It is located on the Black Sea in western Georgia and is a holiday resort.
The Greek colony of Dioscurias was founded here in the 6th century BC. It was known as Sebastopolis during Roman and Byzantium occupation. It was the Turkish fortress of Sukhum-Kale when Russia occupied it in 1810.
Sukhumi was the centre of the war between Georgia and Abkhazia in the early 1990s.