April 1991 — Georgia declares its independence from the Soviet Union.
May 1991 — Former dissident Zviad Gamsakhurdia is elected president.
January 1992 — Gamsakhurdia is deposed after government troops and opposition militias clash in the capital of Tbilisi. Former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze is appointed to lead the newly-formed State Council in March.
July 1992 — Georgia is admitted to the United Nations.
1993 — Conflicts between Georgia and two separatist regions — South Ossetia and — Abkhaziafinally die down after two years of bitter fighting. Residents of the pro-Russia regions are still pushing for secession, and tensions remain between the regional governments and the Georgian national government.
August 1995 — A new constitution, which establishes a strong executive presidency and a unicameral parliament, is adopted.
November 1995 — Shevardnadze is elected president.
November 1997 — Georgia abolishes the death penalty.
January 1999 — Georgia signs the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption.
April 1999 — Georgia becomes a member of the Council of Europe, an intergovernmental organization dedicated to the protection of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Ratification of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms follows in May.
October 1999 — The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) condemns the presidential elections and national referendum on the constitution in the separatist Abkhazia province as illegitimate. The following March, the OSCE criticizes local elections in Abkhazia for violating international standards of democratic voting due to the lack of participation of those who had been forcibly expelled from the region during the previous seven years.
April 2000 — Shevardnadze is re-elected president.
May 2000 — Prominent broadcast journalist Akaki Gogichaishvili, who often reports on government corruption, accuses various officials and businessmen, including members of President Shevardnadze's family, of threatening to kill him.
November 2001 — A government raid on the privately-owned Rustavi-2 TV station, a frequent critic of President Shevardnadze, sparks demonstrations in Tbilisi. Shevardnadze responds by sacking his entire cabinet. The previous July, popular Rustavi-2 presenter Georgiy Sanaya was found murdered at his home.
October 2002 — Police in the west Georgian town of Zugdidi attack a television station, beating the employees and destroying equipment. They later physically attack and threaten the family members of journalists in retaliation for the station's broadcasting criticism of the local police.
July 2003 — Georgian Railway head Akaki Chkhaidze wins a libel suit against Rustavi-2 for broadcasting a program falsely linking him to bribery scandals. The station is ordered to pay a fine that is later reduced on appeal.
November 2003 — Official results of parliamentary elections confirm President Shevardnadze's party as the winner, but international observers allege numerous irregularities. Thousands take to the streets to support the opposition in what is called the "Rose Revolution." Shevardnadze resigns, and the Supreme Court annuls the election results. In exchange for his resignation, the new government grants Shevardnadze immunity and promises to pay for his housing and other living expenses.
January 2004 — Mikhail Saakashvili is elected president. At the World Economic Forum held that month in Davos, Switzerland, Saakashvili asks for help in establishing a 14 million lari (US$8 million) fund to curb corruption in the civil service. He also asks Switzerland to freeze the bank accounts of several officials close to former President Shevardnadze, who are suspected of fraud and abuse of office.
February 2004 — Gia Dzhokhtaberidze, former President Shevardnadze's son-in-law and head of Georgia's biggest mobile phone company, is arrested on tax evasion charges. The charges are dropped and he is released in April, after his wife pays the state a reported 27 million lari (US$15.5 million).
February 2004 — Constitutional amendments re-establish the post of prime minister and increase the power of the president to dismiss parliament.
March 2004 — In new parliamentary elections, President Saakashvili's National Movement party wins the majority of seats.
May 2004 — Georgia ratifies the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime, an extension of international cooperation against international organized crime in such areas as drug and arms trafficking and terrorism.
June 2004 — The Council for the European Union announces the launching of the EU Rule of Law Mission to support the reform of Georgia's criminal justice system. As part of the program, the European Commission in July approves 5 million euros (US$6 million) to strengthen the prison and probation system.
July 2004 — A new law on defamation is passed. The law protects from charges of libel comments made in Parliament, the courts and during political debates, shifts the burden of proof to the accuser and makes entire companies, as opposed to individual journalists, subject to be named as defendants in a libel case.
October 2004 — As a leniency gesture to those who hid their earnings during the Shevardnadze administration, President Saakashvili announces that those who disclose that income will only have to pay 1 percent tax on it. The government also scraps existing tax corruption investigations and destroys all tax records from before the new administration.
October 2004 — Parliament adopts a new Code of Conduct that establishes ethical norms and aims to strengthen public accountability.
February 2005 — Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania is found dead at a friend's home, apparently from gas poisoning due to a faulty heater. Finance Minister Zurab Noghaideli is chosen to succeed him.
June 2005 — Finance Minister Valery Chechelashvili is sacked after several senior tax officials are arrested for taking bribes.
July 2005 — The Ministry of Education and Science introduces a new university entrance examination system aimed at curbing corruption in the academic admissions process.
September 2005 — Investigative journalist Saba Tsitsikashvili is assaulted by five people after publishing a story about abuse of power and corruption in the regional government.
February 2006 — The World Bank launches the Public Sector Financial Management Reform Support Project, a 26 million lari (US$15 million) initiative to better track public expenditures and improve the civil service sector.
July 2006 — The World Bank reports that Georgia underwent the largest reduction in corruption among all countries in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union from 2002 to 2005, with the most recognizable progress occurring in the tax and customs sectors.
July 2006 — Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline opens and Caspian oil starts flowing along it.
September 2006 — Military helicopter carrying Defense Minister Okruashvili is fired on over South Ossetia by Russia, a situation which deteriorates the mutual relations. Georgia detains four Russian army officers on spying charges. Russia imposes sanctions and expels hundreds of Georgians whom it accuses of being illegal immigrants.
January 2007 — Russian President Vladimir Putin orders Russia's ambassador to Georgia to return to the Georgian capital after recalling him four months ago.
February 2007 — Georgia signs a regional cooperation agreement with Azerbaijan and Turkey, which includes plans for constructing a railway connecting the three countries.
August 2007 — Georgia claims that Russia has violated its airspace twice in August, a claim which Russia denies.
September 2007 — Irakli Okruashvili, former Georgian Defense minister, accuses President Saakashvili of corruption, including planning a murder. The news is met with public protest, with the president loosing much of his public support.
November 2007 — A state of emergency is declared as riots break out, the crowds demanding Saakashvili's resignation. Riot police use violent measures to calm the masses. Saakashvili resigns, only in order to run again in January.
December 2007 — International watch groups, including Human Rights Watch, criticize the Georgian government for its violence against civilians in the November riots, calling global attention to the increasing repression in the nation.
January 2008 — A snap election is called, and Saakashvili is reelected as president, despite protests against him the previous fall.
March 2008 — The Georgian separatist region of Abkhazia petitions the United Nations to recognize it as an independent state.
April 2008 — Russia promises to increase its presence in the pro-Russian separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, raising tensions between the two nations.
May 2008 — Parliamentary elections result in the overwhelming victory of the ruling party, leading to accusations of rigged elections from opposition parties.
The BBC reports, "Russia sends 300 unarmed troops to Abkhazia, saying they are needed for railway repairs. Georgia accuses Russia of planning military intervention."
June 2008 — A series of explosions take place in Abkhazia, provoking the region to cut all ties with Georgia. Georgia does not take responsibility for the attacks and denies involvement.
July 2008 — Ruling on a parliamentary election dispute from 2004, the European Convention on Human Rights decides that the Labor Party was put at an unfair disadvantage when the votes from two districts were excluded from the count. This discounted approximately 60,000 voters.
Two government officials and one construction engineer are arrested in a bribery case. Deputy Economic Development Minister Beka Okrostsvaridze, and Deputy Head of the Ministry of Economic Development's Privatization Department, Lasha Moistsrapishvili, allegedly accept bribes from Tamaz Machaladze, who wants to buy state-owned property along the Rustavi-Tbilisi highway.
August 2008 — Violence peaks in the South Ossetia region as Georgia enters the region by air and land, resulting in numerous casualties, including several international journalists. Russia defends the separatists by invading as well, violating Georgian sovereignty and garnering international criticism for the intervention.
September 2008 — The head of Georgian TV station Kavkasia TV reports two broadcast interruptions during the month. He suspects that these are politically driven as a punishment for the critical stance the station had taken on government actions during the August conflict.
October 2008 — A new opposition party, Democratic Movement-United Georgia, is formed as a reaction to the perceived mishandling of the Georgia-Russian border conflict by President Saakashvili. The president responds to this by dismissing the prime minister.
On October 21, the government reinstates access to Russian Internet news sites after tensions had calmed from the August conflict. Restricted access to Russian broadcast television continues.
December 30, 2008 — Public Defender Sozar Subari calls for the formation of an investigative committee to look into the violent breakup of a November 2007 protest. Subari claims to have proof that the government's violent response was premeditated.
March 2009 — Nine members of the anti-government Democratic Movement-United Georgia are arrested after buying arms. The government defends the arrests based on video surveillance that records the opposition party members hinting at the potential use of arms in the anti-government demonstrations to be held in April. Nino Burdzhanadze, founder of the new democratic party, says the video evidence is inconclusive.
April 2009 — A tense public rally takes place in the capital where opposition leaders call for President Saakashvili to step down from his position. The protest marks the 20th anniversary of violent clashes with Soviet powers that resulted in twenty deaths.
May 2009 — President Saakashvili agrees to meet with opposition leaders in response to the massive April anti-government protest and continuing demonstrations.
A mutiny occurs on a Georgian army base. The government quickly puts down the disruption and voices its concern that the small uprising was encouraged by the Russian government in the hopes of removing Saakashvili from power.
June 2009 — Parliamentary elections take place in South Ossetia with Russia-loyal leadership winning the majority of votes.
July 2009 — In response to growing public discontent with his leadership and a forthcoming visit by US Vice-President Biden, President Saakashvili announced new reforms, including increased public access to broadcast TV stations and restoring direct-elections for mayors. Implementation of these reforms is yet to be seen.
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