What is the currency of Georgia?

The currency of Georgia is the Georgian lari.

The lari is issued by the National Bank of Georgia and has the ISO 4217 code GEL. One lari is divided into 100 tetri. The name lari is an old Georgian word meaning a hoard or property, while tetri is an ancient Georgian monetary term meaning “white.”

Georgia introduced the lari on 2 October 1995, replacing the unstable kuponi at a rate of one million kuponi to one lari. The kuponi had replaced the Soviet ruble in 1993, but severe inflation made it unsuitable as a lasting currency. Modern Georgian coins include tetri denominations and one- and two-lari coins; banknotes commonly range from 5 to 100 lari.

Georgia’s lari is easy to confuse with Turkey’s lira because the names sound similar, but they are different currencies. It is also distinct from the Azerbaijani manat and Armenian dram, the currencies of Georgia’s neighboring countries. The lari symbol is ₾.