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{{Short description|Iranian ethnic group of the Caucasus}}{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

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700,000{{citation needed>date=December 2023}}Russia}}| pop1 = 558,515TITLE=RUSSIAN CENSUS 2010: POPULATION BY ETHNICITYWEBSITE=PEREPIS-2010.RUARCHIVE-DATE=4 DECEMBER 2013URL-STATUS=DEAD, North Ossetia–Alania}})| pop2 = 480,310WEBSITE=PEREPIS2002.RUARCHIVE-DATE=2 FEBRUARY 2008URL-STATUS=DEAD, {{flagcountry>South Ossetia}}| pop3 = 51,000{{South Ossetia-note}}PAGE=3WEBSITE=PCGN.ORG.UKARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20070614191016/HTTP://WWW.PCGN.ORG.UK/GEORGIA%20-%20SOUTH%20OSSETIA-JAN07.PDFURL-STATUS=DEAD, Georgia}}(excluding South Ossetia P.A.)| pop4 = 14,385ACCESS-DATE=3 JANUARY 2018, Syria}}| pop5 = 58,700PUBLISHER=ETHNOLOGUE, 4 October 2023, Turkey}}| pop6 = 20,000–50,000WEBSITE=LIT.LIB.RUWEBSITE=NOAR.RUARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20090501214021/HTTP://WWW.NOAR.RU/CONTENT_FULL.PHP?NID=164&BINN_RUBRIK_PL_NEWS=153URL-STATUS=DEAD, HTTP://WWW.UNHCR.ORG/REFWORLD/DOCID/3AE6A6BC8.HTML>TITLE=REFWORLD – THE NORTH CAUCASIAN DIASPORA IN TURKEYLAST=REFUGEESACCESS-DATE=21 AUGUST 2017, HTTPS://WWW.HURRIYET.COM.TR/KELEBEK/GOC-EDELI-100-YIL-OLDU-AMA-ASETINCEYI-UNUTMADILAR-9679327>TITLE=Göç EDELI 100 YıL OLDU AMA ASETINCEYI UNUTMADıLAR, 17 August 2008, Tajikistan}}| pop7 = 7,861ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20130116004155/HTTP://STAT.TJ/EN/IMG/526B8592E834FCAACCEC26A22965EA2B_1355502192.PDFARCHIVE-DATE=16 JANUARY 2013ACCESS-DATE=27 JANUARY 2013LANGUAGE=RU, TG, Uzbekistan}}| pop8 = 5,823ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20120106212632/HTTP://DEMOSCOPE.RU/WEEKLY/SSP/SNG_NAC_89.PHP?REG=4ARCHIVE-DATE=6 JANUARY 2012, 3 January 2018, Ukraine}}| pop9 = 4,830WEBSITE=UKRCENSUS.GOV.UAdate=August 2018fix-attempted=yes}}Kazakhstan}}| pop10 = 4,308ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20120103211816/HTTP://DEMOSCOPE.RU/WEEKLY/SSP/SNG_NAC_89.PHP?REG=5ARCHIVE-DATE=3 JANUARY 2012, 3 January 2018, Turkmenistan}}| pop11 = 2,066ACCESS-DATE=3 JANUARY 2018ARCHIVE-DATE=13 MARCH 2013, dead, Azerbaijan}}| pop12 = 1,170ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20120104081849/HTTP://DEMOSCOPE.RU/WEEKLY/SSP/SNG_NAC_89.PHP?REG=7ARCHIVE-DATE=4 JANUARY 2012, 3 January 2018, Kyrgyzstan}}| pop13 = 758ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20120107034908/HTTP://DEMOSCOPE.RU/WEEKLY/SSP/SNG_NAC_89.PHP?REG=11ARCHIVE-DATE=7 JANUARY 2012, 3 January 2018, Belarus}}| pop15 = 554WORK=Национальный статистический комитет Республики БеларусьLANGUAGE=RUARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20131018221300/HTTP://BELSTAT.GOV.BY/HOMEP/RU/PEREPIC/2009/VIHOD_TABLES/5.11-0.PDF, 18 October 2013, Moldova}}| pop16 = 403ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20160125044608/HTTP://DEMOSCOPE.RU/WEEKLY/SSP/SNG_NAC_89.PHP?REG=9ARCHIVE-DATE=25 JANUARY 2016, 3 January 2018, Armenia}}| pop17 = 331ARCHIVE-URL=HTTPS://WEB.ARCHIVE.ORG/WEB/20120104081804/HTTP://DEMOSCOPE.RU/WEEKLY/SSP/SNG_NAC_89.PHP?REG=13ARCHIVE-DATE=4 JANUARY 2012, 3 January 2018, Latvia}}| pop18 = 285ACCESS-DATE=8 FEBRUARY 2017ARCHIVE-DATE=14 SEPTEMBER 2017URL-STATUS=DEAD, Lithuania}}| pop19 = 119ACCESS-DATE=3 JANUARY 2018, 8, Estonia}}| pop20 = 116WEBSITE=PUB.STAT.EEdate=August 2018fix-attempted=yes}}Ossetian language>Ossetian languages(Iron Ossetian and Digor Ossetian>Digor)Russian language, Turkish language>Turkish, Arabic (L2)Majority: (File:OrthodoxCrossblack.svg>15px) Eastern Orthodoxy (70–85%)HTTPS://MINORITYRIGHTS.ORG/MINORITIES/OSSETIANS-2/ > TITLE=OSSETIANS Minority: (File:Star and Crescent.svg>15px) Islam (15–30%)HTTPS://MINORITYRIGHTS.ORG/MINORITIES/OSSETIANS-2/ > TITLE=OSSETIANS 15px) Uatsdin Jasz people>Jász, other Iranian peoplesen}} The total figure is merely an estimation; sum of all the referenced populations.}}The Ossetians ({{IPAc-en|É’|ˈ|s|iː|ʃ|É™|n|z}} {{respell|oss|EE|shÉ™nz}} or {{IPAc-en|É’|ˈ|s|É›|t|i|É™n|z}} {{respell|oss|ET|ee|É™nz}};OED, Ossetian, ),Merriam-Webster (2021), s.v. “Ossete”. also known as Ossetes ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|É’|s|iː|t|s}} {{respell|OSS|eets}}),Merriam-Webster (2021), s.v. “Ossete”. Ossets ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|É’|s|ɪ|t|s}} {{respell|OSS|its}}),Merriam-Webster (2021), s.v. “Ossete”. and Alans ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|l|É™|n|z}} {{respell|AL|É™nz}}), are an Eastern IranianBOOK, Akiner, Shirin, Islamic Peoples of the Soviet Union, 2016, 1987, Routledge, 978-0710301888, 182, The Ossetians are an Iranian people of the Caucasus., JOURNAL, Galiev, Anuar, Mythologization of History and the Invention of Tradition in Kazakhstan, Oriente Moderno, 2016, 96, 1, 61, 10.1163/22138617-12340094, The Ossetians are an East Iranian people, the Kalmyks and Buryats are Mongolian, and the Bashkirs are Turkic people., BOOK, Rayfield, Donald, Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia, 2012, Reaktion Books, 978-1780230702, 8, For most of Georgian history, those Ossetians (formerly Alanians, an Iranian people, remnants of the Scythians)..., BOOK, Saul, Norman E., Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Foreign Policy, 2015, Rowman & Littlefield, 978-1442244375, 317, Russo-Georgian War (2008), The Ossetians are a people of Iranian descent in the Caucasus that uniquely occupy territories on both sides of the Caucasus Mountain chain., ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the northern and southern sides of the Caucasus Mountains.BOOK, Bell, Imogen, 2003, Eastern Europe, Russia and Central Asia, London, Taylor & Francis, 200, BOOK, Mirsky, Georgiy I., 1997, On Ruins of Empire: Ethnicity and Nationalism in the Former Soviet Union, 28, BOOK, Mastyugina, Tatiana, An Ethnic History of Russia: Pre-revolutionary Times to the Present, 80, They natively speak Ossetic, an Eastern Iranian language of the Indo-European language family, with most also being fluent in Russian as a second language.Currently, the Ossetian homeland of Ossetia is politically divided between North Ossetia–Alania in Russia, and the de facto country of South Ossetia (recognized by the United Nations as Russian-occupied territory that is de jure part of Georgia). Their closest historical and linguistic relatives, the Jász people, live in the Jászság region within the northwestern part of the Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County of Hungary. A third group descended from the medieval Alans are the Asud of Mongolia. Both the Jász and the Asud have long been assimilated; only the Ossetians have preserved a form of the Alanic language and Alanian identity.BOOK, Foltz, Richard, The Ossetes: Modern-Day Scythians of the Caucasus.,books.google.com/books?id=YZswEAAAQBAJ, 2022, London, Bloomsbury, 9780755618453, Richard Foltz, 50–52, The majority of Ossetians are Eastern Orthodox Christians, with sizable minorities professing the Ossetian ethnic religion of Uatsdin as well as Islam.

Etymology

The Ossetians and Ossetia received their name from the Russians, who had adopted the Georgian designations Osi (ოსი, pl. Osebi, ოსები) and Oseti (’the land of Osi’, ოსეთი – note the personal pronoun), used since the Middle Ages for the single Iranian-speaking population of the Central Caucasus and probably based on the old Sarmatian self-designation As (pronounced Az) or Iasi (pronounced Yazi), cognate with Hungarian Jasz, both derived from the Latin Iazyges, which is a latinization of a Sarmatian tribal name of the Alans called *Yazig, from Proto-Iranian *Yaz, meaning “those who sacrifice”, perhaps referring to a tribe specifying in ritual sacrifice, although the broader Sarmatians apparently called themselves “Ariitai” or “Aryan”, preserved in modern Ossetic Irættæ.Lebedynsky, Iaroslav (2014). Les Sarmates amazones et lanciers cuirassés entre Oural et Danube (VIIe siècle av. J.-C. – VIe siècle apr. J.-C.). Éd. Errance.Alemany, Agustí (2000). Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation. Brill.JOURNAL, Crismaru, Valentin, December 2019, Aspecte privind impactul natural È™i antropic asupra solurilor È™i productivității culturilor din regiunea de dezvoltare centru,dx.doi.org/10.53380/9789975315593.30, Starea actuală a componentelor de mediu, 264–267, Institute of Ecology and Geography, Republic of Moldova, 10.53380/9789975315593.30, 9789975315593, 242518750, Since Ossetian speakers lacked any single inclusive name for themselves in their native language beyond the traditional Iron–Digoron subdivision, these terms came to be accepted by the Ossetians as an endonym even before their integration into the Russian Empire.JOURNAL, Shnirelman, Victor, 2006, The Politics of a Name: Between Consolidation and Separation in the Northern Caucasus,src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/publictn/acta/23/02_shnirelman.pdf, Acta Slavica Iaponica, 23, 37–49, This practice was put into question by the new Ossetian nationalism in the early 1990s, when the dispute between the Ossetian subgroups of Digoron and Iron over the status of the Digor dialect made Ossetian intellectuals search for a new inclusive ethnic name. This, combined with the effects of the Georgian–Ossetian conflict, led to the popularization of Alania, the name of the medieval Sarmatian confederation, to which the Ossetians traced their origin and to the inclusion of this name into the official republican title of North Ossetia in 1994.The root os/as- probably stems from an earlier *ows/aws-. This is suggested by the archaic Georgian root ovs- (cf. Ovsi, Ovseti), documented in the Georgian Chronicles; the long length of the initial vowel or the gemination of the consonant s in some forms (NPers. Ä€s, Āṣ; Lat. Aas, Assi); and by the Armenian ethnic name *Awsowrk’ (ÅŒsur-), probably derived from a cognate preserved in the Jassic term *Jaszok, referring to the branch of the Iazyges Alanic tribe dwelling near modern Georgia by the time of Anania Shirakatsi (7th century AD).BOOK, Alemany, Agustí, Sources on the Alans: A Critical Compilation, 2000, Brill, 978-90-04-11442-5, 5–7,

Subgroups

(File:Ossetian tribes.png|thumb|right|250px|Ossetian tribes (according to B. A. Kaloev).WEB,s23.postimg.org/aze2tqr9n/2fec9d793e3d.jpg?noredir=1, JPG, Map image, S23.postimg.org, 21 August 2017,web.archive.org/web/20170205071536/https://s23.postimg.org/aze2tqr9n/2fec9d793e3d.jpg?noredir=1, 5 February 2017, dead, WEB,s50.radikal.ru/i129/1003/22/2fec9d793e3d.jpg, JPG, Map image, S50.radikal.ru, 21 August 2017, 8 June 2020,s50.radikal.ru/i129/1003/22/2fec9d793e3d.jpg," title="web.archive.org/web/20200608082429s50.radikal.ru/i129/1003/22/2fec9d793e3d.jpg,">web.archive.org/web/20200608082429s50.radikal.ru/i129/1003/22/2fec9d793e3d.jpg, dead, )

• Iron in the east and south form a larger group of Ossetians. They speak Iron dialect. Irons are divided into several subgroups: Alagirs, Kurtats, Tagaurs, Kudar, Tual, Urstual and Chsan.
  • Kudar are the southern group of Ossetians.
  • Tual are in the central part of Ossetia.
  • Ksan are in the east of South Ossetia.
• Digor people in the west. Digors live in Digora district, Iraf district and some settlements in Kabardino-Balkaria and Mozdok district. They speak Digor dialect.
• Iasi, who settled in the Jászság region in Hungary during the 13th century. They spoke the extinct Jassic dialect.
• Asud, a nomadic clan from Mongolia of Alanic-Ossetian origin. They, like the Iasi, thoroughly assimilated, and it is unclear what type of Ossetic dialect they used to speak before adopting the Mongolian language.

Culture

{{Culture of South Ossetia}}{{See also|Ossetian culture}}

Mythology

The native beliefs of the Ossetian people are rooted in their Sarmatian origin, which have been syncretized with a local variant of Folk Orthodoxy, in which some pagan gods having been converted into Christian saints.BOOK, Foltz, Richard, The Ossetes: Modern-Day Scythians of the Caucasus.,books.google.com/books?id=YZswEAAAQBAJ, 2022, London, Bloomsbury, 9780755618453, Richard Foltz, 107–108, The Narts, the Daredzant, and the Tsartsiat, serve as the basic literature of folk mythology in the region.Lora Arys-Djanaïéva “Parlons ossète” (Harmattan, 2004)

Music

Genres

Ossetian folk songs are divided into 10 unique genres:

• Historic songs
• War songs
• Heroic songs
• Work songs
• Wedding songs
• Drinking songs
• Humorous songs
• Dance songs
• Romantic songs
• Lyrical songs

Instruments

Ossetians use the following Instruments in their music:

• (String (music)|String Instruments:)
  • (Plucked string instrument|Plucked strings:)
    • Dyuuadæstænon – a twelve-stringed Harp
    • Fændyr – a Harp with two or three plucked strings
  • Bowed strings
    • Hysyn – two or three string Fiddle
    • Hyyrnæg – is a double-bridged instrument, a kind of Cello
• Wind instruments
  • Uadyndz – Flute
  • Khyozyn – Reed Flute
  • Lalym – Bagpipes
  • Udaevdz – Double-reeds
  • Fidiuæg – some kind of instrument made from a bull’s horn
• Percussion instruments
  • Kartsgænæg – Rattles
  • Gymsæg – Drum
  • Dala – Tambourine

History

File:In Dargavs North Ossetia.jpg|Charnel vaults at a necropolis near the village of Dargavs, thumb|left|200 pxAlans)“>

Pre-history (Early Alans)

The Ossetians descend from the Iazyges tribe of the Sarmatians, an Alanic sub-tribe, which in turn split off from the broader Scythians itself.ENCYCLOPEDIA, Ossetians, Encarta, Microsoft Corporation, 2008, The Sarmatians were the only branch of the Alans to keep their culture in the face of a Gothic invasion (c. 200 AD) and those who remained built a great kingdom between the Don and Volga Rivers, according to Coon, The Races of Europe. Between 350 and 374 AD, the Huns destroyed the Alan kingdom and the Alan people were split in half. A few fled to the west, where they participated in the Barbarian Invasions of Rome, established short-lived kingdoms in Spain and North Africa and settled in many other places such as Orléans, France, Iași, Romania, Alenquer, Portugal and Jászberény, Hungary. The other Alans fled to the south and settled in the Caucasus, where they established their medieval kingdom of Alania.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}}

Middle Ages

File:Дом-музей Задалески Нана 07.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|Figurine of “Zadaleski Nana” (“the mother of Zadalesk“), also known as “mother of the Ossetes”, who is said to have hid orphaned children in a cave during TamerlaneTamerlaneIn the 8th century, a consolidated Alan kingdom, referred to in sources of the period as Alania, emerged in the northern Caucasus Mountains, roughly in the location of the latter-day Circassia and the modern North Ossetia–Alania. At its height, Alania was a centralized monarchy with a strong military force and had a strong economy that benefited from the Silk Road.After the Mongol invasions of the 1200s, the Alans migrated further into Caucasus Mountains, where they would form three ethnographical groups; the Iron, the Digoron and the Kudar. The Jassic people are believed to be a potentially fourth group that migrated in the 13th century to Hungary.

Modern history

File:Khetagurov Kosta.jpg|thumb|Kosta KhetagurovKosta KhetagurovIn more-recent history, the Ossetians participated in the Ossetian–Ingush conflict (1991–1992) and Georgian–Ossetian conflicts (1918–1920, early 1990s) and in the 2008 South Ossetia war between Georgia and Russia.Key events:

• 1774 — Expansion of the Russian Empire on Ossetian territory.WEB,pdc.ceu.hu/archive/00002841/01/sokirianskaia06.pdf, Getting Back Home? Towards Sustainable Return of Ingush Forced Migrants and Lasting Peace in Prigorodny District of North Ossetia, Pdc.ceu.hu, 21 August 2017,
• 1801 — After Russian annexation of the east Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, the modern-day territory of South Ossetia becomes part of the Russian Empire.WEB,www.ca-c.org/online/2003/journal_eng/cac-05/06.prieng.shtml, Ca-c.org, Ca-c.org, 21 August 2017, 25 August 2017,www.ca-c.org/online/2003/journal_eng/cac-05/06.prieng.shtml," title="web.archive.org/web/20170825022620www.ca-c.org/online/2003/journal_eng/cac-05/06.prieng.shtml,">web.archive.org/web/20170825022620www.ca-c.org/online/2003/journal_eng/cac-05/06.prieng.shtml, dead,
• 1922 — Creation of the South Ossetian autonomous oblast.NEWS, 21 April 2016, South Ossetia profile, en-GB, BBC News,www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18269210, 25 September 2020, North Ossetia remains a part of the Russian SFSR, while South Ossetia remains a part of the Georgian SSR.
• 20 September 1990 – The independent Republic of South Ossetia is formed. Though it remained unrecognized, it detached itself from Georgia de facto. In the last years of the Soviet Union, ethnic tensions between Ossetians and Georgians in Georgia’s former Autonomous Oblast of South Ossetia (abolished in 1990) and between Ossetians and Ingush in North Ossetia evolved into violent clashes that left several hundred dead and wounded and created a large tide of refugees on both sides of the border.weblink {{dead link|date=August 2017}}weblink {{dead link|date=August 2017}}

Ever since de facto independence, there have been proposals in South Ossetia of joining Russia and uniting with North Ossetia.

Language

File:OSABC2highlited.jpg|alt=OSABC2highlited|thumb|The Ossetic language written in its traditional Khutsuri ]]The Ossetian language belongs to the Eastern Iranian (Alanic) branch of the Indo-European language family.Ossetian is divided into two main dialect groups: Ironian (os. – Ирон) in North and South Ossetia and Digorian (os. – Дыгурон) in Western North Ossetia. In these two groups are some subdialects, such as Tualian, Alagirian and Ksanian. The Ironian dialect is the most widely spoken.Ossetian is among the remnants of the Scytho-Sarmatian dialect group, which was once spoken across the Pontic–Caspian Steppe. The Ossetian language is not mutually intelligible with any other Iranian language.

Religion

{{Bar box|title=Religion in North Ossetia-Alania as of 2012 (Sreda Arena Atlas)“Arena: Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia”. Sreda, 2012.2012 Arena Atlas Religion Maps. “Ogonek”, â„– 34 (5243), 27 August 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2017. c2.kommersant.ru/ISSUES.PHOTO/OGONIOK/2012/034/ogcyhjk2.jpg" title="web.archive.org/web/20170421154615c2.kommersant.ru/ISSUES.PHOTO/OGONIOK/2012/034/ogcyhjk2.jpg">Archived.|float=right|bars={{Bar percent|Russian Orthodoxy|DarkOrchid|49.2}}{{Bar percent|Assianism and other native faiths|Red|29.4}}{{Bar percent|Islam|Green|15}}{{Bar percent|Other Christians|DeepSkyBlue|9.8}}{{Bar percent|Atheism and irreligion|Black|3}}{{Bar percent|Other Orthodox|MediumOrchid|2.4}}{{Bar percent|Protestantism|Navy|0.8}}{{Bar percent|Spiritual but not religious|DarkSlateGray|0.8}}{{Bar percent|Other and undeclared|Gray|0.6}}}}Prior to the 10th century, Ossetians were strictly pagan, though they were partially Christianized by Byzantine missionaries in the beginning of the 10th century.WEB,iratta.com/2007/05/30/06_alanija_i_vizantija.html, Alania and Byzantine, Kuznetsov, Vladimir Alexandrovitch, The History of Alania, By the 13th century, most of the urban population of Ossetia gradually became Eastern Orthodox Christian as a result of Georgian missionary work.James Stuart Olson, Nicholas Charles Pappas. An Ethnohistorical dictionary of the Russian and Soviet empires. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994. p 522.Ronald Wixman. The peoples of the USSR: an ethnographic handbook. M.E. Sharpe, 1984. p 151Islam was introduced shortly after during the 1500s and 1600s, when the members of the Digor first encountered Circassians of the Kabarday tribe in Western Ossetia, who themselves had been introduced to the religion by Tatars during the 1400s.BOOK, Muslims of the Soviet Union, Benningsen, Alexandre, Wimbush, S. Enders, Indiana University Press, 1986, 0-253-33958-8, Bloomington, 206, {{multiple image According to a 2013 estimate, up to 15% of North Ossetia’s population practice Islam.WEB, Ossetians in Georgia, with their backs to the mountains,www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/ossetians-in-georgia-with-their-backs-to-mountains, In 1774, Ossetia became part of the Russian Empire, which only went on to strengthen Orthodox Christianity considerably, by having sent Russian Orthodox missionaries there. However, most of the missionaries chosen were churchmen from Eastern Orthodox communities living in Georgia, including Armenians and Greeks, as well as ethnic Georgians. Russian missionaries themselves were not sent, as this would have been regarded by the Ossetians as too intrusive.Today, the majority of Ossetians from both North and South Ossetia follow Eastern Orthodoxy.NEWS,www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18269214, South Ossetia profile, BBC, 30 May 2012, 18 February 2014,www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18269214," title="web.archive.org/web/20140219042854www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18269214,">web.archive.org/web/20140219042854www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18269214, 19 February 2014, live, Assianism (Uatsdin or Aesdin in Ossetian), the Ossetian folk religion, is also widespread among Ossetians, with ritual traditions like animal sacrifices, holy shrines, annual festivities, etc. There are temples, known as kuvandon, in most villages.WEB,www.keston.org.uk/_russianreview/edition57/01-roschtin-about-south-alania.htm, Михаил Рощин : Религиозная жизнь Южной Осетии: в поисках национально-культурной идентификации., Keston.org.uk, 21 August 2017,www.keston.org.uk/_russianreview/edition57/01-roschtin-about-south-alania.htm," title="web.archive.org/web/20160303233218www.keston.org.uk/_russianreview/edition57/01-roschtin-about-south-alania.htm,">web.archive.org/web/20160303233218www.keston.org.uk/_russianreview/edition57/01-roschtin-about-south-alania.htm, 3 March 2016, dead, According to the research service Sreda, North Ossetia is the primary center of Ossetian Folk religion and 29% of the population reported practicing the Folk religion in a 2012 survey.Arena – Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia. Sreda.org Assianism has been steadily rising in popularity since the 1980s.WEB,osetins.com/print:page,1,1450-mestnaja-religioznaja-organizacija-tradicionnykh.html, DataLife Engine > Версия для печати > Местная религиозная организация традиционных верований осетин “Ǽцǽг Дин” г. Владикавказ, Osetins.com, 21 August 2017, 4 March 2016,osetins.com/print:page,1,1450-mestnaja-religioznaja-organizacija-tradicionnykh.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20160304055944osetins.com/print:page,1,1450-mestnaja-religioznaja-organizacija-tradicionnykh.html,">web.archive.org/web/20160304055944osetins.com/print:page,1,1450-mestnaja-religioznaja-organizacija-tradicionnykh.html, dead,

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Demographics

Outside of South Ossetia, there are also a significant number of Ossetians living in Trialeti, in North-Central Georgia. A large Ossetian diaspora lives in Turkey and Syria. About 5,000–10,000 Ossetians emigrated to the Ottoman Empire, with their migration reaching peaks in 1860–61 and 1865.{{sfn|Hamed-Troyansky|2024|p=49}} In Turkey, Ossetians settled in central Anatolia and set up clusters of villages around Sarıkamış and near Lake Van in eastern Anatolia.{{sfn|Hamed-Troyansky|2024|p=74}} Ossetians have also settled in Belgium, France, Sweden, the United States (primarily New York City, Florida and California), Canada (Toronto), Australia (Sydney) and other countries all around the world.

Russian Census of 2002

The vast majority of Ossetians live in Russia (according to the Russian Census (2002)):

• {{flagicon|North Ossetia-Alania}} North Ossetia–Alania — 445,300
• {{flagicon|Moscow}} Moscow — 10,500
• {{flagicon|Kabardino-Balkaria}} Kabardino-Balkaria — 9,800
• (File:Flag of Stavropol Krai.svg|22x20px|border) Stavropol Krai — 7,700
• (File:Flag of Krasnodar kray (1995).png|22x20px|border) Krasnodar Krai — 4,100
• {{flagicon|Karachay-Cherkessia}} Karachay–Cherkessia — 3,200
• (File:Flag of Saint Petersburg Russia.svg|22x20px|border) Saint Petersburg — 2,800
• (File:Flag of Rostov Oblast.svg|22x20px|border) Rostov Oblast — 2,600
• (File:Flag of Moscow oblast.svg|22x20px|border) Moscow Oblast — 2,400

Genetics

{{Unsourced|section|date=May 2024}}The Ossetians are a unique ethnic group of the Caucasus, speaking an Indo-Iranian language surrounded mostly by Vainakh-Dagestani and Abkhazo-Circassian ethnolinguistic groups, as well as Turkic tribes such as the Karachays and the Balkars.The Ossetians (Alans) formed as a nation in the Caucasian region and are the result of mixing Sarmatians with the native North Caucasian (Ossetian) population. According to Y-haplogroup, Alans are the descendants of Native Ossetian-Caucasian population and According to MtDNA Alano-Ossetians are the descendants of Sarmatians. This is also suggested by their language, which has both North Caucasian and Iranian influence, therefore Ossetians-Alans are the Iranian speaking Caucasian people and their formation as an ethnic group happened between I-lV centuries.According to this study, Ossetians are more related to Georgians (60–70%) than to most other Caucasian ethnic groups.

Gallery

{{cleanup gallery|date=April 2023}}File:Osetino komXXjc.jpg|Ossetian woman in traditional clothes, early years of the 20th centuryFile:Osetia woman working.jpg|Ossetian women working (19th century)File:Ramonov vano ossetin northern caucasia dress 18 century.jpg|Ossetian Northern Caucasia dress of the 18th century, Ramonov Vano (19th century)File:Three ossetian teachers.jpg|Three Ossetian teachers (19th century)File:Ossetian girl 1883.jpg|Ossetian girl in 1883File:Gazdanov-192?.jpg|Gaito Gazdanov, writerFile:Sergei Guriev.jpg|Sergei Guriev, economistFile:Bagraev.jpg|Nikolay Bagrayev, politicianFile:South Ossetian performers.JPG|South Ossetian performersFile:Barry (capitaine). F. 17. Ossèthe (Ossète), Koban. Mission scientifique de Mr Ernest Chantre. 1881.jpg|Ossetian man in 1881File:Soslan Ramonov 2015.jpg|Soslan Ramonov, wrestlerFile:Shota Bibilov 2011.jpg|Shota Bibilov, professional footballerFile:Ruslan Karaev.JPG|Ruslan Karaev, professional kickboxerFile:Gabulov.JPG|Vladimir Gabulov, Ossetian goalkeeperFile:Valery Gergiev David Shankbone 2010.jpg|Valery Gergiev, conductor

See also

• Alans
• Asud
• Digor (people)
• Iazyges
• Iron (people)
• Jassic people
• Alexander Kubalov
• Ossetians in Trialeti
• Ossetians in Turkey
• Peoples of the Caucasus
• Sarmatians
• Scythians
• Terek Cossacks

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

• BOOK, Foltz, Richard, The Ossetes: Modern-Day Scythians of the Caucasus.,books.google.com/books?id=YZswEAAAQBAJ, 2022, London, Bloomsbury, 9780755618453, Richard Foltz,
• BOOK, Hamed-Troyansky, Vladimir, Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State, Stanford University Press, 2024, Stanford, CA,www.google.com/books/edition/Empire_of_Refugees/c0vpEAAAQBAJ, 978-1-5036-3696-5,
• JOURNAL, Nasidze, etal, May 2004, Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosome Variation in the Caucasus, Annals of Human Genetics, 68, 3, 205–21, 10.1046/j.1529-8817.2004.00092.x, 15180701, 27204150, free,
• JOURNAL, Nasidze, etal, 2004, Genetic Evidence Concerning the Origins of South and North Ossetians, Annals of Human Genetics, 68, Pt 6, 588–99, 10.1046/j.1529-8817.2004.00131.x, 15598217, 1717933,www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/pdf/Nasidze.AnHG.2004.pdf, 1 November 2006,www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/pdf/Nasidze.AnHG.2004.pdf," title="web.archive.org/web/20120112052627www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/pdf/Nasidze.AnHG.2004.pdf,">web.archive.org/web/20120112052627www.eva.mpg.de/genetics/pdf/Nasidze.AnHG.2004.pdf, 12 January 2012, dead,

Further reading

• BOOK, Chaudhri, Anna, The Ossetic Oral Narrative Tradition: Fairy Tales in the Context of other Forms of Oral Literature, A Companion to the Fairy Tale, Hilda Ellis, Davidson, Anna, Chaudhri, Rochester, New York, D. S. Brewer, 2003, 202–216,

Folktale collections:

• Munkácsi, Bernhard. Blüten der ossetischen Volksdichtung. Otto Harrassowitz, 1932. (in German)
• Осетинские народные сказки [Ossetian Folk Tales]. Запись текстов, перевод, предисловие и примечания Г. А. Дзагурова [ {{ill|Grigory A. Dzagurov|ru|Дзагуров, Григорий Алексеевич}} ]. Ðœoskva: Главная редакция восточной литературы издательства «Наука», 1973. (in Russian)
• BOOK, Осетинские народные сказки, Ossetian Folk Tales, A., Byazyrov, Tskhinvali, Ирыстон, 1978, 1960,books.google.com/books?id=Z3ylgtL_STQC&q=%22%D0%A1%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%BA%D0%B0+%D0%BE+%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B4%D1%91%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B9%22,
• Arys-Djanaïéva, Lora; Lebedynsky, Iaroslav. Contes Populaires Ossètes (Caucase Central). Paris: L’Harmattan, 2010. {{ISBN|978-2-296-13332-7}} (In French)

External links

{{Commons category}}

• Ossetians.com – a site about famous Ossetians

{{Iranian peoples}}{{European Muslims}}{{Peoples of the Caucasus}}{{Ethnic groups of Russia}}{{Ethnic groups in Georgia}}{{Authority control}}