The province's main city is Kutaisi; other urban industrial centers include Samtredia, Chiatura (food processing), Tkibuli (coal mining), and Zestaphoni (metals), Khoni, Sachkhere. Traditionally, Imereti is an agricultural region, known for its mulberries and grapes.
The 800,000 Imeretians speak a Georgian dialect, they are a ethnographic group of Georgian People. In 975-1442 Imereti was part of the united Georgian Kingdom. Imeretians first emerged as a distinct entity in 1442, when Alexander of Georgia divided his realm between his three sons: one son received Imereti as his kingdom. The country suffered frequent invasions by the Turks, but managed to maintain its independence from the 16th to the 18th centuries. It fought against Russia from 1804 to 1810, when Imereti was finally annexed.