From 303, Saint Nino of Cappadocia later honoured as 'Equal to the Apostles preached Orthodox Christianity in the Georgian kingdom of Iberia (Eastern Georgia). And it was adopted as the state religion by the rulers of Iberia, King (later Saint) Mirian III and Queen (later Saint) Nana. The country adopted Saint George as its patron saint. Georgian Orthodox tradition also holds that Georgia is a country under the special protection and intercession of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and affection for the Theotokos runs very deep in Georgian Orthodox consciousness. The All-immaculate Virgin herself during her earthly lifetime had received the Apostolic allotment for the enlightening of Iberia, but an Angel of the Lord appeared to her and foretold that Iberia would become her earthly "allotted portion" only after upon her repose. Iberia, also known as Georgia or Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli, corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia, including Shida Kartli - so called South Ossetia (CURRENTLY UNDER RUSSIAN OCCUPATION). The Caucasian Iberians provided a basis for later Georgian statehood and along with Colchis nearly triangular ancient western Georgian Kingdom (including Abkhazia - early western Georgian state CURRENTLY UNDER RUSSIAN OCCUPATION) formed a core of the present day Georgian people. The term Caucasian Iberia (or Eastern Iberia) is used to distinguish it from the Iberian Peninsula. The Iberian Peninsula, or Western Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, where the present day Kingdom of Spain and Portuguese Republic are located