Gori, city, administrative centre of Gori rayon (sector), eastern Georgia, on the Kura River. Gori is one of the oldest cities in Georgia, founded in the 7th century ce as Tontio. Before the Russian Revolution of 1917, it was a small administrative and market centre. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was born there in 1878/79 (see Researcher’s Note: Joseph Stalin’s birth date). He spent his childhood years in the city and later (1888–94) studied at its theological seminary. The city’s legacy as Stalin’s birthplace remained a source of local pride long after his death. A statue of Stalin erected in Gori in the 1950s was one of the few to remain in Georgia after the country gained its independence from the Soviet Union four decades later. The statue was the subject of heated debate in the early 21st century, and in June 2010 it was removed.
After the 1917 Revolution the industrial base of Gori developed considerably. Today Gori has an important food-preserving industry, based on locally grown fruit and vegetables, and an important textile industry, based largely on cotton from Azerbaijan. There are also other light industries. Gori has a teacher-training school and an agricultural college. Pop. (2014) 48,143; (2016 est.) 48,300.