Population: 1.2 million
Name Fact: თბილი–this word is the modern word for warm in the native language. The name basically means warm city, which explains much since there are a bunch of sulfuric hot springs in the area.
History Fact: This city has been continuously inhabited since the Paleolithic period. The founding myth says that King Vakhtang I of Iberia went hunting in the region with his falcon. The bird caught a pheasant, but both birds fell into a hot spring and died from the burns. The king was so impressed with the springs that he cleared the forest and built a city.
Demographic Fact: Naturally the majority of the city is populated by natives of this country, but there are also large populations of Armenians, Russians, Azerbaijanis, as well as small populations of Ossetians, Abkhazians, Ukrainians, Greeks, Germans, Jews, Estonians, Kurds, Assyrians, and Yazidis. So maybe if you work backwards, you can figure out the cities country.
Famous Citizen: Joseph Stalin was born and raised in this city. Yeah, that Joseph Stalin. The leader of the Soviet Union. The guy who probably is responsible for somewhere between six and nine million deaths of his own people. What a guy!
But hey, if Stalin is not your thing then feel better that former Golden State Warrior Zaza Pachulia (he actually is still with them in the front office) is from this city. Zaza is the one on the right.
