Samegrelo was ruled by the Dadiani princes until the 19th century, while Upper Svaneti, high in the Caucasus, was so isolated that it kept its own language and medieval defensive towers. The region borders occupied Abkhazia along the Enguri River, and many Georgians who fled Abkhazia in 1993 settled here.
What makes it different
Lowlands near the Black Sea and Svaneti's UNESCO-listed tower villages.