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.
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.
