KOLKHIDA

Russian Kolkhidskaya Nizmennost, English Colchis Lowland coastal lowland plain of the eastern Black Sea, in Georgia. Named for the ancient kingdom of Colchis, it comprises the combined alluvial plains of the Rioni, Inguri, and other rivers rising in the Greater Caucasus range, which encloses the plain on the north, and the Lesser Caucasus, to the south. The Kolkhida has an average elevation of 330 to 500 feet (100 to 150 m) and an annual rainfall of about 60 inches (1,500 mm). Its subtropical conditions have supported cultivation since ancient times; citrus fruits, tea, and tung are still grown, mostly on the elevated foothills surrounding the plain. The wetter lowlands at the Kolkhida's centre collect cold air, and frosts are too frequent for cultivation of more sensitive crops.