Abkhasia, Or Abchasia, the country of the Abkhasians, a warlike tribe between the Black sea and the Caucasus, which has been conquered by the Russians. It is bounded N. and N. E. by the land of the Circassians, E. by Suanethi, S. E. by Mingrelia, and S. and W. by the Black sea. Its area, vaguely limited, is about 10,000 sq. m. Under the Roman emperor Justinian the Abkhasians became Christians, but subsequently they adopted Mohammedanism, to which religion they still nominally belong, though their religion in fact consists of a barbarous mixture of Christian, Moslem, and heathen notions and usages. The country was formerly divided into ten communities, the most important of which were Ab-khasia proper (with 80,000 inhabitants), the Tziebelda (8,000), Samurzakan (9,800), and the country of the Jigets or Zadzes (10,000). Ab-khasia proper has again had since 1771 an hereditary dynasty of its own, that of the Sher-vashidze, which since 1824 has been under Russian sovereignty. The residence of the prince is at Soyuk-Su (pop. about 5,000). On the coast the Russians have fortified several places, the most important of which is Sukhum Kaleh, or Baglata (pop. S00), supposed to be the site of the ancient Dioscurias, where according to Pliny 300 different tribes used to trade.

About 15,000 Abkhasians have of late emigrated from Russia to Turkey.