What You Need To Know

Batumi is the second-largest city of Georgia, located on the coast of the Black Sea in the country’s southwest. Situated in a subtropical zone near the foot of the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, Batumi is a popular tourist destination known for its varying weather–it is a bustling seaside resort during warm seasons, but can get entirely covered in snow during winter. Much of Batumi’s economy revolves around tourism and gambling, but the city is also an important sea port and includes industries like shipbuilding, food processing and light manufacturing. Since 2010, Batumi has been transformed by the construction of modern high-rise buildings, as well as the restoration of classical 19th-century edifices lining its historic Old Town.

Population: Estimate 153,439
Area: 64.9 km²

Currency

Language

Georgian is a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians. It is the official language of Georgia. Georgian is written in its own writing system, the Georgian script.

Religion

Although there is no religious data available separately for Batumi, the majority of the region’s inhabitants are Eastern Orthodox Christian, and primarily adhere to the national Georgian Orthodox Church. There are also Sunni Muslim, Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, and Jewish communities.

Transport

The city is served by Batumi Airport, one of three international airports in the country. A bike-sharing scheme named BatumVelo allows you to rent a bicycle on the street with a smart card. The seaport of Batumi with the city in the background. The port of Batumi is on one of the routes of China’s proposed Eurasian Land Bridge (part of the “New Silk Road”), which would see an eastern freight link to China via Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea, and a western link by ferry to Ukraine and on to Europe.

Weather

Batumi lies at the southern periphery of the oceanic climate (Cfb), but it is classified as humid subtropical (Cfa) according to Köppen’s classification. The city’s climate is heavily influenced by the onshore flow from the Black Sea and is subject to the orographic effect of the nearby hills and mountains, resulting in significant rainfall throughout most of the year, making Batumi the wettest city in both Georgia and the entire Caucasus Region. The average annual temperature in Batumi is approximately 14 °C (57 °F). January is the coldest month with an average temperature of 7 °C (45 °F). August is the hottest month, with an average temperature of 22 °C (72 °F). The absolute minimum recorded temperature is −6 °C (21 °F), and the absolute maximum is 40 °C (104 °F). The number of days with daily temperatures above 10 °C (50 °F) is 239. The city receives 1958 hours of sunshine per year. Batumi’s average annual precipitation is 2,392 mm (94.2 in). December is the wettest month with an average of 303 mm (11.9 in) of precipitation, while May is the driest, averaging 84 mm (3.3 in). Batumi generally does not receive significant amounts of snow (accumulating snowfall of more than 30 cm (11.8 in)), and the number of days with snow cover for the year is 12. The average level of relative humidity ranges from 70–80{1470e996232f3274b60a3585bfc5371dcc5ed4caafb54343b68a9144b93a8f62}.