Our History

The Ossetians are descended from the Skifs-Sarmat-Alans, whose traces are found in Great Britain, France, Spain, Morocco and China. The Ossetian language evolved from an eastern Iranian language. Beginning with the expansion of the Russian empire in the seventeenth century, Ossetia was valued as a loyal but semi-autonomous region. In 1922, Soviet leaders created the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.

During the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the government of Georgia attempted to end South Ossetia's autonomy, resulting in the 1991-1992 Georgian-Ossetian war and South Ossetia's drive for independence. Although a ceasefire has existed between the two sides since that war, Georgia has attempted to forcibly reassert its control over South Ossetia several times. The most violent of these efforts was Georgia's August 2008 attack on South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Nearly 200 people were killed and thousands more displaced by the five-day conflict, which ended after Russia sent in troops to protect the Ossetian population from further harm. On August 26, 2008, Russia became the first nation to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and Nicaragua soon followed suit.