The escalating crisis led to the 1991–92 South Ossetia War. The Georgian government responded by abolishing South Ossetia's autonomy and trying to re-establish its control over the region by force.

The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast, established by Soviet authorities in 1922, declared independence from the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991. When neutral language is deemed necessary, both Georgia and international organisations often refer to the area informally as the (legally undefined) 'Tskhinvali Region'. Georgia does not recognise the existence of South Ossetia as a political entity, and the territory comprising South Ossetia does not correspond to any Georgian administrative area (although Georgian authorities have set up the Provisional Administration of South Ossetia as a transitional measure leading to the settlement of South Ossetia's status), with most of the territory included into Shida Kartli region. While Georgia does not control South Ossetia, the Georgian government and most members of the United Nations consider the territory part of Georgia, whose constitution designates the area as 'the former autonomous district of South Ossetia', in reference to the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast disbanded in 1990. Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria recognise the separatist polity of the Republic of South Ossetia (or the 'State of Alania'). It has an officially stated population of just over 53,000 people, who live in an area of 3,900 km 2, south of the Russian Caucasus, with 30,000 living in the capital city, Tskhinvali. South Ossetia ( / ɒ ˈ s ɛ t j ə/, less commonly / ɒ ˈ s iː ʃ ə/), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, or the Tskhinvali Region, is a de facto state in the South Caucasus. The Ossetian and Russian languages are official languages.

Europa universalis 4 english civil war