The Georgians, or Kartvelians (/ k ʌ r t ˈ v ɛ l i ə n z /; Georgian: ქართველები, romanized: kartvelebi, pronounced [kʰɑrtʰvɛlɛbi]), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus.Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, Greece, Iran, Ukraine, the United States and European Union.

The 2006 deportation of Georgians from Russia refers to the deaths, unlawful arrests, expulsions and overall mistreatment of several thousand ethnic Georgians by the Russian government during the 2006 Georgian–Russian espionage controversy. The official Russian position was that Georgians in question violated the Russian immigration law and that their expulsion and …