• Unrecognized states
  • Independence declared 21 December 1991
  • Capital Tskhinvali
  • President Anatoliy Bibilov
  • Population 53,532
  • Area 3,900 km²

South Ossetia is a de facto state in South Caucasus, which declared independence from Georgia in 1991. Military conflicts with the Georgian army occurred in 1991-1992, 2004 and 2008. South Ossetia is recognized as a state by the UN member states Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria, and by the unrecognized states Transnistria, Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh. It is a very mountainous region at the juncture of Asia and Europe, which struggles economically as employment and supplies are scarce. The region relies heavily on military, political and financial aid from Russia.