10 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT GEORGIA

For much of the last two decades since independence the former Soviet republic of Georgia has often hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons. War, instability, corruption and Stalin. But, as Damien McGuinness reports, there is more to Georgia than that.

Here are 10 other memorable things about the country.

-1- TONGUE TWISTER
Spoken Georgian is like no other language you are likely to hear. It belongs to its own ancient linguistic group unlike any other language spoken outside the region. It includes rare sounds that many visitors may never have heard before. Some consonants, for example, are pronounced from the back of the throat with a sudden guttural puff of air. Georgian has its own 33-letter alphabet thought to be based on the sort of Aramaic spoken in the time of Jesus. To the untutored eye, the letters look very much alike. A squiggle too far and your "k" can easily turn into a "v" or a "p". But even without understanding it, Georgian writing is beautiful, a myriad of theatrical swirls and flourishes. Very fitting to a country of dramatic personalities.

-2- GEORGIA ISN'T CALL GEORGIA
At least, not by Georgians. They call their country Sakartvelo. The origins of the country's name in English are obscure. One theory points to the Middle Ages when Christian crusaders swept through the region on their way to the Holy Land. At that time, it was part of the Persian Empire and the people here were known as "Gurj". They were also devotees of St George. Theory has it that the crusaders made the connection and named the country Georgia. These days, there's no mistaking the link to St George. A golden statue of the saint slaying a dragon dominates Tbilisi's central square. He is also Georgia's patron saint and the national flag featuring his red cross on a white background is everywhere.

-3- WHERE'S UNCLE JOE?
Go to any flea market in Georgia and you're likely to stumble across a moustachioed face looking out at you amid the bric-a-brac. Sixty years after his death there's still a market for portraits of Joseph Stalin, the Georgian-born ruler of the former Soviet Union. As Georgia's most famous son, attitudes here towards "Uncle Joe" are complicated. After independence, many Stalin statues were torn down but now some are returning to town squares. Some older Georgians revere him as a strong leader, who defeated Hitler, and are proud that tiny Georgia produced someone who had such an impact on world history. But more often he's viewed as a tyrant responsible for brutal purges of his own people.

-4- HIGH MOUNTAINS
What's the highest mountain range in Europe? The Alps? Wrong. It is the Caucasus Mountains marking the border between Georgia and Russia. While the highest peak is in Russia, Georgia lays claim to the second highest, Shkara, which at 5,193m (17,040 ft) beats Mont Blanc by nearly 400m (1,312 ft). These dramatic mountains, with their terrifying hairpin roads and hidden villages cut off at winter, are the stuff of legend. In Greek mythology they were one of the pillars holding up the world. And it was here that Zeus tied up Prometheus, to have his liver eaten by eagles. Today they are increasingly becoming a destination for climbers, walkers or skiers looking for adventure.

-5- AN ARCHITECT'S DREAM
There is a startling amount of space-age architecture in Georgia. The new parliament building is a huge glass and concrete bubble, looking like a giant frog's eye. A slew of new police stations have been built that are all glass and see through, symbolic of Georgia's aspirations for democratic transparency. Meanwhile, many of the country's roads and infrastructure remains in bad shape. President Mikheil Saakashvili's preference for flashy prestige projects to impress foreign investors and politicians, has not gone unnoticed. Also, while glass government buildings may work well in temperate Northern Europe, buildings constructed like greenhouses are less suited to Georgia's scorching summers.

-6- TREAD CAREFULLY
There is a lot of body contact between men in Georgia. Men stroll down the main a