The Abkhaz authorities have claimed that a total of 114,000 Abkhaz passports have been issued, the official Abkhaz news agency, Apsnipress, reported on October 16.

Passports have been issued to 58,282 ethnic Abkhazians; 26,587 Armenians; 14,947 Russians; and 5,136 Georgians living in Abkhazia, according to Valery Malia, head of the Abkhaz Interior Ministry’s passport and visa section.

Ethnic Georgians, mainly living in the Gali district, willing to take Abkhaz passports, he said, must first give up their Georgian citizenship. The Abkhaz law on citizenship allows for dual citizenship, but only with the Russian Federation.