NORTH OSETIA
In the last years of the Soviet Union, the movement of nationalism greatly influenced the Caucasus, and many intellectuals called for the name of the North Ossetia ASSR to be replaced by Alanya, the name of the medieval kingdoms of the Alans. The term "Alanya"; various organizations, television channels, civil and political organizations, publishing houses, football teams and so on. It quickly became popular in the daily life of the Ossetians. In November 1994, the name "Republic of North Ossetia-Alanya" officially became the name of the republic.
Vyacheslav Zelimkhanovich Bitarov (Russian: Вячеслав Зелимханович Битаров, Osset: Битарты Зелимханы фырт Вячеслав; born February 21, 1961, village Verhny Sadon, is a Russian politician in the Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of North Ossetia).
Head of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alanya (2016-2021) Head of the Government of the North Ossetia-Alanya Republic from 24 September 2015
Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
Describe your image
North Ossetia, which was created in 1921 and was a national okrug of the Mountainous Autonomous SSR under the Russian SFSR, later became an autonomous oblast and in 1936 it became an autonomous republic. It remained a member republic within the RF, which was formed upon the dissolution of the Soviet Union at the end of December 1991.
NORTH OSETIA INTRODUCTION VIDEO
NORTH OSETIA ECONOMIC STRUCTURE
North Ossetia is a region rich in natural resources. There are various types of stone, sand and gravel in the region, which has limestone, dolomite and marble reserves, especially zinc and lead. In this respect, the economy of the region is focused on industry with its metallurgy, food industry and light industry branches. The industry is rather concentrated in the capital, Vladikavkaz.
While trying to develop agriculture in the republic, steps are being taken to restore the electronics industry on the other hand. Major agricultural products are corn, wheat and sunflower. Livestock is also common. Two-thirds of the North Ossetian budget subsidized by the federal center (Moscow) depend on Moscow. In this context, in North Ossetia, where social differentiation is high, unemployment is very common, especially among youth.
North Ossetia, which has sufficient facilities in terms of infrastructure equipment, has been making efforts to strengthen winter and health tourism in recent years.
Although North Ossetia is socially and politically relatively stable, it has many problems to solve. Among these are the low living standards of the society, corruption, nepotism and the despair of the young generation for the future. It should be noted that all these are common headings for the region. The solution of these problems will be possible with the decisions of the Russian Federation, which is the central government, as well as the success of local leaders.
CAUCASUS WIND OSETLER
North Ossetia History
The North Caucasus has an important geopolitical position as it is a region where the Muslim and Christian world meet and Europe and Asia are separated from each other; consequently, the region has always been a geography where the interests of the great powers conflict.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the North Caucasus witnessed the ongoing struggle between the Ottoman Empire and the Iranian Safavid State, which tried to gain dominance in this region. Another power that has been included in the North Caucasus political arena since the second half of the 16th century is Russia. According to Vasiliy Potto, a general in the Tsarist Russian army and also the author of the book called the Caucasus War, IV. Starting from Ivan, almost all Russian tsars tried to establish dominance over the Caucasus; even "the idea of Caucasus domination has become hereditary in Russian history." However, the main purpose of Russia's foreign policy towards the North Caucasus was to establish a military-political alliance with Iran, which was already sufficiently weakened towards the end of the 16th century, to counter the Ottoman presence in this region.
It was not easy for Russia to invade the North Caucasus, this process spanning several centuries. The peoples of the North Caucasus, who came together under the leadership of leaders such as Imam Mansur, Gazi Muhammed, Hamzat Bek and Sheikh Shamil to resist this invasion, resisted the Russian invasions until the second half of the 19th century. As a result of the Caucasian War, which started with the 19th century and ended in the second half of the century (1864), hundreds of thousands of people were exiled to the Ottoman Empire and the political, ethnic, religious and cultural order that had been going on for centuries in the region collapsed. After the Caucasian War, several uprisings were initiated, but these were bloody suppressed by Russia and in the second half of the 19th century, the North Caucasus came under Russian administrative and military rule.
During the collectivization and communist regime impositions that emerged after the Russian Civil War (1917-1922) between the White and Red armies; The mass extermination of national intellectuals, Muslim clergy and wealthy families was initiated. This policy followed by the administration of the Soviet Union led to the emergence of organized uprisings in the North Caucasus, and then the partisan groups that would continue their struggle until World War II. During the Second World War, when almost the entire male population was on the front, the Chechen-Ingush and Karachay-Balkar peoples, mostly women, children and the elderly, were exiled to Central Asia. After the death of Stalin, state repression began to decrease in the Soviet Union, and after 1957, when Nikita Khrushchev was in power, the peoples in question were allowed to return to their homeland.
The Soviet administration, which destroyed intellectuals, scholars and clergy, planned to transform the Caucasus people into an ordinary Soviet citizen through Russian teachers. As a matter of fact, by the 1960s, this plan was thought to have succeeded, and it was assumed that all the peoples of the region were citizens loyal to Soviet ideals; however, it was realized in the 1980s that the situation was not what it seemed at all. During these years, national movements also emerged among the peoples of the North Caucasus, with the policies of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (reconstruction), and the relief of the pressure and censorship imposed by the Soviet administration on the minority peoples, and even when some member states took action to leave the Soviet Union.
Republic of North Ossetia
The Ingushs, who returned from exile in 1957, wanted to reclaim their former lands from Ossetians. For this reason, conflicts and conflicts have also occurred. In addition, an Ossetian refugee flood from South Ossetia, which left Georgia unilaterally and declared independence.
In 2008, it became a shelter for those who fled Georgia and South Ossetia during the Russia-Georgia war.
North Ossetia Geography
The republic is located in the North Caucasus. The northern part of the republic is located in the Stavropol Plain, and 22% of the republic's territory is covered by forests.
Area: 8,000 square kilometers (3,100 sq mi)
Limits:
From inside: Kabardino-Balkaria, Stavropol Krai, Chechnya, Ingushetia.
International: Georgia (including South Ossetia; Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Raca-Lechhumi and Kvemo Svaneti and Shida Kartli)
Highest point: Mount Kazbek (5,033 meters (16,512 ft))
North-south distance (maximum): 130 kilometers (81 mi)
East-west distance (maximum): 120 kilometers (75 mi)
Physical Structure of North Ossetia
The Caucasus, which is generally a mountainous region, exhibits very different topographical features. The Great Caucasus Mountains dividing the region into two are approximately 1200 km. long and 110-180 km. is wide; The highest places are Elbruz (5642 m.) and Kazbek (5033 m.) peaks in the middle. The two most important passes that cross the Great Caucasus Mountains in the south-north direction are Daryal and Derbent. Further south, there are the Lesser Caucasus Mountains, whose heights do not exceed 4000 meters, and between them are small plains, wide depressions and steep-sloped volcanic hills. Kolhi to the west of the Transcaucasia region and the Kura and Aras basins to the east have fertile agricultural lands.
North Ossetia Political Structure
The Republic of North Ossetia (Alanya) is located in the middle of the Caucasus Mountain Range. Although its total area is 8,000 square kilometers, it has a huge natural diversity, from the plains and steppes in the north to the high mountain peaks in the south. The nature factor is one of the most important factors affecting the life of the people and the distribution of the population. North Ossetia, which has a population of 700,000 people, is one of the three regions with the highest population density in Russia with 89 people per square kilometer. The most important reason for the increase in population density is that there are very few suitable areas for settlement in the mountainous regions that make up 40% of the republic. Due to this distribution of the population, North Ossetia is one of the places where urbanization is the most intense among the republics of Russia. Two-thirds of the population live in cities, and about half live in the capital, Vladikavkaz.
Despite its limited population, the region has a multi-ethnic structure. The population consists of 65% Ossetian, 21% Russian, 4% Ingush, 2.5% Armenian, 2.5% Kumuk and 1% Georgians; the number of other ethnic groups is around 4%. The most important feature that makes Osets different from other Caucasian peoples in the region is that they are of Iranian origin in terms of ethnic origin.
The population of North Ossetia has increased by over 55,000 since the early 1990s, as a result of the arrival of IDPs and refugees during the Soviet Union era. The share of people coming from different countries, especially Georgia and Kazakhstan, in the population growth between 1989-2002 is 60%. While the number of Ossetians, who make up two-thirds of the population, is increasing steadily, the number of Russians, who make up one-fifth of the population, is decreasing day by day. The proportion of Russians, which was 23% of the total population in 2002, declined to 20% in 2010. The migration of Ossetians to North Ossetia due to the war between Georgia and South Ossetia is the main reason for the increase of Ossetian population; However, it is observed that this situation has changed in recent years. The decline in the birth rate among Ossetians and the decrease in migration from South Ossetia slowed the population growth rate in North Ossetia. While the number of other ethnic groups such as Ukrainians, Germans, Tatars and Greeks, besides Russians, decreased in the region, the number of Armenians increased due to immigration from this country; In addition, the populations of Muslim ethnic groups such as Ingush and Kumuk continue to increase.
In this context, although the importance of the ethnic factor in the North Ossetian society, where different ethnic groups live together, has decreased compared to the 1990s, it still continues to be an important element of social consciousness. Primarily associated with public safety, the ethnicity factor varies across regions. For example, Prigorodnyi, which is the center of the Ingush-Osset conflict, in the east of the republic, and Mazdok, where the Russian-Kumuk conflict took place, are the leading regions where ethnic origin causes social problems. The spread of Islam due to the increasing population of Kumuk in the Mazdok region causes disturbance among other ethnic groups, especially the Russians.
It is observed that the Ossetian ethnic group, which is the dominant ethnic group in the region, has undergone an important transformation. Historically, Ossetians are divided into three sub-ethnic groups as Digors, Irons and Kudars. Digor and Irons live in North Ossetia, while Kudars live in South Ossetia. In this stratification, Kudars are perceived by others as potential or real competitors, as ethnic differences are so important to ordinary people in society. However, as a result of the developments in the last 20 years, the issue of ethnic identity has begun to be a unifying element for the society in North Ossetia. Territorial disputes with neighboring Ingushetia, in particular, played a unifying role for all sub-ethnicities, making Ingush rivals among the local population.
North Ossetian Economy
North Ossetia is a region rich in natural resources. There are various types of stone, sand and gravel in the region, which has limestone, dolomite and marble reserves, especially zinc and lead. In this respect, the economy of the region is focused on industry with its metallurgy, food industry and light industry branches. The industry is rather concentrated in the capital, Vladikavkaz.
While trying to develop agriculture in the republic, steps are being taken to restore the electronics industry on the other hand. Major agricultural products are corn, wheat and sunflower. Livestock is also common. Two-thirds of the North Ossetian budget subsidized by the federal center (Moscow) depend on Moscow. In this context, in North Ossetia, where social differentiation is high, unemployment is very common, especially among youth.
North Ossetia, which has sufficient facilities in terms of infrastructure equipment, has been making efforts to strengthen winter and health tourism in recent years.
Although North Ossetia is socially and politically relatively stable, it has many problems to solve. Among these are the low living standards of the society, corruption, nepotism and the despair of the young generation for the future. It should be noted that all these are common headings for the region. The solution of these problems will be possible with the decisions of the Russian Federation, which is the central government, as well as the success of local leaders.
