socialuri usafrTxoebis eTnikuri aspeqtebi polieTnikur sazogadoebaSi

interact frequently. There were and still are mutual claims from eachof the parties on their bad social and economic conditions. Recentlythe situation has become more or less stable. However, problemsrelated to everyday life still exist, but they are not common. This isdue to the Government’s effective measures (tightening of control,execution of law).The effectiveness of inter-cultural connections in the research areais firstly determined by the possibilities of establishing verbal contactbetween the parties. In the Soviet period the language ofcommunication in Kvemo Kartli’s multi-ethnic community wasRussian. After gaining independence and announcement of Georgianas a State Language (which caused disruption of communicationbetween groups), gave rise to new problems vis-à-vis inter-culturaldialogue. Due to ignorance of the state language it became difficultfor national minorities to integrate into the social and political lifeof the independent Georgian State. From national minorities inKvemo Kartli Georgian language is fluently spoken mainly byminorities living in the capital and poly-ethnic settlements, whilethe knowledge of the Georgian language is very poor in isolatedmono-ethnic settlements. Recently the state has focused on theteaching of the Georgian language to the minorities andharmonization of the education system. On the basis of local andforeign institutions special programs have been developed, whichsupport teaching Georgian language to minorities and facilitate theopportunity of establishment of verbal communication betweendifferent groups. Today the situation has been improved, althoughcertain difficulties still remain. There is observed Interest and evenneed for the Georgian language knowledge among non- Georgianpopulation.Mixed marriages significantly favor realization of inter-culturalrelations and acceleration of the integration process. However, thefact that the region is populated by the representatives of differentreligions hinders the dynamics of inter-cultural communication viamixed marriages. The reason could also be the isolated settlementof minority groups. Due to small number of mixed marriages thisform of inter-ethnic communication could not be regarded as a factoraccelerating the integration process in the research area.Acquaintance with alien culture through communication betweenthe representatives of different religious confessions andinvolvement in their contexts is quite important for the integrationstrategy; however, ethnic groups in the research area keep distancein this regard. Actually, no serious conflict on religious bias hasoccurred in Kvemo Kartli (exclusive of some minor cases in Tsalkadistrict), which proves that various religious groups are mainlytolerant towards each other. Religious tolerance is especially strongin the population traditionally living either in the vicinity of eachother or in mixed communities. The same tendency is observed inthe relatively new mixed communities formed after migration ofGeorgian groups.In terms of integration the situation in Kvemo Kartli could not beassessed as favorable, although some positive dynamics of interculturaldialogue is present. Due to their interrelations throughoutyears the old and new groups have acquired certain experience inthis respect. It became evident, that in the areas where dailyinterpersonal relationships were common, intercultural dialogueproved to be easier and more effectiveInter-cultural communication between the local and “foreign”ethno-confessional groups in Kvemo Kartli engenders twotendencies. On the one hand the development of integrationprocesses, exchange of cultural elements, increase of contacts,probability of bilingualism and mixed marriages are observed, thatcould serve the basis for further civil integration. On the otherhand, the tendency of preserving ethno-cultural specificities isevident.Ethno-social heterogeneity implies diversified cultural interactionbetween ethnic and religious groups, different social strata, thetown and the village and other types of social unities. This process444 445