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- Georgian (kat)

Georgian is the most widely spoken Kartvelian language. It is spoken mainly in Georgia, where it is the official language. There are almost 4 million native speakers in Georgia as well as in a number of other countries, including the Russian Federation (171,000), Turkey (151,000), Iran (64,100) and Azerbaijan (30,000).

Georgian is related to Mingrelian, Laz, and Svan, all of which are spoken mainly in Georgia and are written with the Georgian (Mkhedruli) alphabet. Georgian is most closely related to the so-called Zan languages (Megrelian and Laz); studies indicate that it split from the latter approximately 2700 years ago. Svan is a more distant relative that split off much earlier, perhaps 4000 years ago.

Georgian is thought to share a common ancestral language with the other South Caucasian languages. It started to develop as a separate language during the 1st millennium BC in an area that became the Kingdom of Iberia (c. 302 BC - 580 AD). It was first referred to in writing in the 2nd century AD by the Roman grammarian, Marcus Cornelius Fronto, in a letter to the emperor Marcus Aurelius.

The Georgian language first appeared in writing in about 430 AD in an inscription in a church in Palestine in an alphabet known as Asomtavruli. Before then the main written language used in Georgia was a form of Aramaic known as Armazuli. Two other alphabets have been used to write Georgian: Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli, which is the alphabet currently used.

Sources: Wikipedia
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