Georgia, a poor Caucasian nation with a population of some 4.5 million people, has been wrestling with two breakaway regions within its territory since it declared independence in 1991.

• Declarations of autonomy remain unrecognised
• Hundreds of thousands displaced by violence
• High level of poverty in breakaway regions

Both Abkhazia in the northwest and South Ossetia in the north threw off Georgian rule in the early 1990s. They have been running their own affairs with Russian support but are not recognised internationally.

Their moves to separate from Georgia in the 1990s led to bloodshed as Tbilisi cracked down on the rebel regions. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced.

The conflicts have since snowballed into an international row drawing in Russia on one side - supporting the breakaway states while wary of recognising their independence - and on the other the United States, which wants to see Georgia join NATO.

South Ossetia exploded in August 2008 when Georgia tried to recapture the territory and Russia responded with a massive counter-offensive.

Russian forces poured over the border, pushing beyond South Ossetia into the Georgian heartland and overrunning the army.

Nearly 160,000 people have fled their homes during fierce fighting, according to U.N. estimates.

Moscow has also poured troops and armour into Abkhazia.

Estimated number of Georgian migrants abroad	1 million (Georgian State Department of Statistics, 2006)
Estimated number of internally displaced people	220,000 to 247,000 (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Oct. 2007)
Landmine casualties in 2006	31 (Landmine Monitor Report 2007)