Gagra

Gagra (Abkhaz and Russian: Гагра; Georgian: გაგრა) is a town in Abkhazia, Georgia’s breakaway republic, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. Its subtropical climate made Gagra a popular health resort in Imperial Russian and Soviet times. It had a population of 26,636 in 1989, but this has fallen considerably due to ethnic-cleansing and mass expulsion of ethnic Georgians from Abkhazia. Gagra is the centre of the district of the same name. It is located in the western part of Abkhazia and river Psou serves as a border with Krasnodar Kray of Russia. According to the Georgian scholars, Gagra is derived from Gakra meaning walnut in the Svan language. According to the Soviet sports...