Vehicle registration plates of Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

are composed of an embossed serial of three letters, a hyphen and three numbers (e.g. ABC-123), in black on a white background. The plates are issued in the Latin alphabet

Latin alphabet

The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...

. Georgian license plates are the same size as the most common European license plate. All plates have the abbreviation "GEO" or "GE" in the lower left corner of the plate, while newer plates also have the national flag

Flag of Georgia (country)

The official flag of Georgia is the "five-cross flag", restored to official use on January 14, 2004, after a break of some 500 years...

 in the upper left corner.

Car designations

Originally the first letter of the registration plate was assigned according to the territory where the vehicle was registered:

• A - Tbilisi
  Tbilisi
  Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
  
  
• B - Adjara
  Adjara
  Adjara , officially the Autonomous Republic of Adjara , is an autonomous republic of Georgia.Adjara is located in the southwestern corner of Georgia, bordered by Turkey to the south and the eastern end of the Black Sea...
  
  
• C - Abkhazia
  Abkhazia
  Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
  
  
• F - Zugdidi
  Zugdidi
  Zugdidi is a city in the Western Georgian historical province of Samegrelo . It is situated in the north-west of that province. The city is located 318 kilometres west of Tbilisi, 30 km. from Black sea coast and 30 km. from Egrisi range. 100-110 metres above sea level. As of 2007, it had a...
  
  
• K - Kutaisi
  Kutaisi
  Kutaisi is Georgia's second largest city and the capital of the western region of Imereti. It is 221 km to the west of Tbilisi.-Geography:...
  
  
• N - Akhaltsikhe
  Akhaltsikhe
  Akhaltsikhe is a small city in Georgia's southwestern region of Samtskhe-Javakheti. It is situated on the both banks of a small river Potskhovi, which separates the city to the old city in the north and new in the south. The name of the city translates from Georgian as "new fortress".- History...
  
  
• O - Gori
  Gori, Georgia
  Gori is a city in eastern Georgia, which serves as the regional capital of Shida Kartli and the centre of the homonymous administrative district. The name is from Georgian gora , that is, "heap", or "hill"...
  
  
• R - Telavi
  Telavi
  Telavi is the main city and administrative center of Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti. Its population consists of some 21,800 inhabitants . The city is located on foot-hills of Tsiv-Gombori Range at 500-800 meters above the sea level....
  
  
• S - Bolnisi
  Bolnisi
  Bolnisi , is a city in the country of Georgia, located in the Kvemo Kartli region and capital of the Bolnisi district. Currently has an estimated 13,800 inhabitants....
  
  

Once the system was exhausted, it was removed. Anyone may buy the combination they like. Some commercial organization have bought up all the number sequences within one tri-letter combination (e.g. all the TBC license plates are owned by TBC Bank

TBC Bank

TBC Bank JSC is the largest, privately held, universal bank in Georgia. The Bank offers a wide range of banking products and is owned by International Finance Corporation , German Investment Corporation , and Georgian individuals....

, and all the MZE license plates are owned by Mze TV Company). Ambulance

Ambulance

An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...

s have license plates in the PSP series, after the pharmaceutical company sponsoring them, and fire engines

Fire apparatus

A fire apparatus, fire engine, fire truck, or fire appliance is a vehicle designed to assist in fighting fires by transporting firefighters to the scene and providing them with access to the fire, along with water or other equipment...

 have license plates in the SOS

SOS

SOS is the commonly used description for the international Morse code distress signal...

 series.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia

The self-proclaimed republics of Abkhazia

Abkhazia

Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...

 and South Ossetia

South Ossetia

South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....

 issue their own license plates: Russian-style plates in Abkhazia

Vehicle registration plates of Abkhazia

The government of the Republic of Abkhazia, which considers itself independent from Georgia, issues its own vehicle registration plates for the motor vehicles registered in the territory it controls...

 and Soviet-style plates in South Ossetia

Vehicle registration plates of South Ossetia

The government of South Ossetia issues its own license plates for the vehicles registered on the territory it controls. The design of the plates is based on one of the Soviet standard for license plates ....

. Since 2004 these license plates are forbidden to be used on the territory controlled by the government of Georgia; while the Georgian license plates are not allowed to be used on the territory controlled by separatists. Thus most cars that cross the boundaries of the unrecognised republics have to use Russian license plates.