Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia, located in between Western Asia and Eastern Europe. To the west of the country is the Black Sea, the north Russia, the South Turkey and Armenia, and the southeast Azerbaijan. Its capital and largest city, Tbilisi, is positioned on the bank of the Mtkvari River, with a population of roughly 1.5 million people. Present-day Georgia covers 26,911 square miles and has a population of 5 million people. As a unitary, semi-presidential republic, the Georgian government is elected through a representative democracy (or indirect democracy), in which a group of elected officials choose the country’s leader. Georgia became independent of the Soviet Union in 1991, and is now currently a member of the Council of Europe and the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development.