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.

• Hundreds of thousands displaced by violence
• High level of poverty in breakaway regions
• Source of tension between Russia and West

Both Abkhazia in the northwest and South Ossetia in the north threw off Georgian rule in the early 1990s.

Their moves to break away led to bloodshed as Tbilisi cracked down on the rebel regions. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced.

The two regions have since been running their own affairs with Russian support but are not recognised internationally.

The situation has proved a source of tension between Russia and 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.

More than 127,000 people fled their homes during fierce fighting, according to U.N. estimates, adding to the 223,000 people already displaced by conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the early 1990s.

Moscow, which also poured troops and armour into Abkhazia, formally announced that it recognised both regions' independence.

Estimated number of Georgian migrants abroad (before Aug. 2008)	1 million (Georgian State Department of Statistics, 2006)
Estimated number of internally displaced people (before Aug. 2008)	220,000 to 247,000 (Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, Oct. 2007)
Landmine casualties in 2006	31 (Landmine Monitor Report 2007)