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During the central Middle Ages, Guria was part of the united Georgian Kingdom. After the disintegration of the Kingdom in the 15th century, the province turned into independent Principality, which was abolished in 1828 by the Tsarist Russian Empire, which annexed the province.

Since the late 19th century Guria was famous for the strong radical Marxist underground of its peasants, which was prased as a model for revolutionary organization in Vladimir Lenin's writings. The father of former Soviet foreign affairs minister and Georgian president, Eduard Shevardnadze, was a local communist schoolteacher from the village Mamati , who raised his son there according to his beliefs. Guria was part of the independent Democratic Republic of Georgia in 1918-1921, of Transcaucasian SFSR in 1922-1936, of Georgian SSR in 1936-1991. Today, Guria is a region in the independent Republic of Georgia, and province's main town, Ozurgeti, is regional capital.