ABSTRACT
D emography has many aspects . With regard to the Abkhaz, their famed longevity comes immediately to mind. However, it is difficult to prove just how old one is when, at the supposed time of one's birth, registration was the exception rather than the norm. It has been noted that in the Ganuary 1 5th) 1 970 All-Union Census the number of people in some higher age cohorts was actually larger than had been the size of corresponding (eleven year younger) cohorts in the Ganuary 1 5th) 1 959 Census. Unless we assume a pensioner-invasion of the USSR in between, this must caution us to realize that some people may have a tendency in old age to advance more rapidly in years than the rest of us ! 1
However, we shall not deal with this interesting matter here, nor with any other of the more classical topics of demography. What we shall restrict ourselves to here is what is in Russian so aptly termed ethno-demography (etnodemografija) . This issue is controversial . Generally, Georgian and pro-Georgian writers try to prove the largest possible per centage of 'Georgians' (strictly Kartvelians) in the territory that today is Abkhazia throughout history, whereas Abkhaz and pro Abkhaz writers perform the process from an opposite point of view. We shall narrow our focus in the main to Abkhazia, treating the Abkhaz diaspora only in a cursory manner. Concentrating on the topic of Kartvelian versus Abkhaz dominance, we shall also allocate less space to the many other groups in Abkhazia's history than would be desirable if space were no problem.
