According to the Soviet Union's 1989 census, the total population of Georgia was 5.3 million. The around population in 1993 was 5.6 million. Between 1979 and 1989, the population grew by 8.5 %, with growth rates of 16.7 % among the urban population and 0.3 % in rural areas. In 1993 the overall growth rate was 0.8 %. About 55.8 % of the population was classified as urban; Tbilisi, the capital and largest city, had more than 1.2 million inhabitants, or around 23 % of the national total. The capital's population grew by 18.1 % between 1979 and 1989, mainly because of migration from rural areas. Kutaisi, the second largest city, had a population of about 235,000.

The population of Georgia is 4,989,285 (2001 estimate), giving the nation an average population density of 72 persons per sq km. Some 60 % of the nation’s inhabitants live in cities. Population is concentrated mainly along the coast of the black Sea and in river valleys, particularly the valley of the Kura River, where Tbilisi, the capital and largest city, is located. The next largest city, K’ut’aisi, is located on the upper Rioni River. Other valuable urban centers include Bat’umi and Sokhumi, which are the capitals of Ajaria and Abkhazia, and Rustavi, located on the Kura downstream from Tbilisi.

The Georgian language is a member of the Kartvelian (South Caucasian) family of languages. It has its own alphabet, which is thought to have evolved about the 5th century AD, and there are many dialects. A number of other Caucasian languages are spoken by minority groups; many are unwritten.Many Georgians are members of the Georgian Orthodox church, an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. In addition, there are Muslim, Russian Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, and Jewish communities.