South Ossetia
Encyclopedia
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.
South Ossetians declared independence
from Georgia
in 1990, calling themselves the "Republic of South Ossetia". The Georgian government responded by abolishing South Ossetia's autonomy and trying to retake the region by force. This led to the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. Georgian fighting against those controlling South Ossetia occurred on two other occasions, in 2004 and 2008. The last conflict led to the 2008 South Ossetia war
, during which Ossetian separatists and Russian troops gained full, de facto control of the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.
In the wake of the 2008 South Ossetia War, Russia
, Nicaragua
, Venezuela
, Nauru
and Tuvalu
recognized South Ossetia as an independent republic.
Georgia does not recognize the existence of South Ossetia as a political entity, and considers most of its territory a part of the Shida Kartli
region under Georgian sovereignty, occupied by the Russian army.
are believed to originate from the Alans
, a Sarmatian tribe. They became Christian
during the early Middle Ages
, under the Byzantine
and Georgian influences. Under Mongol
rule, they were pushed out of their medieval homeland south of the Don River
in present-day Russia and part migrated towards and over the Caucasus
mountains (into the kingdom of Georgia and into the lands of present-day North Ossetia-Alania
), where they formed three distinct territorial entities. Digor in the west came under the influence of the neighboring Kabardins
, who introduced Islam
. Kudar in the south became what is now South Ossetia, part of the historical Georgian principality of Samachablo
where Ossetians found refuge from Mongol invaders. Irón in the north became what is now North Ossetia, under Russian rule from 1767. The vast majority of the Ossetians are Orthodox Christians; there is also a significant Muslim minority.
. Following the Russian Revolution
, South Ossetia became a part of the Menshevik
Georgian Democratic Republic, while North Ossetia became a part of the Terek Soviet Republic
. "The Georgian Menshevik government accused Ossetians of cooperating with Russian Bolsheviks. A series of Ossetian rebellions
took place between 1918 and 1920 during which claims were made to an independent territory. Violence broke out in 1920 when Georgian Mensheviks sent National Guards and regular army units to Tskhinvali to crush the uprisings. Ossetian sources claim that about 5,000 Ossetians were killed and more than 13,000 subsequently died from hunger and epidemics"
The Soviet Georgian government established after the Red Army invasion of Georgia
in 1921 created the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
in April 1922. Although the Ossetians had their own language (Ossetian
), Russian and Georgian
were administrative/state languages. Under the rule of Georgia's government during Soviet times, it enjoyed partial autonomy, including speaking the Ossetian
language and teaching it in schools.
The tensions in the region began to rise amid the rising nationalism among both Georgians and Ossetians in 1989. Before this, the two communities of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
of 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 intermarriages.
The influential South Ossetian Popular Front (Ademon Nykhas) was created in 1988. On 10 November 1989, the South Ossetian regional council asked the Georgian Supreme Council (in Russian: Верховный Совет Грузии) for the region to be upgraded to that of "autonomous republic
". In 1989, the Georgian Supreme Council established Georgian
as the principal language countrywide.
The Georgian Supreme Council adopted a law barring regional parties in summer 1990. This was interpreted by Ossetians as a move against Ademon Nykhas and led to Ossetians proclaiming South Ossetia as the South Ossetian Democratic Republic
on September 20, 1990, fully sovereign within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR). Ossetians boycotted subsequent Georgian parliamentary elections and held their own contest in December. The Georgian government headed by Zviad Gamsakhurdia
declared this election illegitimate and abolished South Ossetia's autonomous status altogether on 11 December 1990.
Violent conflict broke out towards the end of 1990. Russian and Georgian interior ministry troops were dispatched to South Ossetia in December, with war starting on January 5, 1991, when Georgian troops entered Tskhinvali. The fighting was characterised by general disregard for international humanitarian law by uncontrollable militias, with both sides reporting atrocities. During the war, many South Ossetian villages were attacked and burned, as were Georgian houses and schools in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia. As a result, approximately 1,000 died and 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 and settled in other parts of Georgia. Many South Ossetians were resettled in uninhabited areas of North Ossetia from which the Ingush
had been expelled by Stalin
in 1944, leading to conflicts between Ossetians and Ingush over the right of residence in former Ingush territory.
The western part of South Ossetia was affected by the 1991 Racha-Java earthquake, which killed 200 and left 300 families homeless.
In 1992, Georgia accepted a ceasefire
to avoid a large scale confrontation with Russia. The government of Georgia and South Ossetian separatists reached an agreement to avoid the use of force against one another, and Georgia pledged not to impose sanctions against South Ossetia. However, the Georgian government still retained control over substantial portions of South Ossetia, including the town of Akhalgori
. A 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. In June 2004, serious tensions began to rise as the Georgian authorities strengthened their efforts to bring the region back under Tbilisi rule, by establishing an alternative pro-Georgian government for South Ossetia in Tbilisi. Georgia also sent police to close down a vast black market complex, which was one of the region's chief sources of revenue, leading to fighting by Georgian troops and peacekeepers against South Ossetian militiamen and freelance fighters from Russia. Hostage takings, shootouts and occasional bombings left dozens dead and wounded. A ceasefire deal was reached on 13 August though it was repeatedly violated.
The Georgian government protested against the continually increasing Russian economic and political presence in the region and against the uncontrolled military of the South Ossetian side. It also considered the peacekeeping force (consisting in equal parts of South Ossetians, North Ossetians, Russians and Georgians) to be non-neutral and demanded its replacement. This criticism was supported by the U.S. senator Richard Lugar. EU South Caucasus envoy Peter Semneby said later that "Russia's actions in the Georgia spy row
have damaged its credibility as a neutral peacekeeper in the EU's Black Sea neighbourhood." Later, Joseph Biden (Chairman, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee), Richard Lugar, and
Mel Martinez
sponsored a resolution accusing Russia of attempting to undermine Georgia's territorial integrity and called for replacing the Russian-manned peacekeeping force operating under CIS mandate.
The prelude to the conflict began with violent clashes on Wednesday, 6 August 2008 with both sides claiming having been fired upon by the other. Separatist authorities in South Ossetia said that Georgia shelled South Ossetian villages, killing six Ossetians. The Georgian interior ministry claimed Georgian forces had returned fire only after South Ossetian positions shelled Georgian-controlled villages injuring six civilians and one Georgian policeman. The Georgian interior ministry accused the South Ossetian side of "trying to create an illusion of serious escalation, an illusion of war." In addition, the commander of the Georgian peacekeeping unit, General Kurashvili, accused the Russian peacekeepers of participating in the shelling of the Georgian villages. South Ossetia denied provoking the conflict.
According to Moscow Defense Brief
, over the course of several days in early August, the Georgians concentrated a significant number of troops and equipment, including the full 2nd, 3rd and 4th Infantry Brigades, the Artillery Brigade, the elements of the 1st Infantry Brigade, the separate Gori Tank Battalion, among others — all in all, up to 16,000 men — in the Georgian enclaves in the South Ossetian conflict zone, under cover of providing support for the exchange of fire with Ossetian formations." International Institute for Strategic Studies
and Western intelligence experts give a lower estimate, saying that the Georgians had amassed about 12,000 troops and 75 tanks on the South Ossetian border by 7 August.
On 7 August, Georgian and Ossetian forces agreed on a ceasefire.
However, in the first hours of 8 August 2008, Georgia launched a massive attack. According to a report prepared by the Georgian government, the Georgian army acted after a large number of Russian troops and around 150 armored vehicles and trucks entering the South Ossetia territory through the Roki tunnel on the night of August 7. Allegedly the Russian military and Ossetian militia started a heavy artillery bombardment of the Georgian populated village Tamarasheni located on the outskirts of Tskhinvali at 9pm on August 7. However, an OSCE monitoring group in Tskhinvali did not record outgoing artillery fire from the South Ossetian side in the hours before the start of Georgian bombardment, and NATO officials attest to minor skirmishes but nothing that amounted to a provocation, according to Der Spiegel
. Georgia's claim that it responded to a large-scale Russian invasion has received little support from Georgia's allies, the US and NATO.
The accounts of who started the war remains contradictory. Erosi Kitsmarishvili
, Georgia's former ambassador to Moscow and a confidant of President Mikheil Saakashvili
, in his testimony to the Parliament of Georgia
said that Georgian government was preparing to start the war in South Ossetia.
After a prolonged artillery attack, Georgian troops with tanks and air support entered South Ossetian-controlled territory. On the same day, twelve Russian peacekeepers were killed and nearly 150 injured. Heavy fighting was reported in Tskhinvali for most of 8 August, with Georgian forces attempting to push Ossetians slowly from the city. The following day, Russia deployed forces into South Ossetia to remove Georgian forces from South Ossetia. Additionally, Russia targeted Georgia's military infrastructure to reduce Georgia's ability to conduct another incursion. Russian troops and the South Ossetians pushed the Georgian army out of South Ossetia and moved farther, occupying Gori
, Kareli
, Kaspi
and Igoeti in Georgia proper. Parallel to these events Russian forces also entered western Georgia from another breakaway region of Abkhazia
occupying Zugdidi, Senaki and the major Georgian port of Poti
.
Following an EU sponsored cease-fire between Georgia and Russia, Russia pulled its forces back to Russia and South Ossetia, finishing the withdrawal by 8 October. The war left mostly Ossetian city Tskhinvali
in ruins, ethnic Georgian villages burnt and razed to the ground, leaving 24,000 Ossetians and 15,000 ethnic Georgians displaced, according to an Amnesty International
report.
, separated by the mountains from the more populous North Ossetia (part of Russia) and extending southwards almost to the Mtkvari river in Georgia. It is extremely mountainous, with most of the region lying over 1000 m (3,281 ft) above sea level, and its highest point is the Mount Khalatsa
, at 3938 m (12,920 ft) above sea level. Its 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
.
, Council of Europe
, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and most UN member countries do not recognize South Ossetia as an independent state. The de facto republic governed by the secessionist government held a second independence referendum
on 12 November 2006, after its first referendum in 1992 was not recognized by most governments as valid. According to the 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%. The referendum was monitored by a team of 34 international observers from Germany, Austria
, Poland
, Sweden
and other countries at 78 polling stations. However, it was not recognized internationally by the UN, European Union, OSCE, NATO and the Russian Federation, given the lack of ethnic Georgian participation and the legality of such a referendum without recognition from the Georgian government in Tbilisi
. The European Union, OSCE and NATO condemned the referendum.
Parallel to the secessionist held referendum and elections, the Ossetian opposition movement (People of South Ossetia for Peace
) to Eduard Kokoity
, the current President of South Ossetia
, organized their own elections in contemporaneously 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. The alternative elections of Sanakoyev claimed full support of the ethnic Georgian population.
In April 2007, Georgia created the Provisional Administrative Entity of South Ossetia
and 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. On 10 May 2007, Sanakoyev was appointed by the 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.
Following the 2008 South Ossetia war
, Russia recognized South Ossetia as independent. This unilateral recognition by Russia was met by condemnation from Western
Blocs, such as NATO, OSCE and the European Council
due to the violation of Georgia's territorial integrity. The EU's diplomatic response to the news was delayed by disagreements between Eastern Europe
an states and the UK wanting a harsher response and Germany, France, and other states' desire not to isolate Russia. Former US envoy Richard Holbrooke
said the conflict could encourage separatist movements in other former Soviet states along Russia's western border. Several days later, Nicaragua became the second country to recognize South Ossetia. Venezuela
recognised South Ossetia on September 10, 2009, becoming the third UN member state to do so.
On August 30, 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 could live together in one united Russian state. 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. However, Eduard Kokoity
, the current president of South Ossetia, later stated that South 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 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 would join North Ossetia
in the Russian Federation.
During the opening ceremony of a new building of the Georgian Embassy in Kiev
(Ukraine
) in November 2009 Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
stated that residents of South Ossetia and 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".
and into South Ossetia from the Gori District. The major road leading to South Ossetia from the rest of Georgia passes through the Gori District.
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.
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 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 as "illegal." The law will remain in force until "the full restoration" of Georgian jurisdiction over the breakaway regions is realised.
, South Ossetia consisted of a checkerboard of Georgian-inhabited and Ossetian-inhabited towns and villages. The largely Ossetian capital city of Tskhinvali
and most of the other Ossetian-inhabited communities were governed by the separatist government, while the Georgian-inhabited villages and towns were administered by the Georgian government. This close proximity and the intermixing of the two communities has made the Georgian–Ossetian conflict particularly dangerous, since any attempt to create an ethnically pure territory would involve population transfer
s on a large scale.
The political dispute has yet to be resolved and the South Ossetian separatist authorities govern the region with effective independence from Tbilisi. Although talks have been held periodically between the two sides, little progress was made under the government of Eduard Shevardnadze
(1993–2003). His successor Mikheil Saakashvili
(elected 2004) made the reassertion of Georgian governmental authority a political priority. Having successfully put an end to the de facto independence of the southwestern province of Ajaria in May 2004, he pledged to seek a similar solution in South Ossetia. After the 2004 clashes, the Georgian government has intensified its efforts to bring the problem to international attention. On 25 January 2005, President Saakashvili presented a Georgian vision for resolving the South Ossetian conflict at the PACE
session in Strasbourg
. Late in October, the US government and the OSCE expressed their support to the Georgian action plan presented by Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli
at the OSCE Permanent Council at Vienna
on 27 October 2005. On 6 December, the OSCE Ministerial Council in Ljubljana
adopted a resolution supporting the Georgian peace plan which was subsequently rejected by the South Ossetian de facto authorities.
(the first referendum had not been recognized by the international community as valid in 1992) on 12 November 2006. The voters would decide on whether or not South Ossetia "should preserve its present de facto status of an independent state". Georgia denounced the move as a "political absurdity". However, on 13 September 2006, the Council of Europe
(CoE) Secretary General Terry Davis commented on the problem, stating that it would be unlikely that anyone would accept the results of this referendum and instead urged South Ossetian government to engage in the negotiations with Georgia. On 13 September 2006 European Union
Special Representative to the South Caucasus
, Peter Semneby, while visiting Moscow
, said: "results of the South Ossetian independence referendum will have no meaning for the European Union". Peter Semneby also added that this referendum would not contribute to the peaceful conflict resolution process in South Ossetia.
Ethnic Ossetians and Russians living in South Ossetia nearly unanimously approved a referendum on 12 November 2006 opting for independence from Georgia. The referendum was hugely popular, winning between 98 and 99 percent of the ballots, flag waving and celebration marked were seen across South Ossetia, but elsewhere observers were less enthusiastic. Ethnic Georgians living in South Ossetia boycotted the referendum. International critics claimed that the move could worsen regional tensions, and the Tbilisi government thoroughly discounted the results. "Everybody needs to understand, once and for all, that no amount of referenda or elections will move Georgia to give up that which belongs to the Georgian people by God's will," declared Georgi Tsagareishvili, leader of the Industrialist’s bloc in Georgia's parliament.
The People of South Ossetia for Peace
was founded in October 2006 by the ethnic Ossetians who were outspoken critics and presented a serious opposition to secessionist authorities of Eduard Kokoity.
The group headed by the former defence minister and then prime minister of secessionist government Dmitry Sanakoyev
organized the so-called alternative presidential election, on 12 November 2006– parallel to those held by the secessionist authorities in Tskhinvali. High voter turnout was reported by the alternative electoral commission, which estimated over 42,000 voters from both Ossetian (Java district and Tskhinvali) and Georgian (Eredvi, Tamarasheni, etc.) communities of South Ossetia and Sanakoyev reportedly received 96% of the votes. Another referendum was organized shortly after asking for the start of negotiations with Georgia on a federal arrangement for South Ossetia received 94% support. However, People of South Ossetia for Peace turned down a request from a Georgian NGO, “Multinational Georgia”, to monitor it and the released results were very likely to be inflated.
According to the International Crisis Group
, "Georgian government’s steps are non-violent and development-oriented but their implementation is unilateral and so assertive that they are contributing to a perceptible and dangerous rise in tensions".
Initially the entity of Sanakoyev was known as "the Alternative Government of South Ossetia", but during the course of 2007 the central authorities of Georgia
decided to give it official status and on 13 April the formation of "Provisional Administration of South Ossetia" was announced. On 10 May 2007 Dmitry Sanakoyev was appointed head of the provisional administrative entity in South Ossetia.
An EU fact finding team visited the region in January 2007. Per Eklund, Head of the Delegation of the European Community to Georgiahttp://www.delgeo.ec.europa.eu/ said that “None of the two alternatives do we consider legitimate [in South Ossetia].”
The republic held its fourth presidential elections in November 2011. Eduard Kokoity was not allowed to run for president for the third time by the constitution. Anatoly Bibilov, supported by Russian authorities and Alla Dzhioeva, backed by main South Ossetian opposition figures, got about a quarter votes each and will participate in the run-off vote.
roughly two-thirds of the population of South Ossetia was Ossetian
and 25-30% was Georgian
. The eastern quarter of the country, around the town and district of Akhalgori
, is predominantly Georgian, while the center and west are predominantly Ossete. Much of the mountainous north is scarcely inhabited. (See map at Languages of the Caucasus
.)
Because the statistical office of Georgia was not able to conduct the 2002 Georgian census in South Ossetia, the present composition of the population of South Ossetia is unknown, although according to some estimates there were 47,000 ethnic Ossetians and 17,500 ethnic Georgians in South Ossetia in 2007.
2009 Population Estimate: During the war, HRW stated that 15,000 Georgians fled and a total of 500 citizens of South Ossetia were killed. This left the estimated population at 54,500. However Russia's reconstruction plan involving 600 million dollars in aid to South Ossetia may have spurred immigration into the De facto independent Republic, especially with Russia's movement of 3,700 soldiers into South Ossetia, in order to prevent further incursions. RIA Novosti places the population of South Ossetia at 80,000 although, this figure is probably too optimistic.
that used to link Russia and Georgia, from which the South Ossetian government reportedly obtains as much as a third of its budget by levying customs duties on freight traffic.
President Eduard Kokoity has admitted that his country is seriously dependent on Russian economic assistance.
South Ossetia's poverty threshold
stood at 3,062 rubles a month in the fourth quarter of 2007, or 23.5 percent below Russia’s average, while South Ossetians have incomparably smaller incomes.
Before the 2008 South Ossetia war
, South Ossetia's industry consisted of 22 small factories, with a total production of 61.6 million rubles in 2006. In 2007, only 7 factories were functioning. In March, 2009, it was reported that most of the production facilities were standing idle and were in need of repairs. Even successful factories have a shortage of workers, are in debt and have a shortage of working capital. One of the largest local enterprises is the Emalprovod factory, which has 130 employees.
The South Ossetian authorities are planning to improve finances by boosting the local production of flour and thus reducing the need for flour imports. For this purpose, the area planted with wheat was increased tenfold in 2008 from 130 hectares to 1,500 hectares. The wheat harvest in 2008 was expected to be 2,500 tons of grain. The South Ossetian Agriculture ministry also imported some tractors in 2008, and was expecting delivery of more farm machinery in 2009.
Russia planned to spend 10 billion rubles in the restoration of South Ossetia in 2009.
Much of the economy is based around the presence of Russian military forces.
South Caucasus
The South Caucasus is a geopolitical region located on the border of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia also referred to as Transcaucasia, or The Trans-Caucasus...
, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was an autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union created within the Georgian SSR on April 20, 1922. Its autonomy was revoked on December 10, 1990 by the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR, leading to the First South Ossetian War...
within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
South Ossetians declared independence
Declaration of independence
A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...
from 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...
in 1990, calling themselves the "Republic of South Ossetia". The Georgian government responded by abolishing South Ossetia's autonomy and trying to retake the region by force. This led to the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. Georgian fighting against those controlling South Ossetia occurred on two other occasions, in 2004 and 2008. The last conflict led to 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....
, during which Ossetian separatists and Russian troops gained full, de facto control of the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.
In the wake of the 2008 South Ossetia War, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Nauru
Nauru
Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...
and Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
recognized South Ossetia as an independent republic.
Georgia does not recognize the existence of South Ossetia as a political entity, and considers most of its territory a part of the Shida Kartli
Shida Kartli
Shida Kartli is a region in Georgia. It consists of the following districts: Gori, Kaspi, Kareli, Java, Khashuri.The northern part of the region, namely Java, and northern territories of Kareli and Gori, is controlled by the authorities of the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia since...
region under Georgian sovereignty, occupied by the Russian army.
History
Medieval and early modern period
The OssetiansOssetians
The Ossetians are an Iranic ethnic group of the Caucasus Mountains, eponymous of the region known as Ossetia.They speak Ossetic, an Iranian language of the Eastern branch, with most also fluent in Russian as a second language....
are believed to originate from the Alans
Alans
The Alans, or the Alani, occasionally termed Alauni or Halani, were a group of Sarmatian tribes, nomadic pastoralists of the 1st millennium AD who spoke an Eastern Iranian language which derived from Scytho-Sarmatian and which in turn evolved into modern Ossetian.-Name:The various forms of Alan —...
, a Sarmatian tribe. They became Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
during the early Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, under the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
and Georgian influences. Under Mongol
Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire , initially named as Greater Mongol State was a great empire during the 13th and 14th centuries...
rule, they were pushed out of their medieval homeland south of the Don River
Don River (Russia)
The Don River is one of the major rivers of Russia. It rises in the town of Novomoskovsk 60 kilometres southeast from Tula, southeast of Moscow, and flows for a distance of about 1,950 kilometres to the Sea of Azov....
in present-day Russia and part migrated towards and over the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
mountains (into the kingdom of Georgia and into the lands of present-day 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:...
), where they formed three distinct territorial entities. Digor in the west came under the influence of the neighboring Kabardins
Kabard
Kabarda or Kabard ; are terms referring to a people of the northern Caucasus more commonly known by the plural term Kabardin . Originally they Kabarda or Kabard ; are terms referring to a people of the northern Caucasus more commonly known by the plural term Kabardin (or Kebertei as they term...
, who introduced Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Kudar in the south became what is now South Ossetia, part of the historical Georgian principality of Samachablo
Samachablo
Samachablo is a Georgian historical district in Shida Kartli, Georgia, which currently lies entirely within the disputed South Ossetia Region. The name Samachablo derives from the Georgian aristocratic family of Machabeli who once held possession of the area...
where Ossetians found refuge from Mongol invaders. Irón in the north became what is now North Ossetia, under Russian rule from 1767. The vast majority of the Ossetians are Orthodox Christians; there is also a significant Muslim minority.
South Ossetia as a part of the Soviet Union
The territory that is now modern-day South Ossetia joined Russia in 1801, along with Georgia proper, and absorbed into the Russian EmpireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. Following the Russian Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, South Ossetia became a part of the Menshevik
Menshevik
The Mensheviks were a faction of the Russian revolutionary movement that emerged in 1904 after a dispute between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, both members of the Russian Social-Democratic Labour Party. The dispute originated at the Second Congress of that party, ostensibly over minor issues...
Georgian Democratic Republic, while North Ossetia became a part of the Terek Soviet Republic
Terek Soviet Republic
Terek Soviet Republic was created within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic on the territory of the Terek Oblast. Its capital was Pyatigorsk, then Vladikavkaz. After July 1918 it was part of the North Caucasian Soviet Republic....
. "The Georgian Menshevik government accused Ossetians of cooperating with Russian Bolsheviks. A series of Ossetian rebellions
Georgian-Ossetian conflict (1918-1920)
The Georgian–Ossetian conflict comprised a series of uprisings, which took place in the Ossetian-inhabited areas of what is now South Ossetia, a breakaway republic in Georgia, against the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic and then the Menshevik-dominated Democratic Republic of Georgia...
took place between 1918 and 1920 during which claims were made to an independent territory. Violence broke out in 1920 when Georgian Mensheviks sent National Guards and regular army units to Tskhinvali to crush the uprisings. Ossetian sources claim that about 5,000 Ossetians were killed and more than 13,000 subsequently died from hunger and epidemics"
The Soviet Georgian government established after the Red Army invasion of Georgia
Red Army invasion of Georgia
The Red Army invasion of Georgia also known as the Soviet–Georgian War or the Soviet invasion of Georgia was a military campaign by the Soviet Russian Red Army against the Democratic Republic of Georgia aimed at overthrowing the Social-Democratic government and installing the Bolshevik regime...
in 1921 created the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was an autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union created within the Georgian SSR on April 20, 1922. Its autonomy was revoked on December 10, 1990 by the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR, leading to the First South Ossetian War...
in April 1922. Although the Ossetians had their own language (Ossetian
Ossetic language
Ossetian , also sometimes called Ossete, is an East Iranian language spoken in Ossetia, a region on the slopes of the Caucasus Mountains....
), Russian and Georgian
Georgian language
Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
were administrative/state languages. Under the rule of Georgia's government during Soviet times, it enjoyed partial autonomy, including speaking the Ossetian
Ossetic language
Ossetian , also sometimes called Ossete, is an East Iranian language spoken in Ossetia, a region on the slopes of the Caucasus Mountains....
language and teaching it in schools.
1989–2008
South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast
The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was an autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union created within the Georgian SSR on April 20, 1922. Its autonomy was revoked on December 10, 1990 by the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR, leading to the First South Ossetian War...
of Georgian SSR had been living in peace with each other except for the 1918-1920 events
Georgian-Ossetian conflict (1918-1920)
The Georgian–Ossetian conflict comprised a series of uprisings, which took place in the Ossetian-inhabited areas of what is now South Ossetia, a breakaway republic in Georgia, against the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic and then the Menshevik-dominated Democratic Republic of Georgia...
. Both ethnicities have had a high level of interaction and high rates of intermarriages.
The influential South Ossetian Popular Front (Ademon Nykhas) was created in 1988. On 10 November 1989, the South Ossetian regional council asked the Georgian Supreme Council (in Russian: Верховный Совет Грузии) for the region to be upgraded to that of "autonomous republic
Autonomous republics of the Soviet Union
Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union were administrative units created for certain nations. The ASSRs had a status lower than the union republics of the Soviet Union, but higher than the autonomous oblasts and the autonomous okrugs....
". In 1989, the Georgian Supreme Council established Georgian
Georgian language
Georgian is the native language of the Georgians and the official language of Georgia, a country in the Caucasus.Georgian is the primary language of about 4 million people in Georgia itself, and of another 500,000 abroad...
as the principal language countrywide.
The Georgian Supreme Council adopted a law barring regional parties in summer 1990. This was interpreted by Ossetians as a move against Ademon Nykhas and led to Ossetians proclaiming South Ossetia as the South Ossetian Democratic Republic
Republics of the Soviet Union
The Republics of the Soviet Union or the Union Republics of the Soviet Union were ethnically-based administrative units that were subordinated directly to the Government of the Soviet Union...
on September 20, 1990, fully sovereign within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
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....
(USSR). Ossetians boycotted subsequent Georgian parliamentary elections and held their own contest in December. The Georgian government headed by Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Gamsakhurdia
Zviad Gamsakhurdia was a dissident, scientist and writer, who became the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era...
declared this election illegitimate and abolished South Ossetia's autonomous status altogether on 11 December 1990.
Violent conflict broke out towards the end of 1990. Russian and Georgian interior ministry troops were dispatched to South Ossetia in December, with war starting on January 5, 1991, when Georgian troops entered Tskhinvali. The fighting was characterised by general disregard for international humanitarian law by uncontrollable militias, with both sides reporting atrocities. During the war, many South Ossetian villages were attacked and burned, as were Georgian houses and schools in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia. As a result, approximately 1,000 died and 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 and settled in other parts of Georgia. Many South Ossetians were resettled in uninhabited areas of North Ossetia from which the Ingush
Ingush people
The Ingush are a native ethnic group of the North Caucasus, mostly inhabiting the Russian republic of Ingushetia. They refer to themselves as Ghalghai . The Ingush are predominantly Sunni Muslims and speak the Ingush language...
had been expelled by Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
in 1944, leading to conflicts between Ossetians and Ingush over the right of residence in former Ingush territory.
The western part of South Ossetia was affected by the 1991 Racha-Java earthquake, which killed 200 and left 300 families homeless.
In 1992, Georgia accepted a ceasefire
Sochi agreement
The Sochi agreement was a ceasefire agreement ostensibly marking the end of the both the Georgian–Ossetian and Georgian–Abkhazian conflicts, signed in Sochi on June 24, 1992 between Georgia and South Ossetia, the ceasefire with Abkhazia on...
to avoid a large scale confrontation with Russia. The government of Georgia and South Ossetian separatists reached an agreement to avoid the use of force against one another, and Georgia pledged not to impose sanctions against South Ossetia. However, the Georgian government still retained control over substantial portions of South Ossetia, including the town of Akhalgori
Akhalgori
Akhalgori or Leningor is a town in South Ossetia, partially recognized republic in the South Caucasus, formerly the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic...
. A 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. In June 2004, serious tensions began to rise as the Georgian authorities strengthened their efforts to bring the region back under Tbilisi rule, by establishing an alternative pro-Georgian government for South Ossetia in Tbilisi. Georgia also sent police to close down a vast black market complex, which was one of the region's chief sources of revenue, leading to fighting by Georgian troops and peacekeepers against South Ossetian militiamen and freelance fighters from Russia. Hostage takings, shootouts and occasional bombings left dozens dead and wounded. A ceasefire deal was reached on 13 August though it was repeatedly violated.
The Georgian government protested against the continually increasing Russian economic and political presence in the region and against the uncontrolled military of the South Ossetian side. It also considered the peacekeeping force (consisting in equal parts of South Ossetians, North Ossetians, Russians and Georgians) to be non-neutral and demanded its replacement. This criticism was supported by the U.S. senator Richard Lugar. EU South Caucasus envoy Peter Semneby said later that "Russia's actions in the Georgia spy row
2006 Georgian-Russian espionage controversy
The 2006 Georgian–Russian espionage controversy began when the Government of Georgia arrested four Russian officers on charges of espionage, on September 27, 2006...
have damaged its credibility as a neutral peacekeeper in the EU's Black Sea neighbourhood." Later, Joseph Biden (Chairman, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee), Richard Lugar, and
Mel Martinez
Mel Martinez
Melquíades Rafael Martínez Ruiz, usually known as Mel Martinez , is a former United States Senator from Florida and served as Chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19, 2007, the first Latino to serve as chairman of a major party...
sponsored a resolution accusing Russia of attempting to undermine Georgia's territorial integrity and called for replacing the Russian-manned peacekeeping force operating under CIS mandate.
2008 War
According to Moscow Defense Brief
Moscow Defense Brief
Moscow Defense Brief is a bimonthly English-language defense magazine published by Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies , an independent defense think-tank.- Overview :...
, over the course of several days in early August, the Georgians concentrated a significant number of troops and equipment, including the full 2nd, 3rd and 4th Infantry Brigades, the Artillery Brigade, the elements of the 1st Infantry Brigade, the separate Gori Tank Battalion, among others — all in all, up to 16,000 men — in the Georgian enclaves in the South Ossetian conflict zone, under cover of providing support for the exchange of fire with Ossetian formations." International Institute for Strategic Studies
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British research institute in the area of international affairs. It describes itself as "the world’s leading authority on political-military conflict"...
and Western intelligence experts give a lower estimate, saying that the Georgians had amassed about 12,000 troops and 75 tanks on the South Ossetian border by 7 August.
On 7 August, Georgian and Ossetian forces agreed on a ceasefire.
However, in the first hours of 8 August 2008, Georgia launched a massive attack. According to a report prepared by the Georgian government, the Georgian army acted after a large number of Russian troops and around 150 armored vehicles and trucks entering the South Ossetia territory through the Roki tunnel on the night of August 7. Allegedly the Russian military and Ossetian militia started a heavy artillery bombardment of the Georgian populated village Tamarasheni located on the outskirts of Tskhinvali at 9pm on August 7. However, an OSCE monitoring group in Tskhinvali did not record outgoing artillery fire from the South Ossetian side in the hours before the start of Georgian bombardment, and NATO officials attest to minor skirmishes but nothing that amounted to a provocation, according to Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
. Georgia's claim that it responded to a large-scale Russian invasion has received little support from Georgia's allies, the US and NATO.
The accounts of who started the war remains contradictory. Erosi Kitsmarishvili
Erosi Kitsmarishvili
Erosi Kitsmarishvili is a Georgian media executive and the ex-Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Russian Federation in 2008....
, Georgia's former ambassador to Moscow and a confidant of President Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003...
, in his testimony to the Parliament of Georgia
Parliament of Georgia
Parliament of Georgia is the supreme legislature of Georgia. It is unicameral and has 150 members, known as deputies, from which 75 members are proportional representatives and 75 are elected through single-member district plurality system, representing their constituencies...
said that Georgian government was preparing to start the war in South Ossetia.
After a prolonged artillery attack, Georgian troops with tanks and air support entered South Ossetian-controlled territory. On the same day, twelve Russian peacekeepers were killed and nearly 150 injured. Heavy fighting was reported in Tskhinvali for most of 8 August, with Georgian forces attempting to push Ossetians slowly from the city. The following day, Russia deployed forces into South Ossetia to remove Georgian forces from South Ossetia. Additionally, Russia targeted Georgia's military infrastructure to reduce Georgia's ability to conduct another incursion. Russian troops and the South Ossetians pushed the Georgian army out of South Ossetia and moved farther, occupying Gori
Occupation of Gori
Occupation of Gori was the takeover of the Georgian city of Gori and its surrounding villages by Russian military forces, which commenced on August 13, 2008 as part of the 2008 South Ossetian War, and ended with the withdrawal of Russian units from the city by 22 August 2008.-Background and initial...
, Kareli
Kareli, Georgia
Kareli is a town in Shida Kartli, Georgia, located on the right bank of the Mtkvari , 94 km west of the nation’s capital of Tbilisi....
, Kaspi
Kaspi
Kaspi is a town in central Georgia on the Mtkvari River. It is a center of Kaspi district, one of the four districts in Shida Kartli region. Founded in the early Middle Ages, the town turned into possession of the Amilakhvari noble family in the 15th century...
and Igoeti in Georgia proper. Parallel to these events Russian forces also entered western Georgia from another breakaway region of 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...
occupying Zugdidi, Senaki and the major Georgian port of Poti
Poti
Poti is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near the site of the ancient Greek colony of Phasis, the city has become a major port city and industrial center since the early 20th century. It is also...
.
Following an EU sponsored cease-fire between Georgia and Russia, Russia pulled its forces back to Russia and South Ossetia, finishing the withdrawal by 8 October. The war left mostly Ossetian city Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali , is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, and is regarded by Georgia and the rest of the world as part of the Shida Kartli region within Georgian sovereign territory.It is located...
in ruins, ethnic Georgian villages burnt and razed to the ground, leaving 24,000 Ossetians and 15,000 ethnic Georgians displaced, according to an Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
report.
Geography
South Ossetia covers an area of about 3900 km² (1,506 sq mi) on the southern side of the CaucasusCaucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
, separated by the mountains from the more populous North Ossetia (part of Russia) and extending southwards almost to the Mtkvari river in Georgia. It is extremely mountainous, with most of the region lying over 1000 m (3,281 ft) above sea level, and its highest point is the Mount Khalatsa
Mount Khalatsa
Mount Khalatsa or Khalaskhokh is the highest point of South Ossetia, a disputed region in Georgia, with an altitude of 3,938 metres . It is located on the border between South Ossetia and North Ossetia-Alania, a Russian autonomous republic....
, at 3938 m (12,920 ft) above sea level. Its 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
Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali , is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, and is regarded by Georgia and the rest of the world as part of the Shida Kartli region within Georgian sovereign territory.It is located...
.
Political status
The European UnionEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and most UN member countries do not recognize South Ossetia as an independent state. The de facto republic governed by the secessionist government held a second independence referendum
South Ossetian independence referendum, 2006
South Ossetia, an independent partially recognized republic in the South Caucasus, formerly the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic with its capital in Tskhinvali, held a referendum on independence on November 12, 2006...
on 12 November 2006, after its first referendum in 1992 was not recognized by most governments as valid. According to the Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali , is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, and is regarded by Georgia and the rest of the world as part of the Shida Kartli region within Georgian sovereign territory.It is located...
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%. The referendum was monitored by a team of 34 international observers from Germany, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and other countries at 78 polling stations. However, it was not recognized internationally by the UN, European Union, OSCE, NATO and the Russian Federation, given the lack of ethnic Georgian participation and the legality of such a referendum without recognition from the Georgian government in Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
. The European Union, OSCE and NATO condemned the referendum.
Parallel to the secessionist held referendum and elections, the Ossetian opposition movement (People of South Ossetia for Peace
People of South Ossetia for Peace
The People of South Ossetia for Peace movement is the main opposition party and political movement in South Ossetia which was formed by the ethnic Ossetians who were formerly members of the secessionist government in Tskhinvali and outspoken critics of de facto separatist regime in Tskhinvali,...
) to Eduard Kokoity
Eduard Kokoity
Eduard Dzhabeyevich Kokoity is the de facto President of South Ossetia.-Early life:Eduard Kokoity was born on 31 October 1964 in Tskhinvali, in the Georgian SSR, a part of the Soviet Union at the time. Kokoity was a member, and champion, of the Soviet Union's national wrestling team...
, the current President of South Ossetia
President of South Ossetia
The President of the Republic of South Ossetia is the de facto head of state of the partially recognized Republic of South Ossetia that is de jure part of Georgia...
, organized their own elections in contemporaneously Georgian-controlled areas within South Ossetia, in which Georgian and some Ossetian inhabitants of the region voted in favour of Dmitry Sanakoyev
Dmitry Sanakoyev
Dmitry Ivanovich Sanakoyev is a South Ossetian and Georgian politician, a former official in the secessionist government of South Ossetia and currently Head of the Provisional Administration of South Ossetia, a rival entity established in 2007 in the Georgian-controlled territories of this...
as the alternative President of South Ossetia. The alternative elections of Sanakoyev claimed full support of the ethnic Georgian population.
In April 2007, Georgia created the Provisional Administrative Entity of South Ossetia
Provisional Administrative Entity of South Ossetia
The Provisional Administration of South Ossetia is a government in exile that Georgia recognizes as the legal government of South Ossetia, although Georgia doesn't recognizes existence of South Ossetia as administrative entity....
and staffed by ethnic Ossetian
Ossetians
The Ossetians are an Iranic ethnic group of the Caucasus Mountains, eponymous of the region known as Ossetia.They speak Ossetic, an Iranian language of the Eastern branch, with most also fluent in Russian as a second language....
members of the separatist movement. Dmitry Sanakoyev
Dmitry Sanakoyev
Dmitry Ivanovich Sanakoyev is a South Ossetian and Georgian politician, a former official in the secessionist government of South Ossetia and currently Head of the Provisional Administration of South Ossetia, a rival entity established in 2007 in the Georgian-controlled territories of this...
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. On 10 May 2007, Sanakoyev was appointed by the President of Georgia
President of Georgia
The President of Georgia is the head of state, supreme commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Government of Georgia. Executive power is split between the President and the Prime Minister, who is the head of government...
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
Zurab Noghaideli
Zurab Noghaideli is a Georgian businessman and a politician who served as the Prime Minister of Georgia from February 2005 until he resigned, citing health problems, on 16 November 2007...
, 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.
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....
, Russia recognized South Ossetia as independent. This unilateral recognition by Russia was met by condemnation from Western
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
Blocs, such as NATO, OSCE and the European Council
European Council
The European Council is an institution of the European Union. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Commission and the President of the European Council, currently Herman Van Rompuy...
due to the violation of Georgia's territorial integrity. The EU's diplomatic response to the news was delayed by disagreements between Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an states and the UK wanting a harsher response and Germany, France, and other states' desire not to isolate Russia. Former US envoy Richard Holbrooke
Richard Holbrooke
Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker....
said the conflict could encourage separatist movements in other former Soviet states along Russia's western border. Several days later, Nicaragua became the second country to recognize South Ossetia. Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
recognised South Ossetia on September 10, 2009, becoming the third UN member state to do so.
On August 30, 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 could live together in one united Russian state. Russian and South Ossetian forces began giving residents in Akhalgori
Akhalgori
Akhalgori or Leningor is a town in South Ossetia, partially recognized republic in the South Caucasus, formerly the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic...
, the biggest town in the predominantly ethnic Georgian eastern part of South Ossetia, the choice of accepting Russian citizenship or leaving. However, Eduard Kokoity
Eduard Kokoity
Eduard Dzhabeyevich Kokoity is the de facto President of South Ossetia.-Early life:Eduard Kokoity was born on 31 October 1964 in Tskhinvali, in the Georgian SSR, a part of the Soviet Union at the time. Kokoity was a member, and champion, of the Soviet Union's national wrestling team...
, the current president of South Ossetia, later stated that South 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 has no plans to join Russia." Civil Georgia
Civil Georgia
Civil Georgia is a Tbilisi-based free daily news website run by the Georgian non-government organization The UN Association of Georgia. It is supported by USAID, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the grants of which cover about 98% of the website's expenses...
has said that this statement contradicts previous ones made by Kokoity earlier that day, when he indicated that South Ossetia would join North Ossetia
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.
During the opening ceremony of a new building of the Georgian Embassy in Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
(Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) in November 2009 Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003...
stated that residents of South Ossetia and 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...
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".
Law on Occupied Territories of Georgia
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 and Tskhinvali (territories of former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast). 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 should be carried out from the Zugdidi DistrictZugdidi District
Zugdidi is a Municipality of Georgia, in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti. Its main town is Zugdidi.Population: 167,760 Area: 682 km²- Villages of Zugdidi :...
and into South Ossetia from the Gori District. The major road leading to South Ossetia from the rest of Georgia passes through the Gori District.
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.
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 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 as "illegal." The law will remain in force until "the full restoration" of Georgian jurisdiction over the breakaway regions is realised.
Politics
Until the armed conflict of August 20082008 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....
, South Ossetia consisted of a checkerboard of Georgian-inhabited and Ossetian-inhabited towns and villages. The largely Ossetian capital city of Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali
Tskhinvali , is the capital of South Ossetia, a disputed region which has been recognised as an independent Republic by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru, and is regarded by Georgia and the rest of the world as part of the Shida Kartli region within Georgian sovereign territory.It is located...
and most of the other Ossetian-inhabited communities were governed by the separatist government, while the Georgian-inhabited villages and towns were administered by the Georgian government. This close proximity and the intermixing of the two communities has made the Georgian–Ossetian conflict particularly dangerous, since any attempt to create an ethnically pure territory would involve population transfer
Population transfer
Population transfer is the movement of a large group of people from one region to another by state policy or international authority, most frequently on the basis of ethnicity or religion...
s on a large scale.
The political dispute has yet to be resolved and the South Ossetian separatist authorities govern the region with effective independence from Tbilisi. Although talks have been held periodically between the two sides, little progress was made under the government of Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party , from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on...
(1993–2003). His successor Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili
Mikheil Saakashvili is a Georgian politician, the third and current President of Georgia and leader of the United National Movement Party.Involved in the national politics since 1995, Saakashvili became president on 25 January 2004 after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned in a November 2003...
(elected 2004) made the reassertion of Georgian governmental authority a political priority. Having successfully put an end to the de facto independence of the southwestern province of Ajaria in May 2004, he pledged to seek a similar solution in South Ossetia. After the 2004 clashes, the Georgian government has intensified its efforts to bring the problem to international attention. On 25 January 2005, President Saakashvili presented a Georgian vision for resolving the South Ossetian conflict at the PACE
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
session in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
. Late in October, the US government and the OSCE expressed their support to the Georgian action plan presented by Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli
Zurab Noghaideli
Zurab Noghaideli is a Georgian businessman and a politician who served as the Prime Minister of Georgia from February 2005 until he resigned, citing health problems, on 16 November 2007...
at the OSCE Permanent Council at Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
on 27 October 2005. On 6 December, the OSCE Ministerial Council in Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
adopted a resolution supporting the Georgian peace plan which was subsequently rejected by the South Ossetian de facto authorities.
Republic of South Ossetia
On September 11, 2006, the South Ossetian Information and Press Committee announced that the republic would hold an independence referendumSouth Ossetian independence referendum, 2006
South Ossetia, an independent partially recognized republic in the South Caucasus, formerly the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic with its capital in Tskhinvali, held a referendum on independence on November 12, 2006...
(the first referendum had not been recognized by the international community as valid in 1992) on 12 November 2006. The voters would decide on whether or not South Ossetia "should preserve its present de facto status of an independent state". Georgia denounced the move as a "political absurdity". However, on 13 September 2006, the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
(CoE) Secretary General Terry Davis commented on the problem, stating that it would be unlikely that anyone would accept the results of this referendum and instead urged South Ossetian government to engage in the negotiations with Georgia. On 13 September 2006 European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
Special Representative to the South Caucasus
South Caucasus
The South Caucasus is a geopolitical region located on the border of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia also referred to as Transcaucasia, or The Trans-Caucasus...
, Peter Semneby, while visiting Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, said: "results of the South Ossetian independence referendum will have no meaning for the European Union". Peter Semneby also added that this referendum would not contribute to the peaceful conflict resolution process in South Ossetia.
Ethnic Ossetians and Russians living in South Ossetia nearly unanimously approved a referendum on 12 November 2006 opting for independence from Georgia. The referendum was hugely popular, winning between 98 and 99 percent of the ballots, flag waving and celebration marked were seen across South Ossetia, but elsewhere observers were less enthusiastic. Ethnic Georgians living in South Ossetia boycotted the referendum. International critics claimed that the move could worsen regional tensions, and the Tbilisi government thoroughly discounted the results. "Everybody needs to understand, once and for all, that no amount of referenda or elections will move Georgia to give up that which belongs to the Georgian people by God's will," declared Georgi Tsagareishvili, leader of the Industrialist’s bloc in Georgia's parliament.
The People of South Ossetia for Peace
People of South Ossetia for Peace
The People of South Ossetia for Peace movement is the main opposition party and political movement in South Ossetia which was formed by the ethnic Ossetians who were formerly members of the secessionist government in Tskhinvali and outspoken critics of de facto separatist regime in Tskhinvali,...
was founded in October 2006 by the ethnic Ossetians who were outspoken critics and presented a serious opposition to secessionist authorities of Eduard Kokoity.
The group headed by the former defence minister and then prime minister of secessionist government Dmitry Sanakoyev
Dmitry Sanakoyev
Dmitry Ivanovich Sanakoyev is a South Ossetian and Georgian politician, a former official in the secessionist government of South Ossetia and currently Head of the Provisional Administration of South Ossetia, a rival entity established in 2007 in the Georgian-controlled territories of this...
organized the so-called alternative presidential election, on 12 November 2006– parallel to those held by the secessionist authorities in Tskhinvali. High voter turnout was reported by the alternative electoral commission, which estimated over 42,000 voters from both Ossetian (Java district and Tskhinvali) and Georgian (Eredvi, Tamarasheni, etc.) communities of South Ossetia and Sanakoyev reportedly received 96% of the votes. Another referendum was organized shortly after asking for the start of negotiations with Georgia on a federal arrangement for South Ossetia received 94% support. However, People of South Ossetia for Peace turned down a request from a Georgian NGO, “Multinational Georgia”, to monitor it and the released results were very likely to be inflated.
According to the International Crisis Group
International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization whose mission is to prevent and resolve deadly conflicts around the world through field-based analyses and high-level advocacy.-History:...
, "Georgian government’s steps are non-violent and development-oriented but their implementation is unilateral and so assertive that they are contributing to a perceptible and dangerous rise in tensions".
Initially the entity of Sanakoyev was known as "the Alternative Government of South Ossetia", but during the course of 2007 the central authorities 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...
decided to give it official status and on 13 April the formation of "Provisional Administration of South Ossetia" was announced. On 10 May 2007 Dmitry Sanakoyev was appointed head of the provisional administrative entity in South Ossetia.
An EU fact finding team visited the region in January 2007. Per Eklund, Head of the Delegation of the European Community to Georgiahttp://www.delgeo.ec.europa.eu/ said that “None of the two alternatives do we consider legitimate [in South Ossetia].”
The republic held its fourth presidential elections in November 2011. Eduard Kokoity was not allowed to run for president for the third time by the constitution. Anatoly Bibilov, supported by Russian authorities and Alla Dzhioeva, backed by main South Ossetian opposition figures, got about a quarter votes each and will participate in the run-off vote.
Demographics
Before the Georgian-Ossetian conflictGeorgian-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...
roughly two-thirds of the population of South Ossetia was Ossetian
Ossetians
The Ossetians are an Iranic ethnic group of the Caucasus Mountains, eponymous of the region known as Ossetia.They speak Ossetic, an Iranian language of the Eastern branch, with most also fluent in Russian as a second language....
and 25-30% was Georgian
Georgian people
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
. The eastern quarter of the country, around the town and district of Akhalgori
Akhalgori
Akhalgori or Leningor is a town in South Ossetia, partially recognized republic in the South Caucasus, formerly the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic...
, is predominantly Georgian, while the center and west are predominantly Ossete. Much of the mountainous north is scarcely inhabited. (See map at Languages of the Caucasus
Languages of the Caucasus
The languages of the Caucasus are a large and extremely varied array of languages spoken by more than ten million people in and around the Caucasus Mountains, which lie between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea....
.)
Because the statistical office of Georgia was not able to conduct the 2002 Georgian census in South Ossetia, the present composition of the population of South Ossetia is unknown, although according to some estimates there were 47,000 ethnic Ossetians and 17,500 ethnic Georgians in South Ossetia in 2007.
2009 Population Estimate: During the war, HRW stated that 15,000 Georgians fled and a total of 500 citizens of South Ossetia were killed. This left the estimated population at 54,500. However Russia's reconstruction plan involving 600 million dollars in aid to South Ossetia may have spurred immigration into the De facto independent Republic, especially with Russia's movement of 3,700 soldiers into South Ossetia, in order to prevent further incursions. RIA Novosti places the population of South Ossetia at 80,000 although, this figure is probably too optimistic.
| Ethnicity | 1926 census | 1939 census | 1959 census | 1970 census | 1979 census | 1989 census | 2007 estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ossetians Ossetians The Ossetians are an Iranic ethnic group of the Caucasus Mountains, eponymous of the region known as Ossetia.They speak Ossetic, an Iranian language of the Eastern branch, with most also fluent in Russian as a second language.... |
60,351 (69.1%) | 72,266 (68.1%) | 63,698 (65.8%) | 66,073 (66.5%) | 65,077 (66.4%) | 65,200 (65.9%) | 47,000 (67.1%) |
| Georgians Georgians The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America.... |
23,538 (26.9%) | 27,525 (25.9%) | 26,584 (27.5%) | 28,125 (28.3%) | 28,187 (28.8%) | 28,700 (29.0%) | 17,500 (25.0%) |
| Russians Russians The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.... |
157 (0.2%) | 2,111 (2.0%) | 2,380 (2.5%) | 1,574 (1.6%) | 2,046 (2.1%) | 2,128 (2.1%) | 2,100 (3.0%) |
| Armenians Armenians Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian.... |
1,374 (1.6%) | 1,537 (1.4%) | 1,555 (1.6%) | 1,254 (1.3%) | 953 (1.0%) | 871 (0.9%) | 900 (1.3%) |
| Jews Jews The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation... |
1,739 (2.0%) | 1,979 (1.9%) | 1,723 (1.8%) | 1,485 (1.5%) | 654 (0.7%) | 648 (0.7%) | 650 (0.9%) |
| Others | 216 (0.2%) | 700 (0.7%) | 867 (0.9%) | 910 (0.9%) | 1,071 (1.1%) | 1,453 (1.5%) | 1,850 (2.6%) |
| Total | 87,375 | 106,118 | 96,807 | 99,421 | 97,988 | 99,000 | 70,000 |
Economy
Following a war with Georgia in the 1990s, South Ossetia struggled economically. South Ossetian GDP was estimated at US$ 15 million (US$ 250 per capita) in a work published in 2002. Employment and supplies are scarce. Additionally, Georgia cut off supplies of electricity to the region, which forced the South Ossetian government to run an electric cable through North Ossetia. The majority of the population survives on subsistence farming. Virtually the only significant economic asset that South Ossetia possesses is control of the Roki TunnelRoki Tunnel
The Roki Tunnel is a mountain tunnel of the Transkam road through the Greater Caucasus Mountains, north of the village Upper Roka. It is the only road joining North Ossetia-Alania in the Russian Federation into South Ossetia, a breakaway republic of Georgia...
that used to link Russia and Georgia, from which the South Ossetian government reportedly obtains as much as a third of its budget by levying customs duties on freight traffic.
President Eduard Kokoity has admitted that his country is seriously dependent on Russian economic assistance.
South Ossetia's poverty threshold
Poverty threshold
The poverty threshold, or poverty line, is the minimum level of income deemed necessary to achieve an adequate standard of living in a given country...
stood at 3,062 rubles a month in the fourth quarter of 2007, or 23.5 percent below Russia’s average, while South Ossetians have incomparably smaller incomes.
Before 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....
, South Ossetia's industry consisted of 22 small factories, with a total production of 61.6 million rubles in 2006. In 2007, only 7 factories were functioning. In March, 2009, it was reported that most of the production facilities were standing idle and were in need of repairs. Even successful factories have a shortage of workers, are in debt and have a shortage of working capital. One of the largest local enterprises is the Emalprovod factory, which has 130 employees.
The South Ossetian authorities are planning to improve finances by boosting the local production of flour and thus reducing the need for flour imports. For this purpose, the area planted with wheat was increased tenfold in 2008 from 130 hectares to 1,500 hectares. The wheat harvest in 2008 was expected to be 2,500 tons of grain. The South Ossetian Agriculture ministry also imported some tractors in 2008, and was expecting delivery of more farm machinery in 2009.
Russia planned to spend 10 billion rubles in the restoration of South Ossetia in 2009.
Much of the economy is based around the presence of Russian military forces.
See also
- OssetiaOssetiaOssetia Ossetic: Ир, Ирыстон Ir, Iryston; Russian: Осетия, Osetiya; Georgian: ოსეთი, Oset'i) is an ethnolinguistic region located on both sides of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, largely inhabited by the Ossetians. The Ossetian language is part of the Eastern Iranian branch of the Indo-European...
- Shida KartliShida KartliShida Kartli is a region in Georgia. It consists of the following districts: Gori, Kaspi, Kareli, Java, Khashuri.The northern part of the region, namely Java, and northern territories of Kareli and Gori, is controlled by the authorities of the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia since...
- SamachabloSamachabloSamachablo is a Georgian historical district in Shida Kartli, Georgia, which currently lies entirely within the disputed South Ossetia Region. The name Samachablo derives from the Georgian aristocratic family of Machabeli who once held possession of the area...
- Military of South OssetiaMilitary of South OssetiaThe Military of South Ossetia is the military of the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, whose independence is recognized by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Nauru but whom Georgia considers to be a Russian-Occupied Territory...
- Provisional Administrative Entity of South OssetiaProvisional Administrative Entity of South OssetiaThe Provisional Administration of South Ossetia is a government in exile that Georgia recognizes as the legal government of South Ossetia, although Georgia doesn't recognizes existence of South Ossetia as administrative entity....
- Self-determinationSelf-determinationSelf-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
External links
- Republic of South Ossetia
- Crisis profile, Georgia, Abkhazia, S. Ossetia From Reuters Alertnet
- BBC overview of South Ossetia
- Border South Ossetia for use in Google EarthGoogle EarthGoogle Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...