Tskhinvali ( ka, ცხინვალი ) or Tskhinval (, ; , ) is the capital of the disputed ''de facto'' independent Republic of South Ossetia, internationally considered part of

Shida Kartli Shida Kartli ( ka, შიდა ქართლი, , ; "Inner Kartli") is a landlocked administrative region (''Mkhare'') in eastern Georgia. It comprises a central part of the historical-geographic province of Shida Kartli. With an area of , S ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

(except by

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and four other UN member states). Tskhinvali Region, known historically as

Samachablo Samachablo ( ka, სამაჩაბლო ) is a Georgian historical district in Shida Kartli, Georgia (country), Georgia, which has been occupied in 2008 by Russia, lies entirely within the disputed Tskhinvali Region (controlled by the partia ...

, was traditionally part of the Georgia as a single military and administrative entity. It is located on the Great Liakhvi River approximately northwest of the Georgian capital

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Name

The name of Tskhinvali is derived from the

Old Georgian Old Georgian (ႤႬႠჂ ႵႠႰႧႭჃႪႨ, ''enay kartuli'') is a literary language of the Georgian monarchies attested from the 5th century. The language remains in use as the liturgical language of the Georgian Orthodox Church and for ...

''Krtskhinvali'' ( ka, ქრცხინვალი), from earlier ''Krtskhilvani'' ( ka, ქრცხილვანი), literally meaning "the land of

hornbeam Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus ''Carpinus'' in the family Betulaceae. Its species occur across much of the temperateness, temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Common names The common English name ''hornbeam'' derives ...

s", which is the historical name of the city. See ცხინვალი for more. From 1934 to 1961, the city was named Staliniri ( ka, სტალინირი, ), which was a compilation of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's surname with Ossetian word "Ir" which means

Ossetia Ossetia ( , ; or , or , ) is an Ethnolinguistics, ethnolinguistic region on both sides of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, largely inhabited by the Ossetians. The Ossetian language is part of the Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian b ...

. Modern

Ossetians The Ossetians ( or ; ),Merriam-Webster (2021), s.v"Ossete" also known as Ossetes ( ), Ossets ( ), and Alans ( ), are an Iranian peoples, Iranian ethnic group who are indigenous to Ossetia, a region situated across the northern and southern side ...

call the city Tskhinval (leaving off the final "i", which is a

nominative case In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants ...

ending in Georgian); the other Ossetian name of the city is Chreba () which is only spread as a

colloquial Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...

word. The name Chreba comes from the Georgian ''Ḳreba'' ( ka, კრება), literally meaning "gathering" due to the city historically serving as a trading point.

History

Humans first settled in the area around present-day Tskhinvali in the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. The unearthed settlements and archaeological artifacts from that time are unique in that they reflect influences from both Iberian (east Georgia) and Colchian (west Georgia) cultures with possible

Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

elements. Tskhinvali was first chronicled by Georgian sources in 1398 as a village in

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

(central Georgia), though a later account credits the 3rd-century AD Georgian king Aspacures II of Iberia with its foundation as a fortress. By the early-18th century, Tskhinvali was a small "royal town" populated chiefly by monastic serfs. Tskhinvali was annexed to the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

along with the rest of eastern Georgia in 1801. Located on a

trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over land or water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a singl ...

which linked

North Caucasus The North Caucasus, or Ciscaucasia, is a subregion in Eastern Europe governed by Russia. It constitutes the northern part of the wider Caucasus region, which separates Europe and Asia. The North Caucasus is bordered by the Sea of Azov and the B ...

to Tbilisi and Gori, Tskhinvali gradually developed into a commercial town with a mixed Georgian Jewish, Georgian,

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

and Ossetian population. In 1917, it had 600 households with 38.4% occupied by

Georgian Jews The Georgian Jews ( ka, ქართველი ებრაელები, tr, ) are a community of Jews who migrated to Georgia during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BCE.The Wellspring of Georgian Historiography: The Early Medi ...

, 34.4% by Georgians, 17.7% by Armenians and 8.8% by Ossetians. The town saw clashes between the Georgian People's Guard and pro-

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

Ossetian peasants during the 1918–20 period, when Georgia gained brief independence from Russia.

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

rule was established by the invading

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

in March 1921, and a year later, in 1922, Tskhinvali was made a capital of the

South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast (; ka, სამხრეთ ოსეთის ავტონომიური ოლქი, tr; ) was an autonomous oblast of the Soviet Union created within the Georgian SSR on April 20, 1922. It was an ...

within the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

. Subsequently, the town became largely Ossetian due to intense urbanisation and to the Soviet ("nativization") policy which induced an inflow of the Ossetians from the nearby rural areas into Tskhinvali. The settlement was essentially an industrial centre, with lumber mills and manufacturing plants, and had also several cultural and educational institutions such as a venerated Pedagogical Institute (currently Tskhinvali State University) and a drama theatre. According to the last

Soviet census The following is a summary of censuses carried out in the Soviet Union: See also * Russian census * Censuses in Ukraine Notes References {{USSRCensus Demographics of the Soviet Union Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Rep ...

(in 1989), Tskhinvali had a population of 42,934, and according to the census of Republic of South Ossetia in 2015, the population comprised 30,432 people. During the acute phase of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict of 1989 and following, Tskhinvali was a scene of ethnic tensions and ensuing armed confrontation between Georgian and Ossetian forces. The 1992

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

ceasefire accord left Tskhinvali in the hands of

Russo-Georgian War

A considerable part of the population of South Ossetia (at least, 30,000 out of 70,000) fled into

North Ossetia–Alania North Ossetia–Alania (; ), officially the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia situated in the North Caucasus of Eastern Europe. It borders the country of Georgia (country), Georgia to the south, a ...

prior or immediately after the start of the

Russo-Georgian War The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...

in August 2008. However, many civilians were killed during the shelling and the following

Battle of Tskhinvali The Battle of Tskhinvali ( ka, ცხინვალის ბრძოლა; ) was a fight for the city of Tskhinvali, the capital of the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia. It was the only major battle in the Russo-Georgian War. Georgia ...

of 8 to 11 August 2008 (162 civilian deaths were documented by the Russian team of investigators and 365 – by the South Ossetian authorities). The town was heavily damaged during the battle due to extensive shelling by the Georgian Army. Andrey Illarionov visited the town in October 2008 and reported that Jewish Quarter was in ruins, though he observed that the ruins were overgrown with shrubs and trees, which indicates that the destruction took place during the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War. However,

Mark Ames Mark Ames (born October 3, 1965) is a New York-based American journalist. He was the editor of the biweekly ''the eXile'' in Moscow, from its founding in 1997 until its closure in 2008. Ames has also written for the ''New York Press'', '' PandoD ...

, who was covering the last war for ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'', stated that Tskhinvali's main residential district, nicknamed Shanghai because of its population density (it's where most of the city's high-rise apartment blocks are located), and the old Jewish Quarter, were completely destroyed.

Geography

Climate

Located in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, at above sea level, Tskhinvali has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Dfb''), with an average annual precipitation of . Summers are mild and winters are cold, with

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

falls.

Present

Valery Gergiev in Tskhinval 21 August 2008

Currently, Tskhinvali functions as the capital of

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

. Before the 2008 war it had a population of approximately 30,000. The town remained significantly impoverished in the absence of a permanent political settlement between the two sides in the past two decades. On 21 August 2008, a world-known Russian conductor and director of the

Mariinsky Theatre The Mariinsky Theatre (, also transcribed as Maryinsky or Mariyinsky) is a historic opera house in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces ...

, of Ossetian origin,

Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (, ; ; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conducting, conductor and opera company director. He is currently general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre and of the Bolshoi Theatre and artistic director o ...

conducted a concert near the ruined building of South Ossetian parliament in memory of the Ossetian victims of the

Transport

There was a railway service before 1991 at the Tskhinvali Railway station connecting the city with Gori.

International relations

Twin towns and Sister cities

Tskhinvali is twinned with the following cities: *

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina near its mouth into the White Sea. The city spreads for over along the ...

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

, Russia

Notable people

* David Baazov, founder of the

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

movement in Georgia * Kakhi Kakhiashvili, Olympic Champion weightlifter * Arsen Kasabiev, weightlifter * Yuri Kokoyev, footballer * Vadim Laliev, former professional wrestler representing Armenia and Russia * Temo Svirely, artist * Guram Tskhovrebov, football player * Irakli Okruashvili, a Georgian politician and a former Georgian Defence Minister

Notes

External links

Sites

Site of Tskhinvali
information, news, video, photos, etc. – www.chinval.ru

Pictures

Casualties in South Ossetia
from

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...

Tskhinvali after the war
from

RIA Novosti RIA Novosti (), sometimes referred to as RIAN () or RIA (), is a Russian state-owned domestic news agency. On 9 December 2013, by a decree of Vladimir Putin, it was liquidated and its assets and workforce were transferred to the newly created ...

13 Aug 2008: Pictures of destroyed Tskhinvali after shelling of the city by Georgian troops on 8 Aug 2008
from Osinform
"Kvartals old Tskhinval (photo)"(«Кварталы старого Цхинвала (фото)»)
– OSinform.ru

References

* {{Authority control Populated places in South Ossetia Cities and towns in Shida Kartli Tiflis Governorate De-Stalinization 1398 establishments Populated places established in the 1390s 1398 establishments in Europe