Daba (settlement)

Daba (Georgian: დაბა) is a type of human settlement in Georgia, a “small city”.^[1][2] It is equivalent to an urban-type settlement in some other countries of the former Soviet Union.

In present-day Georgia, daba is typically defined as a settlement with the population of no less than 3,000 and established social and technical infrastructure, which enables it to function as a local economic and cultural center; it, furthermore, should not possess large agricultural lands. The status of daba can also be granted to a settlement with the population of less than 3,000, provided it functions as an administrative center of the district (municipality) or has a prospect of further economic and population growth in the nearest future.^[1]

Etymology

Daba is the term well known in Old Georgian, where it had the meaning "cornfield, hamlet". It is derived from a Common Kartvelian root *dab(a), which is also a source of the Svan däb, "cornfield", and, possibly, the Mingrelian dobera (dobira), "arable land". The derivative words are udabno, "desert", and mdabali, "low".^[3] The name daba is also a basis for several placenames in Georgia, such as Daba, Akhaldaba ("new daba"), Q'veldaba ("cheese daba"), and Dabadzveli ("old daba").

List of daba in Georgia

As of 2011, 50 settlements are categorized in Georgia as daba. These, listed according to a population size (2002 census), are:

	Daba	Population (2002)	Status granted	District/Municipality	Region or autonomous republic	Note
1.	Surami	9,800	1926	Khashuri	Shida Kartli
2.	Ts'q'neti	8,200	1967	Tbilisi	Tbilisi
3.	Chakvi	8,100	1954	Kobuleti	Autonomous Republic of Adjara
4.	Kazreti	7,300	1965	Bolnisi	Kvemo Kartli
5.	Khelvachauri	6,100	1968	Khelvachauri	Autonomous Republic of Adjara
6.	Ochkhamuri	5,000	1954	Kobuleti	Autonomous Republic of Adjara
7.	Chkhorotsqu	5,000	1960	Chkhorotsqu	Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
8.	Laituri	3,600	1953	Ozurgeti	Guria
9.	Tianeti	3,600	1960	Tianeti	Mtskheta-Mtianeti
10.	Shaumiani	3,600	1932	Marneuli	Kvemo Kartli
11.	Agara	3,500	1934	Kareli	Shida Kartli
12.	Makhinjauri	3,400	1959	Khelvachauri	Autonomous Republic of Adjara
13.	Aspindza	3,200	1961	Aspindza	Samtskhe-Javakheti
14.	Manglisi	2,800	1926	Tetritsqaro	Kvemo Kartli
15.	Kveda Nasakirali	2,600	1976	Ozurgeti	Guria
16.	Mestia	2,600	1968	Mestia	Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
17.	Akhalgori	2,500	1960	Akhalgori	Mtskheta-Mtianeti	Controlled by the Republic of South Ossetia Russian-occupied territory under the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories (431-IIs, October 23, 2008)[4]
18.	Kharagauli	2,400	1944	Kharagauli	Imereti
19.	Akhaldaba	2,400	1965	Borjomi	Samtskhe-Javakheti
20.	Didi Lilo	2,400	1974	Tbilisi	Tbilisi
21.	Chokhatauri	2,100	1947	Chokhatauri	Guria
22.	Kulashi	2,000	1961	Samtredia	Imereti
23.	Bakuriani	2,000	1926	Borjomi	Samtskhe-Javakheti
24.	Zhinvali	1,900	1976	Dusheti	Mtskheta-Mtianeti
25.	Kojori	1,900	1968	Tbilisi	Tbilisi
26.	Stepantsminda	1,800	1966	Kazbegi	Mtskheta-Mtianeti
27.	Lentekhi	1,700	1969	Lentekhi	Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti
28.	Shorapani	1,600	1938	Zestaponi	Imereti
29.	Pasanauri	1,600	1966	Dusheti	Mtskheta-Mtianeti
30.	Ureki	1,400	1953	Ozurgeti	Guria
31.	Abastumani	1,400	1926	Adigeni	Samtskhe-Javakheti
32.	Naruja	1,300	1987	Ozurgeti	Guria
33.	Keda	1,200	1966	Keda	Autonomous Republic of Adjara
34.	Khulo	1,100	1964	Khulo	Autonomous Republic of Adjara
35.	Tsagveri	1,100	1926	Borjomi	Samtskhe-Javakheti
36.	Adigeni	1,000	1961	Adigeni	Samtskhe-Javakheti
37.	Shuakhevi	0,900	1974	Shuakhevi	Autonomous Republic of Adjara
38.	Bakurianis Andeziti	0,500	1956	Borjomi	Samtskhe-Javakheti
39.	Sioni	0,400	1960	Tianeti	Mtskheta-Mtianeti
40.	Tamarisi	0,400	1982	Marneuli	Kvemo Kartli
41.	Bediani	0,300	1963	Tsalka	Samtskhe-Javakheti
42.	Trialeti	0,300	1944	Tsalka	Kvemo Kartli
43.	Kharistvala	0,000	1956	Ambrolauri	Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti	Depopulated as a result of the 1991 earthquake and a series of avalanches
44.	Bichvinta	-	1963	Gagra	Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia	Controlled by the Republic of Abkhazia Russian-occupied territory under the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories (431-IIs, October 23, 2008)[4]
45.	Gantiadi	-	1966	Gagra	Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia	Controlled by the Republic of Abkhazia Russian-occupied territory under the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories (431-IIs, October 23, 2008)[4]
46.	Miusera	-	1990	Gudauta	Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia	Controlled by the Republic of Abkhazia Russian-occupied territory under the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories (431-IIs, October 23, 2008)[4]
47.	Gulripshi	-	1975	Gulripshi	Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia	Controlled by the Republic of Abkhazia Russian-occupied territory under the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories (431-IIs, October 23, 2008)[4]
48.	Q'ornisi	-	-	Kareli	Shida Kartli	Controlled by the Republic of South Ossetia Russian-occupied territory under the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories (431-IIs, October 23, 2008)[4]
49.	Kvaisa	-	-	Oni	Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti	Controlled by the Republic of South Ossetia Russian-occupied territory under the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories (431-IIs, October 23, 2008)[4]
50.	Java	-	-	Java	Shida Kartli	Controlled by the Republic of South Ossetia Russian-occupied territory under the Law of Georgia on Occupied Territories (431-IIs, October 23, 2008)[4]

See also

• List of cities and towns in Georgia

References

1. (Georgian) მოხელის სამაგიდო ლექსიკონი / გაეროს განვითარების პროგრამა; [შემდგ.: სამსონ ურიდია და სხვ.; რედ.: ვაჟა გურგენიძე] - თბ., 2004 - 483გვ.: ცხრ.; 24სმ. - (საჯარო მოსამსახურის ბ-კა). - ISBN 99940-0-063-2.
2. Allen, William Edward David (1932, reissued 1971), A History of the Georgian People: From the Beginning Down to the Russian Conquest in the Nineteenth Century, p. 240. Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-7100-6959-6.
3. Klimov, Georgy (1998), Etymological Dictionary of the Kartvelian Languages, p. 36. Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 3-11-015658-X.
4. Law of Georgian on Occupied Territories (431-IIs, October 23, 2008). State Ministry for Reintegration. Retrieved on December 15, 2011.