Abkhazia is a country on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea. The country has a complicated history and a disputed status. The Abkhaz people resisted incorporation into the Russian Empire, which did not subdue the region until the 1840s. Under the Soviet Union Abkhazia was recognized as an autonomous republic, initially under direct control from Moscow. In 1931 Stalin attached Abkhazia to the Soviet Republic of Georgia but again as an autonomous republic. At the time of the Soviet Union's collapse native Georgians and Abkhazians disagreed over how the country should be governed. After Georgia gained its independence in 1991 the Abkhazians revolted against Georgian rule. A bitter struggle in 1992-93 led to Abkhazia becoming a breakaway region controlled by Abkhazians and guarded by Russian troops. Additional fighting in 2008 brought more Russian troops into Abkhazia. The independence of Abkhazia is recognized only by Russia and a few other countries; Georgia and most United Nations members regard it as a Russian-occupied territory. Please note that the Lighthouse Directory takes no position and has no comment on this or any international territorial dispute. Our only task is to describe lighthouses. Since reunion of Abkhazia with Georgia does not seem likely in the near future the Directory lists the lighthouses of Abkhazia on this separate page. The capital Sukhumi is also Abkhazia's major port. Presumably aids to navigation in Abkhazia are to be maintained by the port authority of Sukhumi but it is not clear which of them, if any, are active. Special thanks to Radek Literski, who toured the Abkhazian coast in 2014 searching for the listed lights. His online report is an invaluable guide. The Abkhaz language is written in a modified Cyrillic alphabet. The Abkhaz word for a lighthouse is caymzarkyra (цәымзаркыра). ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume N of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 113. Note: since Abkhazia's independence is not recognized, the international light lists continue to list Abkhazian lighthouses under Georgia.
|
|
|
|
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: East: Georgia | West: Russia Eastern Black Sea
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index | Ratings key
Posted May 2, 2008. Checked and revised August 23, 2023. Lighthouses: 12. Site copyright 2023 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.