"Kartli (Georgian: \u10E5\u10D0\u10E0\u10D7\u10DA\u10D8 [k\u02B0art\u02B0li]) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role in the ethnic and political consolidation of the Georgians in the Middle Ages. Kartli had no strictly defined boundaries and they significantly fluctuated in the course of history."@en .