. In 1488, Alexander took advantage of the Ak Koyunlu Turkoman invasion of Kartli, and seized control of Imereti. In 1491, Constantine had to recognise his rival as independent sovereign, and to confine himself to the government of Kartli.
Georgia finished the year 1–2 in rivalry games, losing to Florida 38–20 in the Florida–Georgia football rivalry on November 1, 2014. They beat the Auburn Tigers 34–7. Georgia lost to in-state rival Georgia Tech in Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate on November 29, 2014 by a score of 30–24 in overtime.
A week after the election, Nazarbayev became the president of an independent state when the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus signed documents dissolving the Soviet Union. He quickly convened a meeting of the leaders of the five Central Asian states (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), raising the possibility of a Turkic confederation of former republics as a counterweight to the Slavic states of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus in whatever federation might succeed the Soviet Union. This move persuaded the three Slavic presidents to include Kazakhstan among the signatories of a recast document of dissolution. Kazakhstan's capital lent its name to the Alma-Ata Protocol, the declaration of principles of the Commonwealth of Independent States. On 16 December 1991, five days before the declaration, Kazakhstan became the last of the republics to proclaim its independence.
On a 33-year-old peasant woman named Chionya Guseva attempted to assassinate Rasputin by stabbing him in the stomach outside his home in Pokrovskoye. Rasputin was seriously wounded, and for a time it was not clear that he would survive. After surgery and some time in a hospital in Tyumen, however, he did recover.
Grassy Ridge is a ridge in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Georgia that runs south to north along the Eastern Continental Divide in Rabun County, Georgia. At the southern end of the ridge, there is an unnamed peak with an elevation of just over . From there, the ridge runs north, crossing the boundary between Georgia and North Carolina at just over and then ultimately joining Ridgepole Mountain in North Carolina. In between its southernmost point and North Carolina, there is another unnamed peak with an elevation of just over 4,420 feet (8th highest point in Georgia; 3rd highest point in Rabun County) and a gap called Nichols Gap with an elevation of . Grassy Ridge is in the Southern Nantahala Wilderness of the Chattahoochee National Forest
In late October 2008, president Mikheil Saakashvili signed into law legislation on the occupied territories passed by the Parliament of Georgia. The law covers the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and the territory of former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.
Currently 20% of Georgia's internationally recognized territory is under Russian military occupation. Russia does not allow the EUMM monitors to enter South Ossetia and Abkhazia in violation of the Six Point Ceasefire Agreement.
In March 2014, Lithuanian ambassador to the United States, said in an interview for the LRT TV programme "Savaitė", that after the Russo-Georgian War everyone in Brussels "laughed about Lithuania's position". He said that "... at that time, the Western world forgot and forgave Russia for what it did in Georgia – occupied a large part of its territory, and is still keeping it." In July 2014, Žygimantas Pavilionis said that when Russia occupied the Georgian territories, "... Lithuanian diplomats were the only ones in Europe and, I dare say, in Lithuania who constantly tried to defend a free Georgia to the end."
In April 2013, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said after meeting with his Georgian counterpart Maia Panjikidze that Russia respected only a state "that is larger" and therefore the Czech Republic could not mediate between Russia and Georgia. As for Georgia’s future with regard to the occupied territories, the Czech Foreign Minister said Georgia should maintain contacts with them. "It is difficult when your territories are occupied, but sometimes you have to wait for years, even decades before the window of possibilities will be opened for you. I do not know when that time will come, but it will necessarily come", he said.