South Ossetia

Republic of South Ossetia Республикӕ Хуссар Ирыстон (Ossetian) Respublikæ Xussar Iryston სამხრეთი ოსეთი (Georgian) Samkhreti Oseti Республика Южная Осетия (Russian) Respublika Yuzhnaya Osetiya
Flag Emblem
Anthem: National Anthem of South Ossetia
Map of South Ossetia.
South Ossetia (green), Georgia and Abkhazia (light grey).
Capital	Tskhinvali
Official languages	Ossetiana Russiana
Recognised regional languages	Georgian
Government	Semi-presidential republic
• President	Leonid Tibilov
• Acting Prime Minister	Domenty Kulumbegov
Legislature	Parliament
Independence from Georgia
• Declared	28 November 1991
• Recognized	26 August 2008 (limited)
Area
• Total	3,900 km2 (1,500 sq mi)
• Water (%)	negligible
Population
• 2012 estimate	55,000
• Density	18/km2 (46.6/sq mi)
Currency	Russian ruble (RUB)
Time zone	UTC+3
Drives on	Right
Ossetian and Russian languages are official languages

South Ossetia (/əˈsɛtiə/ ə-SET-ee-ə or /ɒˈsiːʃə/ o-SEE-shə) or Tskhinvali Region is a disputed region and partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian SSR of the Soviet Union.

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 re-establish its control over the region by force. The crisis escalation 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 latter conflict led to the Russia–Georgia war, during which Ossetian and Russian forces gained full de facto control of the territory of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast.

In the wake of the 2008 South Ossetia War, Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru and Tuvalu recognised South Ossetia's independence. Georgia does not recognise the existence of South Ossetia as a political entity, including most of the area in its Shida Kartli region. Georgia and a significant part of the international community consider South Ossetia to be occupied by the Russian military. South Ossetia relies heavily on military, political and financial aid from Russia. Russia does not allow European Union Monitoring Mission monitors to enter South Ossetia.

History

See also: History of Ossetia

Map of the territory of modern South Ossetia within medieval Alania (10th–12th century), according to Ossetian historian Ruslan Suleymanovich Bzarov.

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

Fragment of the historical map by J. H. Colton. The map depicts Caucasus region in 1856. Modern South Ossetia isn't labeled. Modern North Ossetia is labeled as "Ossia".

Topographic map of South Ossetia (Polish transcription).

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

Medieval and early modern period

The Ossetians 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 migrated towards the Caucasus mountains into the lands of present-day North Ossetia–Alania, where they formed two distinct territorial entities. Digor in the west came under the influence of the neighboring Kabardins, who introduced Islam. Irón in the north became what is now North Ossetia, under Russian rule from 1767.

In the 17th century Ossetians started migration in the alpine gorges of the northern part of the central Georgia. According to Russian ambassador to Georgia Mikhail Tatishchev there was already a small group of Ossetians living near the headwaters of Greater Liakhvi River. In 70s of 18th century there were more Ossetians living in Kartli than ever before. This period has been documented in the travel diaries of Johann Anton Güldenstädt who visited Georgia in 1772. Baltic German explorer called modern North Ossetia simply as Ossetia, while he wrote about Kartli (the areas of modern-day South Ossetia) that these areas are populated by Georgians and the mountainous areas are populated by both Georgians and Ossetians. Güldenstädt also wrote that the northernmost border of Kartli is Major Caucasus Ridge. Ossetians living in the mountainous areas of modern South Ossetia formed Kudar commune.

By the end of 18th century the ultimate sites of Ossetian settlement on the territory of modern South Ossetia were in Kudaro (Jejora river estuary), Greater Liakhvi gorge, the gorge of Little Liakhvi, the upper part of Mejuda gorge, Ksani River gorge, Guda (Tetri Aragvi estuary) and Truso (Terek estuary).

According to Georgian sources, Ossetian migration to Georgian areas continued in the 19th and 20th centuries, when Georgia was part of Russian Empire and Ossetian settlements in Trialeti, Borjomi, Bakuriani and Kakheti emerged as well.

South Ossetia as a part of the Soviet Union

Georgian Kingdom Kartli-Kakheti, part of which was modern South Ossetia, was annexed by Russian Empire in 1801. Following the Russian Revolution, the area of modern South Ossetia was integral part of the Menshevik Georgian Democratic Republic. A series of Ossetian rebellions took place between 1918 and 1920 during which Ossetians attempted to establish Soviet rule under Bolsheviks. Violence broke out in 1920 when Georgian Mensheviks sent National Guards and regular army units to region 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 under pressure from Kavburo (Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party). Some argue that the autonomy was granted by the Bolsheviks to the Ossetians in return for their assistance in fighting against a democratic Georgia and favoring local separatists, because this territory had never been a separate principality before. The drawing of borders was a quite complicated process. Many Georgian villages were included within South Ossetian AO. While the city of Tskhinvali and the territory of modern Leningor District didn't have majority Ossetian population, they were included in South Ossetian AO. Historical Ossetia in North Caucasus didn't have its own political entity before 1924, when North Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was created. 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 minority cultural autonomy, including speaking the Ossetian language and teaching it in schools.

Georgian-Ossetian conflict

Main article: Georgian-Ossetian conflict

1989–2008

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 the Georgian SSR had been living in peace with each other except for the 1918-1920 events. Both ethnicities have had a high level of interaction and high rates of intermarriage.

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 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 20 September 1990, fully sovereign within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Ossetians boycotted subsequent Georgian parliamentary elections and held their own contest in December.

In November, 1990, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, "a fiery Georgian nationalist", according to Robert D. English, "rode to power on a wave of chauvinist passions" in Georgia. On 11 December 1990, Zviad Gamsakhurdia's government declared Ossetian election illegitimate and abolished South Ossetia's autonomous status altogether. Gamsakhurdia justified abolition of Ossetian autonomy, saying, "They [Ossetians] have no right to a state here in Georgia. They are a national minority. Their homeland is North Ossetia.... Here they are newcomers."

Violent conflict broke out towards the end of 1990. The 1991–1992 South Ossetia War started 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. Soviet and Georgian interior ministry troops were dispatched to South Ossetia in December, 1990, and, in March and April, 1991, Soviet interior troops were reported actively disarming militias on both sides, and deterring the inter-ethnic violence.

As a result of the war, 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.

On 29 April 1991, the western part of South Ossetia was affected by an earthquake, which killed 200 and left 300 families homeless.

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

On 24 June 1992, Shevardnadze and South Ossetian government signed the Sochi ceasefire agreement, brokered by Russia. The agreement included obligations to avoid the use of force, and Georgia pledged not to impose sanctions against South Ossetia. The Georgian government retained control over substantial portions of South Ossetia, including the town of Akhalgori. A Joined Peacekeeping force of Ossetians, Russians and Georgians was established. On 6 November 1992, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) set up a mission in Georgia to monitor the peacekeeping operation. From then until mid-2004 South Ossetia was generally peaceful.

Following the 2003 Rose Revolution which toppled Eduard Shevardnadze, Mikheil Saakashvili became the President of Georgia in January 2004. Ahead of the 2004 parliamentary and presidential elections, he promised to regain control over South Ossetia and Abkhazia. During one of his early speeches, Saakashvili addressed the separatist regions, saying, "[N]either Georgia nor its president will put up with disintegration of Georgia. Therefore, we offer immediate negotiations to our Abkhazian and Ossetian friends. We are ready to discuss every model of statehood by taking into consideration their interests for the promotion of their future development." However, according to the Spiegel, the contemporary Georgian television advertisement for new army recruits was using the Adolf Hitler's quotation from 1932: "Only through the force of weapons" could lost territory be regained".

Since 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 black market, which was one of the region's chief sources of revenue, selling foodstuffs and fuel smuggled from Russia. This led 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 allegedly 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.

2008 war

Main article: 2008 South Ossetia war

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 entered the South Ossetia territory through the Roki tunnel on the night of 7 August. 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 7 August. 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.

After a prolonged artillery attack, Georgian troops with tanks and air support entered South Ossetian-controlled territory. On the same day, according to the Russian sources, 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 further, 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 began to pull back its forces, mostly finishing the withdrawal from Georgia proper by 8 October. By early 2009 Russian compliance with the ceasefire agreement was "substantial but incomplete", as they maintained a military presence in areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia controlled by Georgia before the war. Russia finally withdrew completely from Georgia proper in October 2010, however they maintain a greater military presence in the breakaway regions than they did prior to the war, in spite of the terms of the ceasefire.

The war left the mostly Ossetian city of Tskhinvali heavily damaged. Both during and after the war, South Ossetian authorities and irregular militia conducted a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Georgians in South Ossetia, with Georgian villages around Tskhinvali being destroyed after the war had ended. The war displaced 192,000 people, and while many were able to return to their homes after the war, a year later around 30,000 ethnic Georgians remained displaced. In an interview published in “Kommersant,” South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said he would not allow Georgians to return.

Though it was widely claimed by Georgian authorities that the war was started by Russians, the independent fact-finding mission on the conflict in Georgia, led by Heidi Tagliavini, stated that it was started by Georgian shelling of South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali in the night of 7 to 8 August 2008, while the open hostilities between Georgia and Russia are considered to have started on 8 August 2008. However, the report noted that all parties played a role in the buildup of tensions in the months prior, and that all sides displayed a disproportionate and unjustified use of force.

• 
  Map of South Ossetia (November 2004).
• 
  JPKF map indicating Georgian-controlled areas of South Ossetia (hatched shading) in June 2007.
• 
  The monument in Tskhinvali to the victims of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.
• 
  A school in Tskhinvali after the fighting during August 2008.

Geography and climate

See also: Geography of Georgia (country)

Relief map of South Ossetia.

South Ossetia is in the very heart of the Caucasus at the juncture of Asia and Europe, and it occupies the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and the foothills' part of the Kartalin Valley. South Ossetia is a very mountainous region. The Likhi Range is roughly in the center of South Ossetia, and the plateau that's also roughly in the center of South Ossetia is called Iberia.

The Greater Caucasus Mountain Range forms the northern border of South Ossetia with Russia, and the main roads through the mountain range into Russian territory lead through the Roki Tunnel between South and North Ossetia and the Darial Gorge. The Roki Tunnel was vital for the Russian military in the 2008 South Ossetia war because it is the only direct route through the Caucasus Mountains.

South Ossetia covers an area of about 3,900 km² (1,506 sq mi), separated by the mountains from the more populous North Ossetia (which is part of Russia) and extending southwards almost to the Mtkvari river in Georgia. More than 89% of South Ossetia lies over 1,000 m (3,281 ft) above sea level, and its highest point is Mount Khalatsa at 3,938 m (12,920 ft) above sea level.

Nearby Mount Kazbek is 5,047 m (16,558 ft), and it is of volcanic origin. The region between Kazbek and Shkhara (a distance of about 200 km (124 mi) along the Main Caucasus Range) is dominated by numerous glaciers. Out of the 2,100 glaciers that exist in the Caucasus today, approximately 30% are located within Georgia which South Ossetia forms a part of.

The term Lesser Caucasus Mountains is often used to describe the mountainous (highland) areas of southern Georgia that are connected to the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range by the Likhi Range. The overall region can be characterized as being made up of various, interconnected mountain ranges (largely of volcanic origin) and plateaus that do not exceed 3,400 meters (11,155 ft) in elevation.

Most of South Ossetia is in the Kura Basin with the rest of it in the Black Sea basin. The Likhi and Racha ridges act as divide separating these two basins. Major rivers in South Ossetia include the Greater and Little Liakhvi, Ksani, Medzhuda, Tlidon, Canal Saltanis, Ptsa River and host of other tributaries.

South Ossetia's climate is affected by subtropical influences from the East and Mediterranean influences from the West. The Greater Caucasus range moderates the local climate by serving as a barrier against cold air from the North, which results in the fact that, even at great heights, it is warmer there than in the Northern Caucasus. Climatic zones in South Ossetia are determined by distance from the Black Sea and by altitude. The plains of eastern Georgia are shielded from the influence of the Black Sea by mountains that provide a more continental climate.

The foothills and mountainous areas (including the Greater Caucasus Mountains) experience cool, wet summers and snowy winters, with snow cover often exceeding 2 meters in many regions. The penetration of humid air masses from the Black Sea to the West of South Ossetia is often blocked by the Likhi mountain range. The wettest periods of the year in South Ossetia generally occur during Spring and Autumn while the Winter and Summer months tend to be the driest. Elevation plays an important role in South Ossetia where climatic conditions above 1,500 metres (4,921 ft) are considerably colder than in any lower-lying areas. The regions that lie above 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) frequently experience frost even during the Summer months.

The average temperature in South Ossetia in January is around +4 degrees Celsius, and the average temperature in July is around +20.3 degrees Celsius. The average yearly liquid precipitation in South Ossetia is around 598 millimeters. In general, Summer temperatures average 20 °C (68 °F) to 24 °C (75.2 °F) across much of South Ossetia, and Winter temperatures average 2 °C (35.6 °F) to 4 °C (39.2 °F). Humidity is relatively low and rainfall across South Ossetia averages 500 to 800 mm (19.7 to 31.5 in) per year. Alpine and highland regions have distinct microclimates though. At higher elevations, precipitation is sometimes twice as heavy as in the eastern plains of Georgia. Alpine conditions begin at about 2,100 m (6,890 ft), and above 3,600 m (11,811 ft) snow and ice are present year-round.

South Ossetia's economy is primarily agricultural, although less than 10% of South Ossetia's land area is cultivated. Cereals, fruit and vines are the major produce. Forestry and cattle industries are also maintained. A number of industrial facilities also exist, particularly around the capital, Tskhinvali.

Political status

Main article: International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia

See also: Foreign relations of South Ossetia

Russian Presidential Decree No. 1261 recognising South Ossetian independence.

The European Union, 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, to Eduard Kokoity, the then President of South Ossetia, the Ossetian opposition movement (People of South Ossetia for Peace) 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, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe 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 European states, 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.

In November 2009, during the opening ceremony of a new Georgian Embassy building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 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".

Law on Occupied Territories of Georgia

Main article: Occupied territories of Georgia

Landscape in South Ossetia's Dzhava District.

In late October 2008 President Saakashvili signed into law legislation on the occupied territories passed by the Georgian Parliament. The law covers the breakaway regions of Abkhazia 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 District 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 by Georgia 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 2008, 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 transfers 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 Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 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.

Republic of South Ossetia

President Eduard Kokoity voting in the 2009 elections.

On September 11, 2006, the South Ossetian Information and Press Committee announced that the republic would hold an independence referendum (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.

Initially, Sanakoyev's administration 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 Georgia 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 participated in the run-off vote. A run-off was won by Dzhioyeva on November 27, 2011, but the result were invalidated by the Supreme Court of South Ossetia. Leonid Tibilov won the 2012 election over David Sanakoyev after a run-off.

Demographics

Palm Sunday procession in Tskhinvali, April 2009.

Before the Georgian-Ossetian conflict 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, was predominantly Georgian, while the center and west were predominantly Ossete. Much of the mountainous north is sparsely 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, according to Georgian officials, 15,000 Georgians moved to Georgia proper; South Ossetian officials indicate that 30,000 Ossetians fled to North Ossetia, 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. Christianity is the major religion practiced by the Ossetians but Ætsæg Din ("Right Faith", Paganism) and Islam also have followers.

Ethnicity	1926 census	1939 census	1959 census	1970 census	1979 census	1989 census	2007 estimate
Ossetians	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	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	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	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	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
Source:

Economy

The Dzuarikau–Tskhinvali pipeline, delivering natural gas from Russia to South Ossetia, went online in 2009.

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 Tunnel 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.

Education

The country's principal university is South Ossetia State University in Tskhinvali. After the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, education officials attempted to place most college-bound students from Southern Ossetia in Russian post-secondary education institutions.

Gallery

• Pictures from South Ossetia
• 
  Scenery in central South Ossetia.
• 
  A South Ossetian woman.
• 
  South Ossetian performers.
• 
  School Number 2 in Tshkinvali.
• 
  Kusdzhytae, South Ossetia.

See also

• South Ossetian passport
• Vehicle registration plates of South Ossetia
• Russia–South Ossetia relations
• Abkhazia–South Ossetia relations
• 2008 Georgia–Russia crisis
• Military of South Ossetia

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 Earth.