Ossetia 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 family of Indo-European languages. Most countries recognize the Ossetian-speaking area south of the main Caucasus ridge as lying within the borders of Georgia, but it has come under the control of the de facto government of the Russian-backed Republic of South Ossetia. The northern portion of the region consists of the republic of North Ossetia–Alania within the Russian Federation.
The Ossetians or Ossetes are an Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the northern and southern sides of the Caucasus Mountains. They natively speak Ossetic, an Eastern Iranian language of the Indo-European language family, with most also being fluent in Russian as a second language. Ossetic, a remnant of the Scytho-Sarmatian dialect group which was once spoken across the Pontic–Caspian Steppe, is one of the few Iranian languages remaining inside Europe.
South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia–the State of Alania, is a breakaway state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated population of just over 53,000 people, who live in an area of 3,900 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi), on the south side of the Greater Caucasus mountain range, with 30,000 living in the capital city, Tskhinvali. The five countries of Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria recognise South Ossetia as a sovereign state. Although Georgia does not control South Ossetia, the Georgian government and the United Nations consider the territory part of Georgia, whose constitution designates the area as "the former autonomous district of South Ossetia", in reference to the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast disbanded in 1990.
Eduard Dzhabeyevich Kokoyty is an Ossetian politician who served as President of the partially recognized state of South Ossetia. His term in office lasted just under ten years, beginning December 2001 and ending December 2011.
The Georgian–Ossetian conflict is an ethno-political conflict over Georgia's former autonomous region of South Ossetia, which evolved in 1989 and developed into a war. Despite a declared ceasefire and numerous peace efforts, the conflict remained unresolved. In August 2008, military tensions and clashes between Georgia and South Ossetian separatists erupted into the Russo-Georgian War.
The Community for Democracy and Rights of Nations, also commonly and colloquially known as the Commonwealth of Unrecognized States, rarely as CIS-2, is an international organization uniting several states in the former Soviet Union, all of which have limited to no recognition from the international community.
Georgia and Russia have had no formal diplomatic relations since August 2008, largely due to the Russo-Georgian War and Russian recognition of separatist regions. Instead, the Swiss embassy in Tbilisi hosts a Russian interest section, while the interest section of Georgia is hosted in Moscow.
The 1991–1992 South Ossetia War was fought between Georgian government forces and ethnic Georgian militia on one side and the forces of South Ossetia and North Ossetian volunteers who wanted South Ossetia to secede from Georgia and become an independent state on the other. The war ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire, signed on 24 June 1992, which established a joint peacekeeping force and left South Ossetia divided between the rival authorities.
The Russo-Georgian War was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, on the other. The war took place in August 2008 following a period of worsening relations between Russia and Georgia, both formerly constituent republics of the Soviet Union. The fighting took place in the strategically important South Caucasus region. It is regarded as the first European war of the 21st century.
Abkhazia–Russia relations is the bilateral relationship between the Republic of Abkhazia and the Russian Federation. Russia recognised Abkhazia on 26 August 2008, following the August 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Abkhazia and Russia established diplomatic relations on 9 September 2008.
The Armed Forces of South Ossetia is the military of the partially recognised state of South Ossetia. The force consists of 16,000 soldiers: 2,500 officers and active-duty soldiers and 13,500 reservists. It includes an Army and an Air Corps.
Abkhazia–South Ossetia relations are bilateral foreign relations between the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia, whose international status is disputed – they are both considered part of Georgia by the majority of the world's states.
The Russo-Georgian War had a huge humanitarian impact on the civilians. In the aftermath, ethnic Georgians were expelled from South Ossetia and most of the Georgian villages were razed.
Ryan Grist is a former British Army Captain who served as a monitor of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Georgia during the breakout of the 2008 South Ossetia war. Grist, who holds a PhD in International Conflict Analysis, came to public attention shortly after the war, when he placed some of the blame for the conflict on the Georgian side. He has maintained that the Georgian authorities at the highest level were in part responsible for the outbreak of widespread fighting. However, he has also said that his comments had been over-interpreted and that "I have never said there was no provocation by the South Ossetians."
The main ethnic minorities in Georgia are Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Ukrainians, Russians, Greeks, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Kists, Assyrians and Yazidi.
Ethnic cleansing of Georgians in South Ossetia was a mass expulsion of ethnic Georgians conducted in South Ossetia and other territories occupied by Russian and South Ossetian forces, which happened during and after the 2008 Russia–Georgia war. Overall, at least 20,000 Georgians were forcibly displaced from South Ossetia.
The evolution and history of European women coincide with the evolution and the history of Europe itself. According to the Catalyst, 51.2% of the population of the European Union in 2010 is composed of women.
The occupied territories of Georgia are the territories occupied by Russia after the Russo-Georgian War in 2008. They consist of the regions of Abkhazia (autonomous) and the former South Ossetian Autonomous Region of Soviet Georgia, whose status is a matter of international dispute.
South Ossetia is an autonomous region in Georgia, approximately 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above sea level on the slopes of the Greater Caucasus. Although it declared independence in 2008, only a few countries acknowledge it. The region is inhabited by Ossetians, an Iranian ethnic group. According to Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and the microstates of Tuvalu and Nauru, it is one of the world's newest independent states. All other states and international organisations consider South Ossetia an autonomous region of Georgia, functioning as a de facto state for twenty years after declaring independence and conducting a successful armed rebellion. Its Georgian inhabitants have been displaced. South Ossetia has been a source of tension for a number of years, with Georgia and Russia's political differences impeding peaceful independence and breeding a turbulent series of events which undermine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
South Ossetia is a partially recognized and Russian-occupied separatist state internationally recognized as part of Georgia. It is mainly inhabited by Ossetians, an ethnic group also dominant in North Ossetia, which is part of Russia. South Ossetia separated itself from Georgia following the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War with the help of Russia, remaining ever since as a state closely allied with this country.
