Area

in the latter sense, about 34,000 square miles; of Georgia proper, about 15,000 square miles. The natives are a fine looking race, the Georgian women, like the Circa ians, being celebrated for their beauty. The history of the Georgians first becomes trustworthy about the time of Alexander the Great, to whom they became ‘subject. About 324 B. Cc. they gained their independence under Pharnavas. They became Christian i zed toward the end of the. 4th century. After yielding for a time to the supremacy of the Arabian caliphs Georgia regained its independence toward the end of the 10th ecentury, which it retained till 1799, when Heraclius, succe or of George XI., formally ceded his dominions to the Ru ian emperor Paul.