In recognition of the multiple ethnic groups within Abkhazia, Article 8 of the 1925 Abkhaz constitution called for three official languages—Abkhaz, Georgian, and Russian—while a later amendment stated, "all nationalities populating the SSR Abkhazia are guaranteed the right of free development and use of the native language both in national-cultural and in general state agencies". Most of the population did not understand Abkhaz so Russian was the dominant language of government while local regions used the language that was most prevalent there.