View source for Poti

{{for|the American ice hockey player|Tom Poti}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| official_name      = Poti
| native_name        = ფოთი
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
  | border        = infobox
  | perrow        = 1/2/1
  | total_width   = 290 
  | align         = center
  | caption_align = center
  | image1        = Cathedral in Poti.jpg 
  | caption1      = [[Poti Cathedral]]
  | image2        = POTI.JPG
  | caption2      = [[Poti Sea Port]]
  | image3        = Poti tower2.jpg
  | caption3      = [[Niko Nikoladze]] Tower
  | image4        = Poti – Aerial.jpg
  | caption4      = Aerial view of Poti 
  }}
| image_flag         = Flag of Poti.svg
| image_seal         = Poti COA.jpg
| pushpin_map        = Georgia#Georgia Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
| pushpin_mapsize    = 280
| pushpin_label_position = left
| pushpin_map_caption = Location of Poti in Georgia
| subdivision_type   = [[Countries of the world|Country]]
| subdivision_name   = {{GEO}}
| subdivision_type1  = [[Mkhare]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti]]
| government_footnotes = 
| government_type    = [[Mayor–council government|Mayor–Council]]
| governing_body     = [[Poti City Assembly]]
| leader_title       = Mayor
| leader_name        = Beka Vacharadze ([[Georgian Dream|GD]])
| established_title  = Established
| established_date   = 7th century BC
| area_total_km2     = 65.8
| area_land_km2      = 
| area_water_km2     = 
| population_as_of   = January 1, 2024
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://geostat.ge/media/61960/1-3-population-by-cities-and-boroughs.xlsx |title=Population by regions |publisher=National Statistics Office of Georgia |access-date=28 April 2024 }}</ref>
| population_total   = 41170
| population_metro   = 
| population_density_km2 = auto
| timezone           = Georgian Time
| utc_offset         = +4
| timezone_DST       = <!-- No DST in Georgia since 2005 -->
| utc_offset_DST     = 
| coordinates        = {{coord|42|09|0|N|41|40|0|E|region:GE|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_m        = 0
| postal_code_type   = Postal code
| postal_code        = 4400-4499
| website            = {{URL|https://poti.gov.ge}}
| footnotes          = 
}}

'''Poti''' ({{lang-ka|ფოთი}} {{IPA|ka|pʰo̞t̪ʰi||}}; [[Mingrelian language|Mingrelian]]: ფუთი, ''puti''; [[Laz language|Laz]]: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is a [[port city]] in [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], located on the eastern [[Black Sea]] coast in the [[mkhare|region]] of [[Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti]] in the west of the country. Built near the site of the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] colony of [[Phasis (town)|Phasis]] and deriving its name from the same, the city has become a major port city and industrial center since the early 20th century. It is also home to a main naval base and the headquarters of the [[Georgian Navy]].

==Etymology==
The name Poti is linked to Phasis, but the etymology is a matter of a scholarly dispute. "Phasis" ({{Langx|el|Φάσις}}) is first recorded in [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'' (c. 700 BC) as a name of the [[Phasis (river)|river]], not a town. Since [[Erich Diehl]], 1938, first suggested a non-Hellenic origin of the name and asserted that Phasis might have been a derivative of a local [[hydronym]], several explanations have been proposed, linking the name to the [[Proto-Georgian-Zan language|Proto-Georgian-Zan]] ''*Poti'', [[Svan language|Svan]] ''*Pasid'', and even to a [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] word, meaning "a gold river".<ref>Lordkipanidze (2000), pp. 11–12.</ref>

== History ==
===Ancient and medieval history===
The recorded history of Poti and its environments spans over 26 centuries. In [[Classical antiquity]] and the [[early Middle Ages]], the area was occupied by the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] [[polis]] of [[Phasis (town)|Phasis]] which was established by the colonists from [[Miletus]] led by one Themistagoras at the very end of the 7th, and probably at the beginning of the 6th century BC. The famed Greek semi-mythological voyage of [[Jason]] and the [[Argonauts]] in search of the Golden Fleece would have entered Georgia at this port and traveled up the river to what is today [[Kutaisi]].

After many years of uncertainty and academic debate, the site of this settlement now seems to be established, thanks to underwater archaeology under tough conditions. Apparently, the lake which the well-informed Ancient Greek author [[Strabo]] reported as bounding one side of Phasis has now engulfed it, or part of it. Yet, a series of questions regarding the town’s exact location and identification of its ruins remain open due largely to the centuries-long geomorphological processes of the area as the lower reaches of the Rioni are prone to changes of course across the wetland. Phasis appears to have been an important center of trade and culture in [[Colchis]] throughout the Classical period.<ref>Lordkipanidze (2000), p. 50.</ref><ref>Richard J. A. Talbert et al. (2000), p. 1227.</ref> The section along the river Phasis was a vital component of the presumed trade route from India to the Black Sea, attested by Strabo and [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]].<ref>Lordkipanidze (2000), p. 31.</ref>

Between the 6th and 2nd centuries BC, the town played an active role in these contacts. During the [[Third Mithridatic War]], Phasis came under [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] control. It was where the Roman commander-in-chief [[Pompey]], having crossed into Colchis from [[Kingdom of Iberia (antiquity)|Iberia]], met the [[legatus|legate]] Servilius, the admiral of his Euxine fleet in 65 BC.<ref>John Leach (1986), ''Pompey the Great'', p. 84. [[Routledge]], {{ISBN|0-7099-4127-7}}.</ref> After the introduction of [[Christianity]], Phasis was a seat of a Greek diocese, one of whose bishops, Cyrus, became a [[Patriarch of Alexandria]] between 630 and 641 AD. During the [[Lazic War]] between the [[Eastern Roman Empire|Eastern Roman]] and [[Sassanid dynasty|Sassanid Iranian]] empires (542-562), Phasis was attacked, unsuccessfully, by Iranian soldiers.

In the 8th century, the name Poti entered Georgian written sources. It remained a place of maritime trade within the [[Kingdom of Georgia]] and was known to medieval European travelers as Fasso.<ref>[[W.E.D. Allen]] (Aug. 1929), The March-Lands of Georgia. ''The Geographical Journal'', Vol. 74, No. 2, p. 135.</ref> In the 14th century, the [[Republic of Genoa|Genoese]] established a trading factory, which proved to be short-lived.

=== Modern history ===
[[File:Kılıç Ali Pasha's conquest of Faş Castle and repair of the castle (1578-1579). TSKM B.200-89a (1582–1588).jpg|thumb|left|[[Occhiali|Ali Pasha]]'s conquest of the Poti Castle and repair of the castle in 1578-1579. ''[[:Commons:Category:Şahanşahname|Şahanşahname]]'' (TSKM B.200, 1582–1588)]]
In 1578, Poti was conquered by the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The Turks, who knew the town as Faş, heavily fortified it and made it into one of their Caucasian outposts which were also home to a great slave market.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bumann |first1=Ninja |last2=Jobst |first2=Kerstin S. |last3=Rohdewald |first3=Stefan |last4=Troebst |first4=Stefan |title=Handbook on the History and Culture of the Black Sea Region |date=30 December 2024 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-11-072317-5 |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fww4EQAAQBAJ&pg=PA115 |language=en}}</ref> A combined army of the western Georgian princes recovered Poti in 1640, but the town fell under the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] sway again in 1723. Another futile attempt to dispossess the Ottomans of Poti was made by [[Imperial Russia|Russo]]-Georgian forces in 1770 and 1771. Once Russia took control of most of the principal Georgian lands in the 1800s, it again attempted to evict the Turkish garrison from Poti and succeeded in doing so with the help of Georgian auxiliaries under the command of [[Nino, Princess of Mingrelia]] in 1809, but was coerced to return the fortress to the Ottomans in the [[Treaty of Bucharest (1812)]]. The next [[Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829)|Russo-Turkish War]] resulted in the capture of Poti by [[Russian Empire|Russia]] in 1828. (See [[Russian conquest of the Caucasus#Black Sea Coast]].) The town was subordinated to the [[Kutais Governorate|Governorate of Kutais]] and granted the status of a [[port town]] in 1858. The seaport was reconstructed between 1863 and 1905. In 1872, the town became the terminus of the [[Transcaucasus Railway]], whence the line led directly to [[Tiflis]] (Tbilisi).

Poti particularly grew in size and importance during the mayorship of [[Niko Nikoladze]] between 1894 and 1912. Considered to be the founding father of modern Poti, Nikoladze presided over a series of modernizing and construction projects, including a theater, a [[Poti Cathedral|large cathedral]], two gymnasia, a power station, an oil refinery, etc. By 1900, Poti had become one of the major ports on the Black Sea, exporting most of Georgia’s manganese and coal.<ref>Jones (2005), p. 88.</ref> During the [[Russian Revolution of 1905|First Russian Revolution]], Poti became a scene of workers' strikes and barricade fighting in December 1905.<ref>Jones (2005), pp. 192–3.</ref> At the beginning of [[World War I]], on November 7, 1914, the Ottoman [[SMS Breslau|SMS ''Breslau'']] appeared off the port of Poti and subjected the railway yards there to a bombardment that lasted three-quarters of an hour, without any direct results.<ref>[[W.E.D. Allen|Allen, W.E.D.]] & Muratoff, P. (1953), ''Caucasian Battlefields: A History of The Wars on The Turco- Caucasian Border 1828–1921'', p. 248. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.</ref>

During a brief period of independence in 1918–1921, Poti was Georgia’s principal window to Europe, also serving as the portal of entry for successive German and British expeditionary forces. On May 28, 1918, a German-Georgian preliminary [[Treaty of Poti|treaty of alliance]] was signed at Poti. On March 14, 1921, Poti was occupied by the [[Red Army invasion of Georgia|invading Red Armies]] of [[Russian SFSR|Soviet Russia]] which installed a Soviet government in Georgia. During the Soviet era, Poti retained its principal function as a seaport and the town was further industrialized and militarized.

[[File:Mingrelien. Der Phasis. (Russie).jpg|thumb|280px|[[Phasis (river)|Phasis]] river, 19th century]]
[[File:Small chapel in Poti, Georgia.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Chapel near the port of Poti]]
During the [[Russo-Georgian War|2008 war with Russia]], Russian warplanes attacked the port.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fairplay.co.uk/login.aspx?articlename=dn0020080811000000 |title=Russian Blockading Georgia's Poti |access-date=11 August 2008 |archive-date=1 August 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120801020620/http://www.fairplay.co.uk/login.aspx?articlename=dn0020080811000000 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Although a ceasefire was declared on August 12, the Russian troops continued to [[Occupation of Poti|occupy the environs of the city]] until being withdrawn the next month.<ref>[http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2008/08/2008813153517926662.html Russian forces sink Georgian ships].</ref>

==Politics==
{{Main|Poti City Assembly}}
'''Poti City Assembly''' ([[Georgian language|Georgian]]: ფოთის საკრებულო) is the representative body in Poti City, consisting of 35 members, which is elected every four years. The last election was held in [[2021 Georgian local elections|October 2021]]. Beka Vacharadze of [[Georgian Dream]] was elected mayor through the 2nd round against a candidate of the [[United National Movement (Georgia)|United National Movement]].
{| class="wikitable"
! style="background:#ccc" colspan="2" | Party
! style="background:#ccc"  | 2017<ref name="gevote17">{{Cite web | url=https://cesko.ge/res/docs/danOK47.pdf | pages=91–93 | title=Protocol elected municipal council members and mayors 2017 | access-date=2021-01-06 | publisher=CESKO Central Election Commission | language=ka }}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
! style="background:#ccc"  | 2021<ref name="gevote21">{{Cite web | url=https://cesko.ge/static/res/docs/2021sakrebuloswevraddameradarcheulipirebi.pdf | pages=112–114 | title=Protocol elected municipal council members and mayors 2021 | access-date=2021-01-06 | publisher=CESKO Central Election Commission | language=ka }}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
! style="background:#ccc" colspan="45" | Current Municipal Assembly
|-
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| [[Georgian Dream]] 
| style="text-align: right" | '''15'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''20'''
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #2044bc | &nbsp;
|-
| style="background-color: #e4012e | &nbsp;
| [[United National Movement (Georgia)|United National Movement]]
| style="text-align: right" | '''2'''
| style="text-align: right" | '''11'''
| style="background-color: #e4012e | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #e4012e | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #e4012e | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #e4012e | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #e4012e | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #e4012e | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #e4012e | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #e4012e | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #e4012e | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #e4012e | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #e4012e | &nbsp;
| || || || ||  || ||  || ||
|-
| style="background-color: #702F92 | &nbsp;
| [[For Georgia]]
| 
| style="text-align: right" | '''4'''
| style="background-color: #702f92 | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #702f92 | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #702f92 | &nbsp;
| style="background-color: #702f92 | &nbsp;
| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| style="background-color: #0e606b" | &nbsp;
| [[Georgian Roots]]
| style="text-align: right" | '''3'''{{efn|Tornike Shonia, Khvicha Tskhvitaria and Zurab Chachua - left [[Georgian Dream|GD]] and joined [[Georgian Roots]].<ref>{{Cite web |first= |date=2020-06-12 |title=ფოთის საკრებულოს ფრაქცია ქართული ოცნება სამმა წევრმა დატოვა |url=https://formulanews.ge/News/31006 |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=Formula |language=ka}}</ref>}}
| 
| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| style="background-color: #003876" | &nbsp;
| [[Movement for Liberty - European Georgia|European Georgia]]
| style="text-align: right" | '''1'''
| 
| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| style="background-color: #8f188f" | &nbsp;
| [[Development Movement]] 
| style="text-align: right" | '''1'''
|
| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| style="background-color: #e7b031" | &nbsp;
| [[Alliance of Patriots of Georgia|Alliance of Patriots]]
| style="text-align: right" | '''1'''
|
| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| style="background-color: #004a99" | &nbsp;
| [[Democratic Movement – United Georgia|Democratic Movement]]
| style="text-align: right" | '''1'''
| 
| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
| style="background-color: #16166b | &nbsp;
| [[Georgian Labour Party|Labour Party]] 
| style="text-align: right" | '''1'''
|
| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ||
|-
! colspan=2 | Total 
! align=right | 25 
! align=right | 35 
! colspan=45 | &nbsp;
|}
== Geography and climate ==
Poti is situated {{convert|312|km|mi|0}} west of Georgia’s capital, [[Tbilisi]], in a marshy delta created by the major river of western Georgia, the [[Rioni River|Rioni]], at its entrance into the Black Sea. The city lies at an altitude of {{convert|2|m|0|abbr=off}} [[Above mean sea level|above sea level]]. A portion of Poti's environs recovered from the marshes now accommodate citrus plantation. The city is surrounded by the [[Kolkheti National Park]]. It is flanked by the small river Kaparchina to the south-east and [[Lake Paliastomi]] to the south-west. Some {{convert|5|km|mi|0|abbr=off}} to the south is the village [[Maltaqva]], a local beach resort. 

The city's climate is [[humid subtropical]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]]:''Cfa'', [[Trewartha climate classification|Trewartha]]:''Cf'') with cool winters and hot summers. Average annual precipitation is {{convert|2068|mm|0|abbr=on}}, with the highest recorded value of daily precipitation being {{convert|191.4|mm|0|abbr=on}} on 23 June 2008. Only in 2.6 days per year snow cover is observed.<ref name="NCEI"/>

Highest recorded temperature: {{convert|45.2|°C|0}} on 30 July 2000<ref name="NCEI">{{cite web |title=World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020: Poti-37379 |url=https://www.nodc.noaa.gov/archive/arc0216/0253808/2.2/data/0-data/Region-6-WMO-Normals-9120/Georgia/CSV/Poti_37379.csv |website=ncei.noaa.gov |publisher=[[NOAA]] |access-date=18 March 2024 |format=CSV}}</ref>

{{Weather box
|location = Poti (1991–2020, extremes 1981-2020)
|metric first = y
|single line = y
|Jan record high C = 21.4
|Feb record high C = 25.0
|Mar record high C = 28.7
|Apr record high C = 34.4
|May record high C = 39.9
|Jun record high C = 36.5
|Jul record high C = 45.2
|Aug record high C = 38.0
|Sep record high C = 38.3
|Oct record high C = 33.6
|Nov record high C = 27.3
|Dec record high C = 24.5
|year record high C = 45.2
|Jan high C = 10.8
|Feb high C = 11.9
|Mar high C = 14.7
|Apr high C = 19.1
|May high C = 22.5
|Jun high C = 26.3
|Jul high C = 28.5
|Aug high C = 29.1
|Sep high C = 26.3
|Oct high C = 22.3
|Nov high C = 16.8
|Dec high C = 12.8
|year high C = 
|Jan low C = 3.9
|Feb low C = 4.0
|Mar low C = 6.2
|Apr low C = 9.1
|May low C = 13.6
|Jun low C = 18.0
|Jul low C = 20.8
|Aug low C = 21.1
|Sep low C = 17.2
|Oct low C = 13.2
|Nov low C = 8.2
|Dec low C = 5.4
|year low C = 
|Jan record low C = -6.2
|Feb record low C = -10.0
|Mar record low C = -6.8
|Apr record low C = -1.0
|May record low C = 3.5
|Jun record low C = 9.0
|Jul record low C = 13.4
|Aug record low C = 12.2
|Sep record low C = 7.5
|Oct record low C = 0.0
|Nov record low C = -1.3
|Dec record low C = -4.7
|year record low C = -10.0

|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 154.6
|Feb precipitation mm = 122.1
|Mar precipitation mm = 128.2
|Apr precipitation mm = 84.9
|May precipitation mm = 95.1
|Jun precipitation mm = 161.5
|Jul precipitation mm = 227.3
|Aug precipitation mm = 256.7
|Sep precipitation mm = 270.2
|Oct precipitation mm = 232.1
|Nov precipitation mm = 173.5
|Dec precipitation mm = 162.1
|year precipitation mm = 
| unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
| Jan precipitation days  =14
| Feb precipitation days  =12
| Mar precipitation days  =12.8
| Apr precipitation days  =9.4
| May precipitation days  =8.6
| Jun precipitation days  =8.6
| Jul precipitation days  =10
| Aug precipitation days  =10.5
| Sep precipitation days  =10.7
| Oct precipitation days  =11
| Nov precipitation days  =11
| Dec precipitation days  =13.4
| year precipitation days =

|source 1 = [[NCEI]]<ref name="NCEI"/><ref>
{{cite web
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211009215740/https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1981-2010/RA-VI/Georgia/WMO_Normals_Georgia.xls |format = XLS | archive-date = 9 October 2021 | url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/pub/data/normals/WMO/1981-2010/RA-VI/Georgia/WMO_Normals_Georgia.xls | title = World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1981–2010 |page = 8| publisher = National Centers for Environmental Information| access-date = 9 October 2021}}</ref>
}}


== Economy ==
[[File:Poti-Tbilisi-Baku Railway Map.svg|thumb|Baku-Tbilisi-Poti railway]]
The service and food industries represent the most important sectors of the economy. The [[Poti Sea Port]] (7.7&nbsp;million tons per annum) is operational. The railway to Tbilisi makes this a more useful port than the natural harbor at [[Batumi]].<ref>Library of Congress Country Study on [http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/getoc.html Georgia]; chapter on "Transportation and Telecommunications".</ref>

In April 2008, Georgia sold a 51% stake of the Poti port to the Investment Authority of the [[UAE]]’s [[Ras Al Khaimah]] (RAK) emirate to develop a free industrial zone (FIZ) in a 49-year management concession, and to manage a new port terminal. The creation of a new FEZ was officially inaugurated by the [[President of Georgia]] [[Mikheil Saakashvili]] on April 15, 2008.<ref>Christina Tashkevich (April 16, 2008). [http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/1588_april_16_2008/1588_poti.html President inaugurates Poti port project]. ''The Messenger Online''. Accessed on April 19, 2008.</ref>

As of November 2009, there were plans for a [[Kerch]]–Poti ferry route.<ref>[http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/53185/ Yushchenko says Ukraine to try quickly implement Kerch-Poti ferry route project], [[Kyiv Post]] (November 19, 2009)</ref>

==Sport==
The town's main [[association football |football]] team is [[FC Kolkheti-1913 Poti|Kolkheti 1913 Poti]] who play at the multi-use [[Fazisi Stadium]].

== Fiber optic network ==
A long haul [[submarine communications cable]] - [[Bulgaria–Georgia communications cable]] - stretching from [[Varna, Bulgaria|Varna]], [[Bulgaria]] across the Black Sea to Poti Georgia was laid during the month of July 2008 onboard the American cable ship CS ''Tyco Decisive'', just a couple of weeks prior to the Russo-Georgian War.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tycotelecom.com/company/view.asp?id=298&type=Press |title=SubCom - Company |access-date=2015-01-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407065918/http://www.tycotelecom.com/company/view.asp?id=298&type=Press |archive-date=2014-04-07 }}</ref> This cable system will be Georgia's first privately owned fiber-optic system for the citizens of Georgia. Instead of paying high prices for internet/TV/phone usage through Turkey, Georgians will now be able to pay much less for their own private high-speed fiber optic cable internet cable system usage.

== Military ==
[[File:Poti cable installation.JPG|thumb|The fiber optic cable network being deployed 7/28/08]]
[[File:POTI.JPG|right|thumb|The [[Port of Poti]], Georgia, in July 2008.]]

The Poti naval base was organized by the Soviet government in July 1941, a month after the [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[Operation Barbarossa|invasion]] during [[World War II]]. Commanded by Major-General Mikhail Kumanin, the base operated as a part of the [[Black Sea Fleet]] and included two [[submarine]] divisions, a [[torpedo boat]] division, coastal guard boat division, two [[minesweeper (ship)|minesweepers]], four coastal and six missile batteries, etc. After the German capture of [[Siege of Sevastopol (1941-1942)|Sevastopol]] and [[Novorossiysk]] in 1942, several [[destroyer]]s were transferred to be based at Poti which, together with another Georgian port city, [[Batumi]], functioned as a secondary harbor in the [[Black Sea Campaigns (1941–44)]]. By the early 1990s, the Poti base had accommodated several smaller units of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, but became essentially defunct after the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]]. In December 1992, Russia withdrew all its vessels and ammunition from the Poti naval base, but an ethnic Georgian commander of one landing ship refused to obey Moscow’s order and displayed a Georgian flag. At almost the same time, the Georgian government created a Joint Naval Brigade, consisting of several boats, a battalion of marines, an artillery division, and a communication detachment. Since then, the Brigade has been enlarged and reequipped with the help of the [[NATO]]-member states.<ref>"Droni" No. 65, June 11–13, p. 5, cited in: David Darchiashvili et al. (ed., June 1998), [http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_06_98.pdf The Army and Society in Georgia.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813025444/http://www.cpirs.org.ge/Archive/AS_06_98.pdf |date=2008-08-13 }} ''Caucasian Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development''. Accessed on April 20, 2008.</ref>

On October 9, 1993, a [[Georgian Civil War|war-torn]] Georgia had to legalize the Russian military presence in the country, and lease, among other military facilities, the Poti base to the Russian navy. However, Georgia continued, though fruitlessly, to claim the vessels formerly stationed at Poti as a part of a tripartite [[Black Sea Fleet dispute|Russo-Ukrainian-Georgian dispute]] over the Soviet Black Sea Fleet shares.<ref>[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]'s [http://www.friends-partners.org/friends/news/omri/1997/05/970530I.html(opt,mozilla,unix,english,,new) Newsline] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724063334/http://www.friends-partners.org/friends/news/omri/1997/05/970530I.html(opt,mozilla,unix,english,,new) |date=2008-07-24 }}. Vol. 1, No. 42, Part I, 30 May 1997.</ref> By September 1998, the Russian military personnel had been withdrawn from Poti to the Russian base at Batumi under a Russo-Georgian agreement signed earlier that year.<ref>[http://www.friends-partners.org/friends/news/omri/1998/09/980907I.html(opt,mozilla,unix,english,,new)  Georgian Border Guards pressure Russian counterparts to leave.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723213346/http://www.friends-partners.org/friends/news/omri/1998/09/980907I.html(opt,mozilla,unix,english,,new) |date=2008-07-23 }} ''[[RFE/RL]] NEWSLINE'' Vol. 2, No. 172 Part I, 7 (September 1998). Accessed on April 20, 2008.</ref>

Currently, Poti is a [[garrison|military facility]] assignment to several of Georgia’s units. These are the [[headquarters]] and main [[Military base|base]] of the [[Georgian navy]], a primary naval logistic support base, a station of a [[naval squadron]], and [[barracks]] for a separate [[light infantry]] [[battalion]] of the [[Georgian Armed Forces]].

== International relations ==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Georgia (country)}}

=== Twin towns—Sister cities ===
*{{flagicon|UKR}} [[Berdyansk]], Ukraine
*{{flagicon|UKR}} [[Chornomorsk]], Ukraine
*{{flagicon|ISR}} [[Kiryat Yam]], Israel
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[LaGrange, Georgia|LaGrange]], United States
*{{flagicon|CYP}} [[Larnaca]], Cyprus
*{{flagicon|GRC}} [[Nafplio]], Greece
*{{flagicon|SWE}} [[Östhammar Municipality|Östhammar]], Sweden
*{{flagicon|TUR}} [[Pazar, Rize|Pazar]], Turkey
*{{flagicon|UKR}}/{{flagicon|RUS}} [[Sevastopol]],<ref group="~">Disputed territory</ref> Ukraine/Russia
*{{flagicon|CHN}} [[Shanwei]], China
*{{flagicon|IRN}} [[Yazd]], Iran (1990)<ref name="Greek twinnings">{{cite web |url=http://www.kedke.gr/uploads/twinnedcities.pdf |title=Twinnings |access-date=2013-08-25 |work=Central Union of Municipalities & Communities of Greece |archive-date=2016-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115172503/http://www.kedke.gr/uploads/twinnedcities.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=35em}}
=== Notes ===
{{reflist|group=~}}

== Sources ==
* [[Otar Lordkipanidze]] (2000), ''Phasis: The River and City in Colchis''. Franz Steiner Verlag, {{ISBN|3-515-07070-2}}.
* [[Stephen F. Jones]] (2005), ''Socialism in Georgian Colors: The European Road to Social Democracy, 1883-1917''. [[Harvard University Press]], {{ISBN|0-674-01902-4}}.
* Richard J. A. Talbert ''et al.'' (ed., 2000), ''Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World''. [[Princeton University Press]], {{ISBN|0-691-04945-9}}.

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Poti, Georgia}}
{{EB1911 Poster|Poti}}
* [https://poti.gov.ge poti.gov.ge (Poti city Portal)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230625160131/https://poti.gov.ge/ |date=25 June 2023 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721030007/http://www.poticity.ge/ Poti city web site]
* [http://www.potiseaport.com Poti Sea Port Authority]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030315221147/http://www.teroagency.com/download/poti.pdf Chart of Poti port]
* [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7550804.stm @bbc] - The Georgian foreign ministry said the Black Sea port of Poti, which is the site of a major oil shipment facility, had been "devastated" by a Russian aerial bombardment.
* [http://www.earcticle.wordpress.com/2008/08/03/new-optic-fiber-cable-connected-to-europe/ New fiber optic cable connected to Europe]{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{Cities and towns in Georgia (country)}}
{{Districts of Georgia}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Poti| ]]
[[Category:Cities and towns in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti]]
[[Category:Self-governing cities in Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Greek colonies in Colchis]]
[[Category:Port cities and towns in Europe]]
[[Category:Port cities and towns of the Black Sea]]
[[Category:Georgian Black Sea coast]]
[[Category:Russian and Soviet Navy bases]]