Discover

'Ossetia' (Ossetic: Ирыстон (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, an Iranian people who speak the Ossetic language (an Indo-Iranian language). The Ossetic-speaking area south to the main Caucasus ridge is within the ''de jure'' borders of Georgia but is largely under the control of the Russian-backed ''de facto'' government of the unrecognized Republic of South Ossetia. The northern portion of the region consists of the republic of North Ossetia-Alania within the Russian Federation.

Contents

Recent history

Recent history

''For earlier history, see Alans''
In the last years of the Soviet Union, ethnic tensions between Ossetians and Georgians in Georgia's former Autonomous Oblast of South Ossetia (abolished in 1990) and between Ossetians and the Ingush in North Ossetia evolved into violent clashes that left several hundreds of dead and wounded and created a large tide of refugees on the both sides of the border.

Although a Russian-mediated and OSCE-monitored ceasefire was implemented in South Ossetia in 1992, the Georgian-Ossetian conflict still remains unresolved even though a recent peace plan proposed by the government of Georgia promised the South Ossetians larger autonomy and pledged expanded international involvement in the political settlement of the conflict. Meanwhile, the South Ossetian secessionist authorities demand independence or unification with North Ossetia under the Russian Federation while the international community refuses to recognize South Ossetia as an independent country and considers the area part of Georgia. In recent years, many South Ossetians have been granted Russian citizenship despite acute protests from the Georgian side and the OSCE.