A townlet in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, the administrative center of Khulo municipality. It lies in the valley of the Acharistskali River on the Akhaltsikhe–Batumi road, 923 m above sea level, 88 km from Batumi. Population 1,100 (2002). The townlet has administrative, cultural, educational and healthcare institutions and small enterprises. The old form of the name "Khulo" is "khula", meaning a trading house. In the Middle Ages a caravan trade route passed through here, linking Samtskhe-Javakheti over the Goderdzi pass with Adjara and the Black Sea coast. In the era of Ottoman rule the political center of Upper Adjara moved from Skhalta to Khulo. In 1874 its population was no more than 100 households. It received townlet status in 1964.