Georgian Jews (Georgian: ქართველი ებრაელები, romanized: kartveli ebraelebi) are a community of Jews who migrated to Georgia during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BCE.[2] It is one of the oldest communities in that land.
Prior to Georgia's annexation by the Russian Empire in 1801, the 2,600-year history of the Georgian Jews was marked by an almost total absence of antisemitism and a visible assimilation in the Georgian language and culture.[3] The Georgian Jews were considered ethnically and culturally distinct from neighboring Mountain Jews.[4] They were also traditionally a highly separate group from the Ashkenazi Jews in Georgia, who arrived following the Russian annexation of Georgia.
As a result of a major emigration wave in the 1990s, the vast majority of Georgian Jews now live in Israel, with the world's largest community living in the city of Ashdod.
