IMERITIA, or IMERETIA, a province of Russian Transcaucasia, forming part of the ancient Colchis; bounded N. by the main range of the Caucasus, E. by Georgia, W. by Mingrelia, and S. by Akhalzik. It is 90 miles in length from N. to S., by 75 in breadth. Area about 5000 square miles. The surface is generally uneven and rugged, being traversed by offshoots from the Caucasus, but the soil is of great fertility. The climate is very mild and favourable to the cultivation of the products of warm countries, being protected from the north winds by the lofty range of the Caucasus. In many parts the trees produce fruit twice a year. The loftier mountain slopes are covered with immense forests; lower down are extensive tracts of luxuriant pasture; while the valleys and plains produce abundant crops of wheat, barley, maize, tobacco, hemp, &c. The Rion and its tributaries are the only streams in the province. Game is abundant. There are no manufactures of importance. The chief exports are the productions of the coun-
try, including wine, silk, honey, wax, skins, wool, and fruits; chief imports—woollen, linen, and silk goods, iron and copper wares, jewellery, salt, and colonial produce. The slave trade, formerly considerable, has been abated by the Russians. Kootais, the capital, and only town in the province, is situated on the Rion, and contains about 3000 inhabitants.
In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Imeritia formed part of the kingdom of Georgia. It subsequently became independent and was governed by its own kings. Afterwards it was subdued by the Turks, who in 1770 were expelled by the Russians. It continued to be governed by its own kings till 1804, when one of them, in order to secure himself in the government against a rival, acknowledged the supremacy of Russia; and he and his successors were declared the lawful princes of Imeritia. Pop. about 100,000.