Roki Tunnel
Encyclopedia
Greater Caucasus
Greater Caucasus , sometimes translated as "Caucasus Major", "Big Caucasus" or "Large Caucasus") is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains....
Mountains, north of the village Upper Roka. It is the only road joining North Ossetia-Alania
North Ossetia-Alania
The Republic of North Ossetia–Alania is a federal subject of Russia . Its population according to the 2010 Census was 712,877.-Name:...
in the Russian Federation into South Ossetia
South Ossetia
South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic....
, a breakaway republic of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
. The road is manned at the town of Nizhny Zaramag in North Ossetia and is sometimes referred to as the Roki-Nizhny Zaramag border crossing.
The tunnel, completed by the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
authorities in 1985, is one of only a handful of routes that cross the North Caucasus Range. It is at about 2,000 meters altitude and its length is 3,660 meters, and near the Roki Pass at about 3,000 meters altitude, which can only be used in summer. The other routes between Georgia and Russia include the Kazbegi-Verkhni Lars customs checkpoint on the Georgian Military Road
Georgian Military Road
The Georgian Military Road is the historic name for a major route through the Caucasus from Georgia to Russia. Alternative routes across the mountains include the Ossetian Military Road and the Transkam.-Route:...
, closed since June 2006, and the Gantiadi
Gantiadi
Gantiadi is a scientific journal published in Georgia. It is based in the city of Kutaisi....
-Adler
Adlersky City District
Adlersky City District is the southernmost of four city districts of the city of Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, lying along the Black Sea coast near the southern Russian border with Abkhazia, Georgia...
crossing in Abkhazia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
which Georgia asserts functions illegally.
The tunnel has been important throughout the Georgian-Ossetian conflict
Georgian-Ossetian conflict
The Georgian–Ossetian conflict refers to the ethno-political conflict in Georgia's autonomous region of South Ossetia, which evolved in 1989 and developed into a 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. Despite a declared ceasefire and numerous peace efforts, the conflict remains unresolved, and minor armed...
. The South Ossetian authorities use tolls levied on tunnel traffic as one of their main sources of revenue. The Georgian government – backed by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
– has long called for the South Ossetian side of the tunnel to be placed under the control of international monitors, rather than by the South Ossetian secessionists and its Russian forces. Since the Russian authorities blocked the Kazbegi-Verkhni Lars customs checkpoint in June 2006 the Roki Tunnel has been the only available road route from Russia to South Ossetia. The tunnel was also used as a supply route for the Russian troops during the 2008 South Ossetia War
2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....
.
External links
- History of the tunnel (in The Georgian Times, Sep 10, 2008)