Georgian Jews

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Georgian Jews
ქართველი ებრაელები

Total population
65,000–80,000
Regions with significant populations
Israel	65,000[1]
United States	10,000
Georgia	1,405 (not including Abkhazia or South Ossetia)
Belgium	1,200
Austria	800
Azerbaijan	500
Russia	14[2]
Languages
Hebrew, Georgian (Judaeo-Georgian), English, Russian
Religion
Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Georgians, Iraqi Jews, Iranian Jews, Bukharian Jews, Kurdish Jews, Mountain Jews, Soviet Jews

The Georgian Jews (Georgian: ქართველი ებრაელები, romanized: kartveli ebraelebi, Hebrew: יהדות גאורגיה, romanized: Yahadut Georgia) are a community of Jews who migrated to Georgia during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BCE.^[3] It is one of the oldest communities in the region. They are also widely distinguished from the Ashkenazi Jews in Georgia, who arrived following the Russian annexation of Georgia.^[4]

Prior to Georgia's annexation by the Russian Empire in 1801, the 2300-year history of the Georgian Jews was marked by an almost total absence of antisemitism and a visible assimilation in the Georgian language and culture.^[5] The Georgian Jews were considered ethnically and culturally distinct from neighboring Mountain Jews.^[6]

As a result of a major emigration wave in the 1990s, the vast majority of Georgian Jews now live in Israel, with the world's largest community living in the city of Ashdod.