April 1801 Most of what is known as present-day Georgia became part of the Russian Empire.
1918 The independent state of Georgia was declared.
1921 The Red Army invaded and Georgia was declared a Soviet Socialist Republic.
1922 As part of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Republic, Georgia became a founder member of the Soviet Union.
1936 Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Republic was dissolved and Georgia became a full republic of the Soviet Union.
1972 Eduard Shevardnadze was appointed head of the Georgian Communist Party.
April 1989 Soviet troops killed 19 pro-independence demonstrators in Tbilisi.
1989 Demands for more autonomy in the South Ossetia region lead to violent clashes between Georgians and Ossetians. Russian peacekeepers were then deployed to stop the violence.
1990 The Nationalist coalition won multi-party parliamentary elections, and the former dissident Zviad Gamsakhurdia became chairman of the parliament.
1990 to1991 Growing South Ossetian independence aspirations brought further violence between separatist and Georgian forces. Hundreds died and tens of thousands fled their homes.
1991 The Soviet Union collapsed
1991 The Georgian parliament declared secession from the Soviet Union after independence was overwhelmingly supported in a referendum. Gamsakhurdia was elected president by more than 85% of the votes cast.
January 1992 Gamsakhurdia was deposed after fighting in central Tbilisi, between government troops and opposition militias.
South Ossetians voted in favour of independence in an unrecognised referendum.
March 1992 Shevardnadze was appointed head of the newly formed State Council.
August 1992 Fighting broke out in Abkhazia between the Georgian government troops and separatist forces.
October 1992 Shevardnadze was directly elected chairman of the parliament.
September 1993 Georgian troops were driven out of Abkhazia by separatist forces.
October 1993 Insurrection by Gamsakhurdia supporters in western Georgia were suppressed after Georgia agreed to join the CIS and received help from Russian troops.
1994 The Georgian government and Abkhaz separatists signed a cease fire agreement, paving the way for the deployment of a Russian peacekeeping force in the region. A new constitution was adopted which provided for a strong executive presidency. A new currency the lari was introduced.
November 1995 Shevardnadze won election to the restored post of president.
1997 The death penalty was abolished.
April 2000 Shevardnadze was re-elected president.
March 2001 Georgia and the separatist region of Abkhazia signed an accord pledging not to use force against each other.
June/July 2001 Russia handed over the Vaziani military base to Georgia. While there was tension with Russia
October 2001 There were clashes in Abkhazia between Abkhaz troops and Georgian paramilitaries backed by fighters from the North Caucasus. The tension was heightened as Russia accused Georgia of harbouring Chechen rebels, a charge that was dismissed by Georgia.
November 2001 Raids by security forces on privately-owned Rustavi-2 TV station, known for its criticism of Mr Shevardnadze and corruption, sparked protests. Mr Shevardnadze responded by sacking cabinet.
April/May 2002 US special forces arrive to train and equip Georgian forces for counter terrorist operations.
September 2002 The Russian President Putin, was warned of military action if Georgia failed to deal with Chechen militants which, Moscow said, Georgia was harbouring in Pankisi Gorge.
October 2002 A row with Russia was defused after Georgia promised to mount antiterrorism operation against the Chechen rebels on its territory. Several suspected guerrillas were killed, or detained and extradited to Russia.
May 2003 Work began on laying the Georgian section of an oil pipeline to run from Baku in Azerbaijan through Georgia to Ceyhan in Turkey.
November 2003 Shevardnadze was toppled in a bloodless "Rose Revolution" triggered by opposition allegations of irregularities in parliamentary elections.
January 2004 Mikhail Saakashvili won presidential elections.
March 2004 Amid rising tension with the leadership of the autonomous region of Ajaria, Tbilisi briefly imposed sanctions and closed the border. Mr Saakashvili's National Movement-Democratic Front won an overwhelming majority of seats in parliament in a re-run of parliamentary elections.
May 2004 Leader of the semi-autonomous Ajaria region, Aslan Abashidze, resigned and left Georgia after President Saakashvili ordered him to comply with the Georgian constitution and disarm his forces.
May 2004 South Ossetia held parliamentary elections, which were not recognised by Tbilisi.
June 2004 Georgia's decision to beef up its anti-smuggling operation in South Ossetia prompted a sharp response from the local leadership and is criticised by Russia.
August 2004 Several deaths were reported in clashes between Georgian and South Ossetian forces.
October 2004 Sergei Bagapsh was declared winner of Abkhaz presidential elections, which were not recognised by Tbilisi. Abkhaz court ordered rerun after protestes by opposition supporters.
January 2005 Sergei Bagapsh won rerun of Abkhaz presidential elections after doing a deal with his main rival, Raul Khadzhimba, who became his vice president. President Saakashvili unveiled proposals on autonomy within Georgia for South Ossetia, whose leadership rejected them, repeating demands for full independence.
February 2005 Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was found dead in a Tbilisi flat, from gas poisoning. Zurab Noghaideli, who was the finance minister, became premier.
May 2005 Large crowds in Tbilisi greeted President George W Bush, the first US leader to visit Georgia, who proclaimed the country a "beacon of liberty".
July 2005 Russia started to withdraw its troops from two Soviet-era bases under the terms of a deal reached back in May. The pull-out was due to be completed by late 2008.
January 2006 Explosions on the Russian side of border cut gas supplies and disrupt electricity supplies from Russia. Russia said it suspected the North Caucasus insurgents, but President Saakashvili accused Moscow of sabotage. Georgia received gas from Iran via a recently-repaired pipeline running through Azerbaijan.
March 2006 Tbilisi protested at Russian decision to suspend imports of Georgian wine on health grounds, saying the move was politically motivated.
May 2006 Russia announced a ban on imports of Georgian mineral water on health grounds. Tbilisi protested that the action was politically motivated.
May-June 2006 Tension with Russia rose again as Georgia demanded that Russian peacekeepers arriving on rotation in South Ossetia have visas.
July 2006 The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline was formally opened after Caspian oil starts flowing along it. Georgia announced plans to establish Abkhazia government-in-exile in gorge.
September 2006 An agreement was reached on holding talks with NATO on closer relations.
September-October 2006 Russian army officers were detained on spying charges. While Russia imposed sanctions, cuts transport links and expelled hundreds of Georgians.
November 2006 South Ossetians voted in favour of independence in an unrecognised referendum.
September 2007 Former defence minister Irakli Okruashvili accused Mr Saakashvili of corruption and of plotting a murder, sparking a new wave of protests.
November 2007 A State of emergency was declared. Riot police battled protesters demanding the president's resignation.
Russia said it had already withdrawn all its troops based in Georgia, since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, but retained a presence in the breakaway provinces.
December 2007 The Human Rights Watch criticised the government for using "excessive" force against protesters in November. The International Crisis Group warned of growing authoritarianism.
January 2008 Saakashvili was re-elected in a snap election.
March 2008 The separatist government in Abkhazia asked the United Nations to recognise its independence.
April 2008 A NATO summit in Bucharest deferred a decision on Georgia's application to join a Membership Program until December.
April 2008 Russia declared it would step up ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which prompted Georgia to accuse Moscow of planning the republics' "de facto annexation".
May 2008 The ruling party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary election. While the opposition reported that the election was rigged and threatened to boycott the new parliament. Russia sent 300 unarmed troops to Abkhazia, saying they were needed for railway repairs. Georgia accuses Russia of planning a military intervention.
June 2008 Abkhazia cut all contact with the Georgian government, accusing it of being behind a recent series of blasts in the breakaway republic. Georgia denied having any role.
August 2008 Tension between Georgia and Russia escalated into a full-blown military conflict after Georgia tried to retake South Ossetia by force after a series of lower-level clashes with the Russian-backed rebels. Russia launched a counter-attack, ejecting the Georgian troops from both South Ossetia and Abkhazia. After more than a week of hostilities, the two sides signed a French-brokered peace agreement, but Russia subsequently recognised the two breakaway regions as independent states. A move that drew protests from Georgia and the West. Russia announced it would keep a military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
October 2008 Nino Burjanadze, a former ally of President Saakashvili, announced a new opposition group the Democratic Movement-United Georgia and called for early elections. Mr Saakashvili dismissed PM Gurgenidze the same day.
November 2008 Grigol Mgaloblishvili became prime minister.
January 2009 PM Mgaloblishvili stepped down on health grounds.
February 2009 Nika Gilauri became the prime minister.
April 2009 The opposition launched the "national disobedience campaign" in an effort to persuade President Saakashvili to resign.
May 2009 The Georgian authorities quelled a mutiny by a tank battalion at the Mukhrovani army base, describing it as part of a Russia-linked coup against President Saakashvili. However, Russia denied any involvement. A NATO military exercise began in Georgia amid condemnation from Russia. More than 50,000 opposition supporters gathered at a Tbilisi stadium on independence day to demand President Saakashvili's resignation.
July 2009 UN observers left Georgia after 16 years of monitoring the Abkhazia cease-fire line. The UN Security Council failed to extend the mission because of a Russian veto. Visiting Vice-President Biden told the Georgian parliament that the US fully backed the country's hopes of joining NATO.
September 2009 The EU reported on the 2008 conflict with Russia placing a large part of the blame on Georgia.
January 2010 Russia and Georgia reopened air traffic control with the first direct passenger flight between the two countries since the war in 2008.
March 2010 Russia and Georgia reopened the only crossing that does not go through the Russian-backed breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which had been closed since July 2006.
July 2010 The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited as part of a tour of the southern Caucasus. She assured Georgia of the US support for its territorial integrity.
August 2010 Russia deployed surface-to-air missiles in Abkhazia, which prompted concern from Tbilisi.
October 2010 The Parliament approved constitutional changes aimed at curbing the powers of the president and expanding the role of the prime minister and parliament.
December 2010 The Police arrested six Georgians suspected of staging bomb attacks. Prosecutors said the suspects were recruited by Russia to carry out the six attacks since September. One person died in a blast in Tbilisi in November.
2011 Georgia launched a Russian-language TV channel aimed at conveying its view of events to Russian audiences.
Source
news.bbc.co.uk
newsinfo.inquirer.net
