Ossetians
The Ossetians (/ɒˈsiːʃənz/ oss-EE-shənz or /ɒˈsɛtiənz/ oss-ET-ee-ənz; Ossetic: ир, ирæттæ / дигорӕ, дигорӕнттӕ, romanized: ir, irættæ / digoræ, digorænttæ), also known as Ossetes (/ˈɒsiːts/ OSS-eets), Ossets (/ˈɒsɪts/ OSS-its), and Alans (/ˈælənz/ AL-ənz), are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the northern and southern sides of the Caucasus Mountains. 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.
Ир, Ирæттæ, Дигорæ, Дигорæнттæ / Ir, Irættæ, Digoræ, Digorænttæ | |
|---|---|
Ossetian folk dancer in North Ossetia (Russia), 2010 | |
| Total population | |
| 700,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Russia | 558,515 |
| ( North Ossetia–Alania) | 480,310 |
| South Ossetia | 51,000 |
| Georgia (excluding South Ossetia P.A.) | 14,385 |
| Syria | 50,000 |
| Turkey | 20,000–50,000 |
| Tajikistan | 7,861 |
| Uzbekistan | 5,823 |
| Ukraine | 4,830 |
| Kazakhstan | 4,308 |
| Turkmenistan | 2,066 |
| Azerbaijan | 1,170 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 758 |
| Belarus | 554 |
| Moldova | 403 |
| Armenia | 331 |
| Latvia | 285 |
| Lithuania | 119 |
| Estonia | 116 |
| Languages | |
| Ossetian languages (Iron and Digor) Russian, Turkish, Arabic (L2) | |
| Religion | |
| Majority: Eastern Orthodoxy (70-85%) Minority: Islam (15-30%) Uatsdin | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Jász, other Iranian peoples | |
a. ^ The total figure is merely an estimation; sum of all the referenced populations. | |
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.
The majority of Ossetians are Eastern Orthodox Christians, with sizable minorities professing the Ossetian ethnic religion of Uatsdin as well as Islam.