The Roki Tunnel (also called Roksky Tunnel, ka, როკის გვირაბი; ; russian: Рокский туннель) is a mountain tunnel of the Transkam road through the

Greater Caucasus The Greater Caucasus ( az, Böyük Qafqaz, Бөјүк Гафгаз, بيوک قافقاز; ka, დიდი კავკასიონი, ''Didi K’avk’asioni''; russian: Большой Кавказ, ''Bolshoy Kavkaz'', sometimes translat ...

Mountains, north of the village Upper Roka. It is the only road joining

North Ossetia–Alania The Republic of North Ossetia–Alania; os, Республикӕ Цӕгат Ирыстон — Алани, ''Respublikæ Cægat Iryston — Alani'', ) is a republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. Its population acco ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

into

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

, a breakaway republic of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. The road is manned at the town of in North Ossetia and is sometimes referred to as the Roki-Nizhny Zaramag border crossing. The tunnel, completed by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

government in 1984, is one of only a handful of routes that cross the North Caucasus Range. It is at about altitude and its length is , and near the

Roki Pass RoKi is a Finnish ice hockey team based at Lappi Areena (capacity 3,500), Rovaniemi. Established in 1979. Full name of the club is Rovaniemen Kiekko. Honours Suomi-sarja * Suomi-sarja ''(2)'': 2011, 2013 * Suomi-sarja ''(1)'': 2009 Curre ...

at about altitude, which can only be used in summer. The other routes between Georgia and Russia include the

Kazbegi Stepantsminda ( ka, სტეფანწმინდა; formerly Kazbegi, ), is a townlet in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region of north-eastern Georgia. Historically and ethnographically, the town is part of the Khevi province. It is the center of ...

– Verkhni Lars customs checkpoint on the

Georgian Military Road The Georgian Military Road or Georgian Military Highway (, 'sakartvelos samkhedro gza'' , os, Арвыкомы фæндаг 'Arvykomy fændag'' is the historic name for a major route through the Caucasus from Georgia to Russia. Alternative r ...

, closed June 2006 and reopened 2010, and the

Gantiadi Gantiadi ( ka, განთიადი ; russian: Гантиади) or Tsandryphsh ( ab, Цандрыҧшь; russian: Цандрыпш), is an urban-type settlement on the Black Sea coast in Georgia, in the Gagra District of Abkhazia, 5 km f ...

– Adler crossing in

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

which Georgia asserts functions illegally. The tunnel has been important throughout the

Georgian–Ossetian conflict The Georgian–Ossetian conflict is an ethno-political conflict over Georgia's former autonomous region of South Ossetia, which evolved in 1989 and developed into a war. Despite a declared ceasefire and numerous peace efforts, the conflict r ...

. The South Ossetian authorities use tolls levied on tunnel traffic as one of their main sources of revenue. The Georgian government, backed by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, has long called for the South Ossetian side of the tunnel to be placed under the control of international monitors, rather than by the South Ossetian secessionists and their Russian allies. When the Russian authorities blocked the

- Verkhni Lars customs checkpoint between June 2006 and March 2010, the Roki Tunnel was the only available road route from Russia to South Ossetia. The tunnel was also used as a supply route for the Russian troops during the

2008 South Ossetia War The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...

.The tunnel was reconstructed due to damage caused by

Russo-Georgian War The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...

. Reconstruction took two and half years and was finished in October 2015. All costs of reconstruction were paid by the Russian side.

References

External links

* {{coord, 42, 37, N, 44, 6, E, type:mountain_region:RU, display=title Geography of Georgia (country) Road tunnels in Russia Tunnels in Georgia (country) Ossetia Buildings and structures in North Ossetia–Alania Roads in South Ossetia Tunnels completed in 1985 Road tunnels Buildings and structures in South Ossetia Transport in North Ossetia–Alania

See also

References

External links