South Ossetia

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South Ossetia
Ossetia (/ɒˈsɛtiə/[4]) or Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali Region (also Republic of South Ossetia
Ossetia or the State of Alania), is a Georgian territory occupied by Russia
Russia in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian SSR.[5] It has a population of 53,000 people who live in an area of 3,900 km2, south of the Russian Caucasus, with 30,000 living in its capital city of Tskhinvali. South Ossetia
Ossetia declared independence from the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic
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.[6] The crisis escalation led to the 1991–92 South Ossetia
Ossetia War.[7] Georgian fighting against those controlling South Ossetia
Ossetia occurred on two other occasions, in 2004 and 2008.[8] The latter conflict led to the Russo–Georgian War, during which Ossetian and Russian forces gained full de facto control of the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast. In the wake of the 2008 war, Russia, followed by Nicaragua, Venezuela and Nauru, recognised South Ossetia's independence.[9][10][11][12][13] Georgia does not recognise the existence of South Ossetia
Ossetia as a political entity, including most of the area in its Shida Kartli region, under the administration of the Provisional Administrative Entity of South Ossetia. Georgia and a significant part of the international community consider South Ossetia
Ossetia to be occupied by the Russian military. South Ossetia
Ossetia relies heavily on military, political and financial aid from Russia.[14][15][16] Russia
Russia does not allow European Union Monitoring Mission
European Union Monitoring Mission to enter South Ossetia.[17] As South Ossetia
Ossetia is not recognised by Georgia and its territory does not correspond to any Georgian administrative area, it is often informally referred to as the legally undefined Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali Region[nb 1] in Georgia and in international organisations when neutrality is deemed necessary. Constitutionally South Ossetia
Ossetia is known as "the former autonomous district of South Ossetia", in reference to the former soviet autonomous oblast that Georgian authorities disbanded in 1990.[18] South Ossetia, Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Abkhazia
Abkhazia are sometimes referred to as post-Soviet "frozen conflict" zones.[19][20]

Contents

1 History

1.1 Medieval and early modern period 1.2 South Ossetia
Ossetia as a part of the Soviet Union 1.3 Georgian-Ossetian conflict

1.3.1 1989–2008 1.3.2 2008 war

2 Geography and climate 3 Political status

3.1 Plans of Integration with the Russian Federation 3.2 Law on Occupied Territories of Georgia

4 Politics

4.1 Government 4.2 Military

5 Demographics 6 Economy 7 Culture

7.1 Education 7.2 Public Holidays

8 Gallery 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 External links

History[edit] See also: History of Ossetia

Historical Russian map of the Caucasus
Caucasus region at the beginning of the 19th century

Fragment of the historical map by J. H. Colton. The map depicts the Caucasus
Caucasus region in 1856. Modern South Ossetia
Ossetia is located in Georgia and Imeria. Modern North Ossetia
North Ossetia approximately corresponds to "Ossia".

Democratic Republic
Republic of Georgia (1918–1921) in 1921.

Creation of South Ossetian AO on historical Georgian regions in 1922.

Medieval and early modern period[edit] The territory of contemporary South Ossetia
Ossetia was part of kingdom of Iberia, the latter was unified under the single Georgian monarchy in 11th-century, extending its possessions up to Dvaleti. The Ossetians
Ossetians are believed to originate from the Alans, an Iranian tribe.[21] 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
Alania fell before the Mongol and later to the Timur's armies, that massacred much of the Alanian population. The survivors among the Alans
Alans retreated into the mountains of the central Caucasus
Caucasus and gradualy started migration to the south. In 1299, Gori was captured by the Alan tribesmen fleeing the Mongol conquest of their original homeland in the North Caucasus. The Georgian king George V recovered the town in 1320, pushing the Alans back over the Caucasus
Caucasus mountains. In the 17th century, by pressure of Kabardian princes, Ossetians started second wave of migration from the North Caucasus
Caucasus to Georgia.[22] Ossetian peasants, who were migrating to the mountainous areas of the South Caucasus, often settled in the lands of Georgian feudal lords.[23] The Georgian King of the Kingdom of Kartli
Kingdom of Kartli permitted Ossetians
Ossetians to immigrate.[24] According to Russian ambassador to Georgia Mikhail Tatishchev, at the beginning of the 17th century there was already a small group of Ossetians
Ossetians living near the headwaters of the Greater Liakhvi River.[24][25] In the 1770s there were more Ossetians living in Kartli than ever before. 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
North Ossetia simply Ossetia, while he wrote that Kartli (the areas of modern-day South Ossetia) was populated by Georgians
Georgians and the mountainous areas were populated by both Georgians
Georgians and Ossetians.[26] Güldenstädt also wrote that the northernmost border of Kartli is the Major Caucasus Ridge.[27][28][29] By the end of 18th century, the ultimate sites of Ossetian settlement on the territory of modern South Ossetia
Ossetia were in Kudaro (Jejora river estuary), Greater Liakhvi gorge, the gorge of Little Liakhvi, Ksani
Ksani River gorge, Guda (Tetri Aragvi estuary) and Truso (Terek estuary).[30] The Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, part of which was the major territory of modern South Ossetia, was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1801. Ossetian migration to Georgian areas continued in the 19th and 20th centuries, when Georgia was part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire and Ossetian settlements in Trialeti, Borjomi, Bakuriani
Bakuriani and Kakheti emerged as well.[30] South Ossetia
Ossetia as a part of the Soviet Union[edit] Following the Russian revolution,[31] the area of modern South Ossetia became part of the Democratic Republic
Republic of Georgia.[32] In 1918, conflict began between the landless Ossetian peasants living in Shida Kartli (Interior Georgia), who were influenced by Bolshevism
Bolshevism and demanded ownership of the lands they worked, and the Menshevik government backed ethnic Georgian aristocrats, who were legal owners. Although the Ossetians
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
Tskhinvali and began attacking ethnic Georgian civilian population. During uprisings in 1919 and 1920, the Ossetians
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.[6] The Soviet Georgian government, established after the Red Army invasion of Georgia in 1921, created an autonomous administrative unit for Transcaucasian Ossetians
Ossetians in April 1922 under pressure from Kavbiuro
Kavbiuro (the Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party), called the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast (AO).[34] Some believe that the Bolsheviks
Bolsheviks granted this autonomy to the Ossetians
Ossetians in exchange for their help in fighting the Democratic Republic
Republic of Georgia and favoring local separatists, since this area had never been a separate entity prior to the Russian invasion.[35] 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
Tskhinvali did not have a majority Ossetian population, it was made the capital of the South Ossetian AO.[34][36] In addition to parts of Gori Uyezd and Dusheti Uyezd of Tiflis Governorate, parts of Racha
Racha Uyezd of Kutaisi Governorate (western Georgia) were also included within the South Ossetian AO. All these territories historically had been indigenous Georgian lands.[37] Historical Ossetia
Ossetia in the North Caucasus
Caucasus did not have its own political entity before 1924, when the North Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was created.[37] Although the Ossetians
Ossetians had their own language (Ossetian), Russian and Georgian were administrative/state languages.[38] Under the rule of Georgia's government during Soviet times, Ossetians
Ossetians enjoyed minority cultural autonomy, including speaking the Ossetian language
Ossetian language and teaching it in schools.[38] In 1989, two-thirds of Ossetians
Ossetians in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic
Republic lived outside the South Ossetian AO.[39] Georgian-Ossetian conflict[edit] Main article: Georgian-Ossetian conflict 1989–2008[edit] Tensions in the region began to rise amid rising nationalism among both Georgians
Georgians and Ossetians
Ossetians in 1989. Before this, the two communities of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast of the Georgian SSR had been living in peace with each other except for the 1918–1920 events. Both ethnicities have had a high level of interaction and high rates of intermarriage.[citation needed] Dispute surrounding the presence of the Ossetian people in the South Caucasus
South Caucasus has been one of the causes of conflict. Although Georgian historiography believes that Ossetian mass migration to the South Caucasus
South Caucasus (Georgia) began in the 17th century, Ossetians
Ossetians claim to have been residing in the area since ancient times and that present-day South Ossetia
Ossetia is their historical homeland.[6] No evidence exists to back up the Ossetian claims of being indigenous to South Ossetia.[40] Some Ossetian historians accept that the migration of Ossetian ancestors to modern South Ossetia
Ossetia began after the Mongol invasions of the 13th century, while one South Ossetian de facto foreign minister in the 1990s admitted that the Ossetians
Ossetians first appeared in the area only in the early 17th century.[41] Since it was created after the Russian invasion of 1921, South Ossetia
Ossetia was regarded as artificial creation by Georgians
Georgians during the Soviet era.[6] 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".[6] 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.[42] The Georgian authorities removed the First Party Secretary of the oblast from his position.[43][44] The Georgian Supreme Council adopted a law barring regional parties in summer 1990. Since this was interpreted by South Ossetians
Ossetians as a move against Ademon Nykhas, they declared full sovereignty as part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) on 20 September 1990. Ossetians
Ossetians boycotted subsequent Georgian parliamentary elections and held their own contest in December.[6] In October 1990, the parliamentary elections in Georgia was won by Zviad Gamsakhurdia's "Round Table" block.[6] On 11 December 1990, Zviad Gamsakhurdia's government declared the Ossetian election illegitimate and abolished South Ossetia's autonomous status altogether.[6] Gamsakhurdia rationalized 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."[41] 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 Russian interior ministries were sent to the region. After the Georgian National Guard was formed in early 1991, Georgian troops entered Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali on 5 January 1991.[45] The 1991–92 South Ossetia
Ossetia War was characterised by general disregard for international humanitarian law by uncontrollable militias, with both sides reporting atrocities.[45] The Soviet military facilitated a ceasefire as ordered by Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev in January 1991, later they were participating in the conflict on the Ossetian side.[citation needed] 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.[41] As a result of the war, about 100,000 ethnic Ossetians
Ossetians fled the territory and Georgia proper, most across the border into North Ossetia. A further 23,000 ethnic Georgians
Georgians fled South Ossetia
Ossetia to other parts of Georgia.[46] Many South Ossetians
Ossetians were resettled in uninhabited areas of North Ossetia
North Ossetia from which the Ingush had been expelled by Stalin in 1944, leading to conflicts between Ossetians
Ossetians and Ingush over the right of residence in former Ingush territory.[citation needed] On 29 April 1991, the western part of South Ossetia
Ossetia was affected by an earthquake, which killed 200 and left 300 families homeless.[citation needed] In late 1991, dissent was mounting against Gamsakhurdia in Georgia due to his intolerance of critics and attempts to concentrate political power. 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
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.[41][verification needed] 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,[47] including the town of Akhalgori.[citation needed] A Joined Peacekeeping force of Ossetians, Russians
Russians and Georgians
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
Ossetia was generally peaceful.[citation needed] Following the 2003 Rose Revolution, Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili became the President of Georgia
President of Georgia in 2004. Ahead of the 2004 parliamentary and presidential elections, he promised to restore the territorial integrity of Georgia.[48] 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 statehood by taking into consideration their interests for the promotion of their future development."[49] Since 2004, tensions began to rise as the Georgian authorities strengthened their efforts to bring the region back under their rule. Georgia sent police to close down a black market, which was one of the region's chief sources of revenue, selling foodstuffs and fuel smuggled from Russia. This was followed by fighting by Georgian troops and peacekeepers against South Ossetian militiamen and freelance fighters from Russia.[50] Hostage takings, shootouts and occasional bombings left dozens dead and wounded. A ceasefire deal was reached on 13 August though it was repeatedly violated.[citation needed] The Georgian government protested against the allegedly increasing Russian economic and political presence in the region and against the uncontrolled military of the South Ossetian side.[citation needed] It also considered the peacekeeping force (consisting in equal parts of South Ossetians, North Ossetians, Russians
Russians and Georgians) to be non-neutral and demanded its replacement.[51][52][not in citation given] Joseph Biden
Joseph Biden (Chairman, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee), Richard Lugar, and Mel Martinez
Mel Martinez sponsored a resolution accusing Russia
Russia of attempting to undermine Georgia's territorial integrity and called for replacing the Russian-manned peacekeeping force operating under CIS mandate.[53] According to U.S. senator Richard Lugar, the United States
United States supported Georgia's call for the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from the conflict zones.[54] Later, EU South Caucasus
South Caucasus envoy Peter Semneby said that "Russia's actions in the Georgia spy row have damaged its credibility as a neutral peacekeeper in the EU's Black Sea
Black Sea neighbourhood."[55] 2008 war[edit] Main article: Russo-Georgian War Tensions between Georgia and Russia
Russia began escalating in April 2008.[56][57][58] A bomb explosion on 1 August 2008 targeted a car transporting Georgian peacekeepers. South Ossetians
Ossetians were responsible for instigating this incident, which marked the opening of hostilities and injured five Georgian servicemen. In response,[59] several South Ossetian militiamen were hit.[60] South Ossetian separatists began shelling Georgian villages on 1 August. These artillery attacks caused Georgian servicemen to return fire periodically since 1 August.[56][60][61][62][63] At around 19:00 on 7 August 2008, Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili announced a unilateral ceasefire and called for peace talks.[64] However, escalating assaults against Georgian villages (located in the South Ossetian conflict zone) were soon matched with gunfire from Georgian troops,[65][66] who then proceeded to move in the direction of the capital of the self-proclaimed Republic
Republic of South Ossetia
Ossetia (Tskhinvali) on the night of 8 August, reaching its centre in the morning of 8 August.[67] One Georgian diplomat told Russian newspaper Kommersant
Kommersant on 8 August that by taking control of Tskhinvali, Tbilisi
Tbilisi wanted to demonstrate that Georgia wouldn't tolerate killing of Georgian citizens.[68] According to Russian military
Russian military expert Pavel Felgenhauer, the Ossetian provocation was aimed at triggering the Georgian response, which was needed as a pretext for premeditated Russian military
Russian military invasion.[69] According to Georgian intelligence,[70] and several Russian media reports, parts of the regular (non-peacekeeping) Russian Army had already moved to South Ossetian territory through the Roki Tunnel
Roki Tunnel before the Georgian military action.[71] Russia
Russia accused Georgia of "aggression against South Ossetia",[35] and launched a large-scale land, air and sea invasion of Georgia with the pretext of "peace enforcement" operation on 8 August 2008.[62] Russian airstrikes against targets within Georgia were also launched.[72] Abkhaz forces opened a second front on 9 August by attacking the Kodori Gorge, held by Georgia.[73] Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali was seized by the Russian military
Russian military by 10 August.[72] Russian forces occupied the Georgian cities of Zugdidi,[74] Senaki,[75] Poti,[76] and Gori (the last one after the ceasefire agreement was negotiated).[77] Russian Black Sea Fleet
Black Sea Fleet blockaded the Georgian coast.[62] A campaign of ethnic cleansing against Georgians
Georgians in South Ossetia
Ossetia was conducted by South Ossetians,[78] with Georgian villages around Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali being destroyed after the war had ended.[79] The war displaced 192,000 people,[80] and while many were able to return to their homes after the war, a year later around 30,000 ethnic Georgians remained displaced.[81] In an interview published in Kommersant, South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity
Eduard Kokoity said he would not allow Georgians
Georgians to return.[82][83] President of France
President of France Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy negotiated a ceasefire agreement on 12 August 2008.[84] On 17 August, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev announced that Russian forces would begin to pull out of Georgia the following day.[85] Russia
Russia recognised Abkhazia
Abkhazia and South Ossetia
Ossetia as separate republics on 26 August.[86] In response to Russia's recognition, the Georgian government severed diplomatic relations with Russia.[87] Russian forces left the buffer areas bordering Abkhazia and South Ossetia
Ossetia on 8 October and the European Union
European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia assumed authority over the buffer areas.[88] Since the war, Georgia has maintained that Abkhazia
Abkhazia and South Ossetia
Ossetia are Russian-occupied Georgian territories.[89][90]

Map of South Ossetia
Ossetia (November 2004).

JPKF map indicating Georgian-controlled areas of South Ossetia (hatched shading) in June 2007.[91]

The monument in Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali to the victims of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.

A school in Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali after the fighting during August 2008.

Topographic map of South Ossetia
Ossetia (Polish transcription).

Map of Georgia highlighting South Ossetia
Ossetia (purple) and Abkhazia (green).

Geography and climate[edit] See also: Geography of Georgia (country) South Ossetia
Ossetia is in the very heart of the Caucasus
Caucasus at the juncture of Asia
Asia and Europe, and it occupies the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus
Caucasus Mountain Range and the foothills' part of the Kartalin Valley.[92] South Ossetia
Ossetia is a very mountainous region. The Likhi Range is roughly in the center of South Ossetia,[93] and the plateau that's also roughly in the center of South Ossetia
Ossetia is called Iberia. The Greater Caucasus
Caucasus Mountain Range forms the northern border of South Ossetia
Ossetia with Russia, and the main roads through the mountain range into Russian territory lead through the Roki Tunnel
Roki Tunnel between South and North Ossetia
North Ossetia and the Darial Gorge. The Roki Tunnel
Roki Tunnel was vital for the Russian military
Russian military in the 2008 South Ossetia war
2008 South Ossetia war because it is the only direct route through the Caucasus
Caucasus Mountains. South Ossetia
Ossetia covers an area of about 3,900 km2 (1,506 sq mi),[94] separated by the mountains from the more populous North Ossetia
North Ossetia (which is part of Russia) and extending southwards almost to the Mtkvari
Mtkvari river in Georgia. More than 89% of South Ossetia
Ossetia lies over 1,000 m (3,281 ft) above sea level, and its highest point is Mount Khalatsa
Mount Khalatsa at 3,938 m (12,920 ft) above sea level.[95] Nearby Mount Kazbek
Mount Kazbek is 5,047 m (16,558 ft), and it is of volcanic origin. The region between Kazbek and Shkhara
Shkhara (a distance of about 200 km (124 mi) along the Main Caucasus
Caucasus Range) is dominated by numerous glaciers. Out of the 2,100 glaciers that exist in the Caucasus
Caucasus today, approximately 30% are located within Georgia which South Ossetia
Ossetia forms a part of. The term Lesser Caucasus
Caucasus Mountains is often used to describe the mountainous (highland) areas of southern Georgia that are connected to the Greater Caucasus
Caucasus Mountain Range by the Likhi Range. The overall region can be characterized as being made up of various, interconnected mountain ranges (largely of volcanic origin) and plateaus that do not exceed 3,400 meters (11,155 ft) in elevation. Most of South Ossetia
Ossetia is in the Kura Basin with the rest of it in the Black Sea
Black Sea basin. The Likhi and Racha
Racha ridges act as divide separating these two basins. Major rivers in South Ossetia
Ossetia include the Greater and Little Liakhvi, Ksani, Medzhuda, Tlidon, Canal Saltanis, Ptsa River and host of other tributaries.[95] South Ossetia's climate is affected by subtropical influences from the East and Mediterranean influences from the West. The Greater Caucasus range moderates the local climate by serving as a barrier against cold air from the North, which results in the fact that, even at great heights, it is warmer there than in the Northern Caucasus.[92][95] Climatic zones in South Ossetia
Ossetia are determined by distance from the Black Sea
Black Sea and by altitude. The plains of eastern Georgia are shielded from the influence of the Black Sea
Black Sea by mountains that provide a more continental climate. The foothills and mountainous areas (including the Greater Caucasus Mountains) experience cool, wet summers and snowy winters, with snow cover often exceeding 2 meters in many regions. The penetration of humid air masses from the Black Sea
Black Sea to the West of South Ossetia
Ossetia is often blocked by the Likhi mountain range. The wettest periods of the year in South Ossetia
Ossetia generally occur during spring and autumn while the winter and summer months tend to be the driest. Elevation plays an important role in South Ossetia
Ossetia where climatic conditions above 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) are considerably colder than in any lower-lying areas. The regions that lie above 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) frequently experience frost even during the summer months. The average temperature in South Ossetia
Ossetia in January is around +4 degrees Celsius, and the average temperature in July is around +20.3 degrees Celsius. The average yearly liquid precipitation in South Ossetia
Ossetia is around 598 millimeters.[92] In general, Summer temperatures average 20 °C (68 °F) to 24 °C (75.2 °F) across much of South Ossetia, and winter temperatures average 2 °C (35.6 °F) to 4 °C (39.2 °F). Humidity is relatively low and rainfall across South Ossetia
Ossetia averages 500 to 800 mm (19.7 to 31.5 in) per year. Alpine and highland regions have distinct microclimates though. At higher elevations, precipitation is sometimes twice as heavy as in the eastern plains of Georgia. Alpine conditions begin at about 2,100 m (6,890 ft), and above 3,600 m (11,811 ft) snow and ice are present year-round. South Ossetia's economy is primarily agricultural, although less than 10% of South Ossetia's land area is cultivated. Cereals, fruit and vines are the major produce. Forestry and cattle industries are also maintained. A number of industrial facilities also exist, particularly around the capital, Tskhinvali.

Political status[edit] Main article: International recognition of Abkhazia
Abkhazia and South Ossetia See also: Foreign relations of South Ossetia

Russian Presidential Decree No. 1261 recognising South Ossetian independence.

Following the 2008 South Ossetia
Ossetia war, Russia
Russia recognized South Ossetia as independent.[96] This unilateral recognition by Russia
Russia was met by condemnation from Western Blocs, such as NATO, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the European Council
European Council due to the violation of Georgia's territorial integrity.[97][98][99][100] The EU's diplomatic response to the news was delayed by disagreements between Eastern European states, the UK wanting a harsher response and Germany, France and other states' desire not to isolate Russia.[101] Former US envoy Richard Holbrooke
Richard Holbrooke said the conflict could encourage separatist movements in other former Soviet states along Russia's western border.[102] Several days later, Nicaragua
Nicaragua became the second country to recognize South Ossetia.[96] Venezuela
Venezuela recognized South Ossetia
Ossetia on September 10, 2009, becoming the third UN member state to do so.[103] The European Union, Council of Europe, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and most UN member countries do not recognize South Ossetia
Ossetia as an independent state. The de facto republic governed by the secessionist government held a second independence referendum[104] on 12 November 2006, after its first referendum in 1992 was not recognized by most governments as valid.[105] According to the Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali election authorities, the referendum turned out a majority for independence from Georgia where 99% of South Ossetian voters supported independence and the turnout for the vote was 95%.[106] The referendum was monitored by a team of 34 international observers from Germany, Austria, Poland, Sweden and other countries at 78 polling stations.[107] However, it was not recognized internationally by the UN, European Union, OSCE, NATO
NATO and the Russian Federation, given the lack of ethnic Georgian participation and the illegality of such a referendum without recognition from the Georgian government in Tbilisi.[108] The European Union, OSCE and NATO condemned the referendum. Parallel to the secessionist held referendum and elections, to Eduard Kokoity, the then President of South Ossetia, the Ossetian opposition movement (People of South Ossetia
Ossetia for Peace) organized their own elections contemporaneously in Georgian-controlled areas within South Ossetia, in which Georgian and some Ossetian inhabitants of the region voted in favour of Dmitry Sanakoyev as the alternative President of South Ossetia.[109] The alternative elections of Sanakoyev claimed full support of the ethnic Georgian population.[citation needed] In April 2007, Georgia created the Provisional Administrative Entity of South Ossetia,[110][111][112][113] staffed by ethnic Ossetian members of the separatist movement. Dmitry Sanakoyev was assigned as the leader of the Entity. It was intended that this provisional administration would negotiate with central Georgian authorities regarding its final status and conflict resolution.[114] On 10 May 2007, Sanakoyev was appointed by the President of Georgia
President of Georgia as the Head of South Ossetian Provisional Administrative Entity. On July 13, 2007, Georgia set up a state commission, chaired by the Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli, to develop South Ossetia's autonomous status within the Georgian state. According to the Georgian officials, the status was to be elaborated within the framework of "an all-inclusive dialogue" with all the forces and communities within the Ossetian society.[115] Plans of Integration with the Russian Federation[edit]

Russian military
Russian military bases in South Ossetia
Ossetia as of 2015

On 30 August 2008, Tarzan Kokoity, the Deputy Speaker of South Ossetia's parliament, announced that the region would soon be absorbed into Russia, so that South and North Ossetians
Ossetians could live together in one united Russian state.[116] Russian and South Ossetian forces began giving residents in Akhalgori, the biggest town in the predominantly ethnic Georgian eastern part of South Ossetia, the choice of accepting Russian citizenship or leaving.[117] However, Eduard Kokoity, the then president of South Ossetia, later stated that South Ossetia
Ossetia would not forgo its independence by joining Russia: "We are not going to say no to our independence, which has been achieved at the expense of many lives; South Ossetia
Ossetia has no plans to join Russia." Civil Georgia has said that this statement contradicts previous ones made by Kokoity earlier that day, when he indicated that South Ossetia
Ossetia would join North Ossetia
North Ossetia in the Russian Federation.[116][118] The South Ossetian and Russian presidents signed an "alliance and integration" treaty on 18 March 2015.[119] The agreement includes provisions to incorporate the South Ossetian military into Russia's armed forces, integrate the customs service of South Ossetia
Ossetia into that of Russia's, and commit Russia
Russia to paying state worker salaries in South Ossetia
Ossetia at rates equal to those in the North Caucasus
Caucasus Federal District.[120] The Associated Press
Associated Press described the treaty as calling for "nearly full integration" and compared it to a 2014 agreement between Russia
Russia and Abkhazia.[119] The Georgian Foreign Ministry described the signing of the treaty as "actual annexation" of the disputed region by Russia, and the United States
United States and European Union said they would not recognize it.[121][122] In another move towards integration with the Russian Federation, South Ossetian President Leonid Tibilov
Leonid Tibilov proposed in December 2015 a name change to "South Ossetia–Alania" — in analogy with "North Ossetia–Alania", a Russian federal subject. Tibilov furthermore suggested holding a referendum on joining the Russian Federation prior to April 2017, which would lead to a united "Ossetia–Alania".[123] In April 2016, Tibilov said he intended to hold the referendum before August of that year.[124][125] However, on 30 May, Tibilov postponed the referendum until after the presidential election due in April 2017.[126] At the name-change referendum, nearly 80 percent of those who voted endorsed the name-change, while the presidential race was won by Anatoliy Bibilov
Anatoliy Bibilov — against the incumbent, Tibilov, who had been supported by Moscow and who, unlike Bibilov, was ready to heed Moscow′s wish for the integration referendum not be held any time soon.[127] Law on Occupied Territories of Georgia[edit] Main article: Occupied territories of Georgia

Landscape in South Ossetia's Dzhava District.

In late October 2008 President Saakashvili signed into law legislation on the occupied territories passed by the Georgian Parliament. The law covers the breakaway regions of Abkhazia
Abkhazia and Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali (territories of former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast).[128][129][130] The law spells out restrictions on free movement and economic activity in the territories. In particular, according to the law, foreign citizens should enter the two breakaway regions only through Georgia proper. Entry into Abkhazia
Abkhazia should be carried out from the Zugdidi
Zugdidi District and into South Ossetia
Ossetia from the Gori District. The major road leading to South Ossetia
Ossetia from the rest of Georgia passes through the Gori District.[citation needed] The legislation, however, also lists "special" cases in which entry into the breakaway regions will not be regarded as illegal. It stipulates that a special permit on entry into the breakaway regions can be issued if the trip there "serves Georgia’s state interests; peaceful resolution of the conflict; de-occupation or humanitarian purposes." The law also bans any type of economic activity – entrepreneurial or non- entrepreneurial, if such activities require permits, licenses or registration in accordance with Georgian legislation. It also bans air, sea and railway communications and international transit via the regions, mineral exploration and money transfers. The provision covering economic activities is retroactive, going back to 1990.[citation needed] The law says that the Russian Federation – the state which has carried out military occupation – is fully responsible for the violation of human rights in Abkhazia
Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Russian Federation, according to the document, is also responsible for compensation of material and moral damage inflicted on Georgian citizens, stateless persons and foreign citizens, who are in Georgia and enter the occupied territories with appropriate permits. The law also says that de facto state agencies and officials operating in the occupied territories are regarded by Georgia as illegal. The law will remain in force until "the full restoration of Georgian jurisdiction" over the breakaway regions is realised.[citation needed] In November 2009, during the opening ceremony of a new Georgian Embassy building in Kiev, Ukraine, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili stated that residents of South Ossetia
Ossetia and Abkhazia
Abkhazia could also use its facilities: "I would like to assure you, my dear friends, that this is your home, as well, and here you will always be able to find support and understanding".[131] Politics[edit]

South Ossetia-Alania

This article is part of a series on the politics and government of South Ossetia

Constitution President

Anatoliy Bibilov

Prime Minister

Erik Pukhayev

Government Parliament

Chairman: Pyotr Gassiev

Political parties Recent elections

Presidential: 2012 2017

Parliamentary: 2009 2014

Georgian–Ossetian conflict

See also[edit]

Georgia portal Geography portal Europe portal

Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations South Ossetian passport Vehicle registration plates of South Ossetia Russia–South Ossetia
Ossetia relations Abkhazia–South Ossetia
Ossetia relations 2008 Georgia– Russia
Russia crisis Military of South Ossetia

Notes[edit]

^ South Ossetia
Ossetia (Ossetian: Хуссар Ирыстон, Khussar Iryston; Georgian: სამხრეთი ოსეთი, Samxreti Oseti; Russian: Южная Осетия, Yuzhnaya Osetiya) Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali Region (Georgian: ცხინვალის რეგიონი, Tsxinvalis regioni; Russian: Цхинвальский регион, Tskhinvalskiy region)

References[edit]

^ "Unrecognized states: South Ossetia" (in Russian). 2014-01-28. ^ a b population census 2015 ^ Presidential Elections in South Ossetia
Elections in South Ossetia – Plan B

The first round of voting was accompanied by a referendum in which the Ossetians
Ossetians were to decide whether Russian should become the second official language of South Ossetia. Nearly 85 per cent of the voters supported the referendum.

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Kommersant Moscow". Commersant.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-06-22. ^ International Crisis Group
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Ossetia profile". BBC. Retrieved 18 February 2014. ^ "Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation". Republic
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Books

ОСЕТИНСКИЙ ВОПРОС [Ossetian Question] (in Russian). Tbilisi. 1994. Archived from the original on 2014-06-21. Souleimanov, Emil (2013). Understanding Ethnopolitical Conflict: Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia
Abkhazia Wars Reconsidered. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137280237.

External links[edit]

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