World news about South Ossetia. Breaking news and archival information about its people, politics and economy from The New York Times.
Musa Sadulayev/Associated Press South Ossetia is a small enclave in the Caucasus Mountains that falls within the borders of Georgia but has been all but independent since fighting broke out in the early 1990's, after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Whatever vestige of control Georgia had it lost

South Ossetia, with a population of 70,000, has close ties to the neighboring region of North Ossetia in Russia and once had the status of an autonomous region within Georgia.
By Johanna Popjanevski (07/09/2008 issue of the CACI Analyst) By: Ben Smith August 9, 2008 04 On Thursday 14 August 2008 the President of the unrecognized republic of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, told a news conference in Moscow that only Russian peacekeepers will be stationed in South Ossetia