What is the poorest region in Georgia?
The World Bank’s Georgia Poverty Assessment, that was released in April of this year, offers many interesting insights into the patterns of poverty and social assistance in the country. One highly important issue for poverty reduction in the country is the geographic distribution of the poverty headcount. According to the report, 24% of the Georgian population is ‘poor’ and 9% is ‘extremely poor’. But the regional variation is enormous. Shida Kartli, in their analysis, is the poorest region with 59% poverty while its southern neighbour Kvemo Kartli is the least poor with only 8% poverty. This is particularly significant since the data for this report was collected in early 2007 and one would imagine that the siuation in Shida Kartli has become worse since the war. In fact, in their report there are three regions that stand out with the highest poverty rate. After Shida Kartli there is Kakheti with 46% and Mtskheta-Mtianeti with 41%. This is vitally important because it suggests that th
