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South Ossetia
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This article is about the partially recognised state
in the South Caucasus. For the ethnolinguistic
region, see Ossetia. For the Georgian entity, see
Provisional Administration of South Ossetia.

South Ossetia[n 1] (/ɒˈsɛtiǝ/ ( listen) o-SET-ee-ǝ,

less common: /ɒˈsiːʃǝ/ ( listen) o-SEE-shǝ),[4]
officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the
State of Alania,[5][6] is a partially recognised
landlocked state in the South Caucasus.[7] It has
an officially stated population of just over 56,500
people (2022), who live in an area of 3,900
square kilometres (1,500 sq mi), on the south
side of the Greater Caucasus mountain range,
with 33,000 living in the capital city, Tskhinvali.
Only Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and
Syria recognise South Ossetia as a sovereign
state.[8] Although Georgia does not control South
Ossetia, the Georgian government and the
United Nations consider the territory part of
Georgia.

Republic of South Ossetia – the State

of Alania

Республиĸӕ Хуссар Ирыстон – Паддзахад

Алани (Ossetian)
Respublikæ Xussar Iryston – Paddzaxad Alani

Республиĸа Южная Осетия – Государство

Алания (Russian)
Respublika Yuzhnaya Osetiya – Gosudarstvo
Alaniya

ცხინვალის რეგიონი (Georgian)
Tskhinvalis regioni

Flag
Emblem

Anthem: 
Республиĸӕ Хуссар Ирыстоны Паддзахадон
Гимн (Ossetian)
"National Anthem of the Republic of South
Ossetia"

1:35

South Ossetia (red) within Georgia (yellow)

Status Recognised by 5 out of
193 member states of
the United Nations;
recognised by the
United Nations as de
jure part of Georgia

Capital Tskhinvali
and largest city 42°13′30″N 43°58′12″E

Official languages Ossetian · Russian[1]

Recognised Georgian
regional languages
Government Unitary semi-
presidential republic
• President Alan Gagloev
• Prime Minister Konstantin Dzhussoev
Legislature Parliament

Independence from Georgia

• As the South 20 September 1990
Ossetian Democratic
Soviet Republic
• As the Republic of 29 May 1992
South Ossetia
Area
• Total 3,900 km2 (1,500 sq mi)
• Water (%) negligible

Population
• 2022 estimate 56,520[2]
• 2015 census 53,532 (212th)
• Density 13.7/km2 (35.5/sq mi)

GDP (nominal) 2017 estimate
• Total US$100 million[3]
• Per capita US$2,000

Currency Russian ruble (RUB)

Time zone UTC+03:00 (MSK)

Driving side right

Calling code +995 34

Georgia does not recognise the existence of

South Ossetia as a political entity, and the
territory comprising South Ossetia does not
correspond to any Georgian administrative area
(although Georgian authorities have set up the
Provisional Administration of South Ossetia as a
transitional measure leading to the settlement of
South Ossetia's status), with most of the territory
forming part of the Shida Kartli region. The
Georgian constitution designates the area as
"the former autonomous district of South
Ossetia", in reference to the South Ossetian
Autonomous Oblast disbanded in 1990.[9] When
neutral language is deemed necessary, both
Georgia and international organisations often
refer to the area informally as the Tskhinvali
region.[n 2]

The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast,

established by Soviet authorities in 1922,
declared independence from the Georgian Soviet
Socialist Republic in 1991. The Georgian
government responded by abolishing South
Ossetia's autonomy and trying to re-establish its
control over the region by force.[10] The
escalating crisis led to the 1991–1992 South
Ossetia War.[11] Georgians have fought against
those controlling South Ossetia on two other
occasions: in 2004 and in 2008.[12] The latter
conflict led to the Russo-Georgian War of August
2008, during which Ossetian and Russian forces
gained full de facto control of the territory of the
former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.
Since the 2008 war, Georgia and a significant
part of the international community have
regarded South Ossetia as occupied by the
Russian military.

South Ossetia relies heavily on military, political,

and financial aid from Russia.[13][14] Since 2008,
the South Ossetian government has expressed
their intention of joining the Russian Federation;
if successful, this would end its proclaimed
independence. The prospect of a referendum on
this matter has been raised multiple times in
domestic politics, but none have taken place.

History …

See also: History of Ossetia

Medieval and early modern period …

Fragment of 1856 map by J. H.

Colton depicting Caucasus
region. Modern South Ossetia is
located below the green "Ossia",
which approximately
corresponds to modern North
Ossetia

The Ossetians are believed to originate from the

Alans, a nomadic Iranian tribe.[15] In the 8th
century a consolidated Alan kingdom, referred to
in sources of the period as Alania, emerged in the
northern Caucasus Mountains. Around 1239–
1277 Alania fell to the Mongol and later to the
Timur's armies, who massacred much of the
Alanian population. The survivors among the
Alans retreated into the mountains of the central
Caucasus and gradually started migration to the
south, across the Caucasus Mountains into the
Kingdom of Georgia.[16][18].

Historical Russian map of the

Caucasus region at the beginning
of the 19th century

In the 17th century, by pressure of Kabardian

princes, Ossetians started a second wave of
migration from the North Caucasus to the
Kingdom of Kartli.[19] Ossetian peasants, who
were migrating to the mountainous areas of the
South Caucasus, often settled in the lands of
Georgian feudal lords.[20] The Georgian King of
the Kingdom of Kartli permitted Ossetians to
immigrate.[21] According to Russian ambassador
to Georgia Mikhail Tatishchev, at the beginning of
the 17th century there was already a small group
of Ossetians living near the headwaters of the
Greater Liakhvi River.[21][22] In the 1770s there
were more Ossetians living in Kartli than ever
before.

449

Ossetian migration over time

This period has been documented in the travel

diaries of Johann Anton Güldenstädt who visited
Georgia in 1772. The Baltic German explorer
called modern North Ossetia simply Ossetia,
while he wrote that Kartli (the areas of modern-
day South Ossetia) was populated by Georgians
and the mountainous areas were populated by
both Georgians and Ossetians.[23] Güldenstädt
also wrote that the northernmost border of Kartli
is the Major Caucasus Ridge.[24][25][26] By the
end of 18th century, the ultimate sites of
Ossetian settlement on the territory of modern
South Ossetia were in Kudaro (Jejora river
estuary), Greater Liakhvi gorge, the gorge of
Little Liakhvi, Ksani River gorge, Guda (Tetri
Aragvi estuary) and Truso (Terek estuary).[27]

The Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti,

including the territory of modern South Ossetia,
was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1801.
Ossetia, the area comprising modern North
Ossetia, was among the first areas of the North
Caucasus to come under Russian domination,
starting in 1774.[28] The capital, Vladikavkaz, was
the first Russian military outpost in the region.[29]
By 1806, Ossetia was completely under Russian
control. Ossetian migration to Georgian areas
continued in the 19th and 20th centuries, when
Georgia was part of the Russian Empire and
Ossetian settlements emerged in Trialeti,
Borjomi, Bakuriani and Kakheti as well.[27]

The Ossetians kept fighting against Russian

Empire and never admitted Russian authorities
above them.
[disputed (for: Heroic storytelling, but needs source backup)  – discuss]

In 1850 when Georgia was fully under the control

of Russian Empire, Georgian powerful family
Machabeli complained to Russian authorities
about not being able to seize control over
mountain gorges where the Ossetian populations
lived.
[disputed (for: Claim cannot be found in given reference)  – discuss]

Here is what Russian officials, collegiate

assessors Yanovsky and Kozachkovsky, wrote in
1831 about the relationship between Georgian
feudal lords and the Ossetian population of
mountain gorges in their “Notes on Ossetian
gorges appropriated by the princes Eristov-
Ksani”: “... in more distant gorges, such as:
Magrandoletsky, Tliysky, Chipransky, Gvidisk,
Knogsky and others, for which the Eristavi's
declare a claim, there are no traces of their
control. Before being conquered by our troops,
the Ossetians living in these gorges were a
model of primitive peoples. In the villages and
gorges there was absolutely no order and
obedience. Everyone who was able to carry
weapons considered himself completely
independent. The example of the Eristavi's gave
rise to the princes of Machabeli to appropriate
the newly conquered Ossetians living along the
Bolshaya Liakhva, in the gorges of Roksky,
Jomaksky, Urschuarsky, who never obeyed and
did not belong to them."[30]

South Ossetia as a part of the

Soviet Union …

Democratic Republic of Georgia

(1918–1921) in 1921

Following the Russian revolution,[31] the area of

modern South Ossetia became part of the
Democratic Republic of Georgia.[32] In 1918,
conflict began between the landless Ossetian
peasants living in Shida Kartli (Interior Georgia),
who were influenced by Bolshevism and
demanded ownership of the lands they worked,
and the Menshevik government backed ethnic
Georgian aristocrats, who were legal owners.
Although the Ossetians were initially
discontented with the economic policies of the
central government, the tension soon
transformed into ethnic conflict.[32] The first
Ossetian rebellion began in February 1918, when
three Georgian princes were killed and their land
was seized by the Ossetians. The central
government of Tiflis retaliated by sending the
National Guard to the area. However, the
Georgian unit retreated after they had engaged
the Ossetians.[33] Ossetian rebels then
proceeded to occupy the town of Tskhinvali and
began attacking the ethnic Georgian civilian
population. During uprisings in 1919 and 1920,
the Ossetians were covertly supported by Soviet
Russia, but even so, were defeated.[32]
According to allegations made by Ossetian
sources, the crushing of the 1920 uprising
caused the death of 5,000 Ossetians, while
ensuing hunger and epidemics were the causes
of death of more than 13,000 people.[34]

Creation of South Ossetian AO

on historical Georgian regions in
1922

Map of the South Ossetian

Autonomous Oblast in 1922

Map of the Georgian Soviet

Socialist Republic in 1957–1991

The Soviet Georgian government, established

after the Red Army invasion of Georgia in 1921,
created an autonomous administrative unit for
Transcaucasian Ossetians in April 1922 under
pressure from Kavbiuro (the Caucasian Bureau of
the Central Committee of the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union), called the South Ossetian
Autonomous Oblast (AO).[35] Some believe that
the Bolsheviks granted this autonomy to the
Ossetians in exchange for their (Bolshevik)
loyalty in fighting the Democratic Republic of
Georgia and favouring local separatists, since
this area had never been a separate entity prior
to the Russian invasion.[36][38] The drawing of
administrative boundaries of the South Ossetian
AO was quite a complicated process. Many
Georgian villages were included within the South
Ossetian AO despite numerous protests by the
Georgian population. While the city of Tskhinvali
did not have a majority Ossetian population, it
was made the capital of the South Ossetian AO.
[35][39] In addition to parts of Gori Uyezd and
Dusheti Uyezd of Tiflis Governorate, parts of
Racha Uyezd of Kutaisi Governorate (western
Georgia) were also included within the South
Ossetian AO. All these territories historically had
been indigenous Georgian lands.[40]

Historical Ossetia in the North Caucasus did not

have its own political entity before 1924, when
the North Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was
created.[40]

Although the Ossetians had their own language

(Ossetian), Russian and Georgian were
administrative/state languages.[41] Under the rule
of Georgia's government during Soviet times,
Ossetians enjoyed minority cultural autonomy,
including speaking the Ossetian language and
teaching it in schools.[41] In 1989, two-thirds of
Ossetians in the Georgian Soviet Socialist
Republic lived outside the South Ossetian AO.[42]

Georgian-Ossetian conflict …
Main article: Georgian–Ossetian conflict

1989–2008
…
Tensions in the region began to rise amid rising
nationalism among both Georgians and
Ossetians in 1989.[43] Before this, the two
communities of the South Ossetian Autonomous
Oblast of the Georgian SSR had been living in
peace with each other except for the 1918–1920
events. Both ethnicities had a normal degree of
interaction and there were many Georgian-
Ossetian intermarriages.[44]

The dispute surrounding the presence of the

Ossetian people in the South Caucasus has been
one of the causes of conflict. Although Georgian
historiography believes that Ossetian mass
migration to the South Caucasus (Georgia)
began in the 17th century, Ossetians claim to
have been residing in the area since the ancient
times.[10], which is not supported by available
sources.[45] Some Ossetian historians accept
that the migration of Ossetian ancestors to
modern South Ossetia began after the Mongol
invasions of the 13th century, while one South
Ossetian de facto foreign minister in the 1990s
said that the Ossetians first appeared in the area
only in the early 17th century.[46] Since it was
created after the Russian invasion of 1921, South
Ossetia was regarded as artificial creation by
Georgians during the Soviet era.[10]

The South Ossetian Popular Front (Ademon

Nykhas) was created in 1988. On 10 November
1989, the South Ossetian regional council asked
the Georgian Supreme Council to upgrade the
region to the status of an "autonomous republic".
[10] The decision to transform the South Ossetian
AO into the South Ossetian ASSR by the South
Ossetian authorities escalated the conflict. On 11
November, this decision was revoked by the
Georgian parliament, the Supreme Soviet.[47] The
Georgian authorities removed the First Party
Secretary of the oblast from his position.[48][49]

The Georgian Supreme Council adopted a law

barring regional parties in summer 1990. The
South Ossetian regional council interpreted this
as a move against Ademon Nykhas and
subsequently passed a "declaration of national
sovereignty", proclaiming the South Ossetian
Democratic Soviet Republic within the Soviet
Union on 20 September 1990.[50] Ossetians
boycotted subsequent Georgian parliamentary
elections and held their own contest in
December.[10]

In October 1990, the parliamentary election in

Georgia was won by Zviad Gamsakhurdia's
"Round Table" block.[10] On 11 December 1990,
Zviad Gamsakhurdia's government declared the
Ossetian election illegitimate and abolished
South Ossetia's autonomous status altogether.
[10] Gamsakhurdia rationalised the abolition of
Ossetian autonomy by saying, "They [Ossetians]
have no right to a state here in Georgia. They are
a national minority. Their homeland is North
Ossetia .... Here they are newcomers."[46]

When the Georgian parliament declared a state

of emergency in the territory of South Ossetian
AO on 12 December 1990, troops from both
Georgian and Soviet interior ministries were sent
to the region. After the Georgian National Guard
was formed in early 1991, Georgian troops
entered Tskhinvali on 5 January 1991.[51] The
1991–1992 South Ossetia War was characterised
by general disregard for international
humanitarian law by uncontrollable militias, with
both sides reporting atrocities.[51] The Soviet
military facilitated a ceasefire as ordered by
Mikhail Gorbachev in January 1991. In March and
April 1991, Soviet interior troops were reported
actively disarming militias on both sides, and
deterring the inter-ethnic violence. Zviad
Gamsakhurdia asserted that the Soviet
leadership was encouraging South Ossetian
separatism in order to force Georgia not to leave
the Soviet Union. Georgia declared its
independence in April 1991.[52][46]

As a result of the war, about 100,000 ethnic

Ossetians fled the territory and Georgia proper,
most across the border into North Ossetia. A
further 23,000 ethnic Georgians fled South
Ossetia to other parts of Georgia.[54] Many
refugees went to the North Ossetian Prigorodnyi
District. In 1944, many South Ossetians were
resettled in areas of North Ossetia from which
the Ingush had been expelled by Stalin in 1944.
In the 1990s the new wave of South Ossetians
migrating to the former Ingush territory fuelled
conflict between Ossetians and Ingush.[55][56]

On 29 April 1991, the western part of South

Ossetia was affected by an earthquake, which
killed more than 200 and left tens of thousands
homeless.[57][58]

In late 1991, dissent was mounting against

Gamsakhurdia in Georgia due to his intolerance
of critics and attempts to concentrate political
power.[52] On 22 December 1991, after a coup
d'état, Gamsakhurdia and his supporters were
besieged by the opposition, which was backed
by the national guard, in several government
buildings in Tbilisi. The ensuing heavy fighting
resulted in over 200 casualties and left the
center of the Georgian capital in ruins. On 6
January, Gamsakhurdia and several of his
supporters fled the city for exile. Afterwards, the
Georgian military council, an interim government,
was formed by a triumvirate of Jaba Ioseliani,
Tengiz Kitovani and Tengiz Sigua, and, in March
1992, they invited Eduard Shevardnadze, a
former Soviet minister, to come to Georgia to
assume control of the Georgian State Council.[60]
[61]

An independence referendum was held in South

Ossetia on 19 January 1992,[62] with voters being
asked two questions: "Do you agree that South
Ossetia should be an independent country?" and
"Do you agree with the South Ossetian
parliament's solution of 1 September 1991 on
reunion with Russia?"[62] Both proposals were
approved,[62] but the results were not recognised
internationally.[63] Nonetheless, the South
Ossetian regional council subsequently passed
an "act of state independence" and declared the
independence of the Republic of South Ossetia
on 29 May 1992.[50]

Georgian Civil War from October

to December 1993

On 24 June 1992, Shevardnadze and the South

Ossetian government signed the Sochi ceasefire
agreement, brokered by Russia. The agreement
included obligations to avoid the use of force,
and Georgia pledged not to impose sanctions
against South Ossetia. The Georgian government
retained control over substantial portions of
South Ossetia,[64] including the town of
Akhalgori.[66] A Joined Peacekeeping force of
Ossetians, Russians and Georgians was
established. On 6 November 1992, the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe (OSCE) set up a mission in Georgia to
monitor the peacekeeping operation. From then
until mid-2004, South Ossetia was generally
peaceful.[67][68]

Following the 2003 Rose Revolution, Mikheil

Saakashvili became the President of Georgia in
2004. Ahead of the 2004 parliamentary and
presidential elections, he promised to restore the
territorial integrity of Georgia.[69] During one of
his early speeches, Saakashvili addressed the
separatist regions, saying, "[N]either Georgia nor
its president will put up with disintegration of
Georgia. Therefore, we offer immediate
negotiations to our Abkhazian and Ossetian
friends. We are ready to discuss every model of