Georgian is an official language spoken by Georgians. It belongs to the Kartvelian language family together with other Kartvelian languages – Svan, Megrelian and Laz – mostly spoken in the western part of the country.
The Georgian writing system is one of the oldest and original in the world, dating back to 4th century BC. It is actually represented by the three alphabets, which are still alive and coexist nowadays, each of them serving different social and cultural functions. The alphabets Mrgvlovani and Nuskhuri are practiced and taught informally mainly by the community of the Georgian Orthodox Church. The Georgia’s educational system is based on the Mkhedruli alphabet, which consists of 33 independent characters.
As a Guest of Honour of the 2018 Frankfurter Buchmesse, Frankfurt’s famous book exhibition, Georgia represented itself by telling its unique story through Georgian Alphabet, Georgia – made by Characters:
Living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet is added to the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage list.