South Ossetia

South Ossetia (Ossetic: Хуссар Ирыстон, Khussar Iryston; Russian: Южная Осетия, Yuzhnaya Osetiya; Georgian: სამხრეთ ოსეთი, Samxret Oseti) is a disputed region and partly recognized state in the Caucasus, located in the territory of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the former Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union.

The Republic of South Ossetia declared its independence from Georgia in 1990. A number of wars ensued but the de facto situation is that South Ossetia is independent of Georgia even though most countries do not recognise the country. Nicaragua, Russia, Venezuela and Nauru do recognise South Ossetia as an independent republic. Georgia does not recognize South Ossetia's existence as a political entity, and considers most of its territory a part of the Shida Kartli region within Georgian sovereign territory.

South Ossetia is separated by the mountains from the more populous North Ossetia which is fully part of Russia.

Its population is around 70,000.

Its capital is Tskhinvali, with a population of around 40,000.

South Ossetia struggles economically. Its GDP was estimated at US$ 15 million (US$ 250 per capita) in a work published in 2002. Employment and supplies are scarce. It depends for electricity on a cable to 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.

In 2007, only 7 factories were functioning compared with over 20 a few years before. In 2009, it was reported that most of the production facilities are standing idle and are in need of repairs. Even successful factories have a shortage of workers, are in debt and have a shortage of working capital. 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 ten-fold 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.

Education

No information is available.

Higher Education

The capital also several cultural and educational institutions, in particular Tskhinvali State University which began some years before as a Pedagogical Institute. In 2005 ahn interview with the Rector was published - see http://www.caucaz.com/home_eng/breve_contenu.php?id=104

The university seems still to exist - there are many references to it on the web but the overall impression is that it faces many challenges not of its own making.

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