Religion

Today most of the population in Georgia practices Orthodox  Christianity, primarily the Georgian Orthodox Church. Of these (82%), around 2% follow the Russian Orthodox Church. Around 3.9% of the population follow the Armenian Church, almost all of which are ethnic Armenians. Roman Catholics make up around 0.8% of the population and are mainly found in the south of Georgia and a small number in its capital, Tbilisi.

Christianity, first preached by the Apostles Simon and Andrew in the first century, became the state religion of Kartli (Iberia) in 327, making Georgia the second oldest Christian country after Armenia. The final conversion of Georgia to Christianity in 327 is credited to St. Nino of Cappadocia. She was the only daughter of pious and noble parents, the Roman general Zabulon, a relative of the great martyr St. George, and Susanna, sister of the Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Georgian Orthodox Church, originally part of the Church of Antioch, gained its autocephaly in the 5th century during the reign of Vakhtang Gorgasali, and the Bible was also translated into Georgian in the 5th century. Notably, the oldest example of Georgian writing is an asomtavruli inscription in a church in Bethlehem from AD 430.

The Georgian Orthodox Church (full title Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church) is one of the world's most ancient Christian Churches, and tradition traces its origins to the mission of Apostle Andrew in the 1st century. It is an autocephalous (self-headed) part of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Georgian Orthodoxy has been a state religion in parts of Georgia since the 4th century, and is the majority religion in that country. As was true elsewhere, the Christian church in Georgia was crucial to the development of a written language, and most of the earliest written works were religious texts. After Georgia was annexed by the Russian Empire, the Russian Orthodox Church took over the Georgian church in 1811. The colorful frescoes and wall paintings typical of Georgian cathedrals were whitewashed by the Russian occupiers.