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The Ossetians, or Alans (ɒˈsiːʃənz, ˈɒsiːts; ир, ирæттæ / дигорӕ, дигорӕнттӕ) 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. 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. 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.

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Related concepts (26)

Iranian peoples

The Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separate branch of the Indo-Iranians in Central Asia around the mid-2nd millennium BC. At their peak of expansion in the mid-1st millennium BC, the territory of the Iranian peoples stretched across the entire Eurasian Steppe, from the Danubian plains in the west to the Ordos Plateau in the east and the Iranian Plateau in the south.

South Ossetia

South Ossetia (ɒˈsɛtiə , ɒˈsiːʃə ), 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 population of just over 56,500 people (2022), who live in an area of , with 33,000 living in the capital city, Tskhinvali. As of 2023, only Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria recognise South Ossetia as a sovereign state. The Georgian government and nearly all United Nations member states consider South Ossetia a sovereign territory of Georgia occupied by Russia.

Ingushetia

Ingushetia, officially the Republic of Ingushetia, is a republic of Russia located in the North Caucasus of Eurasia. The republic is part of the North Caucasian Federal District, and shares land borders with the country of Georgia to its south; and borders the Russian republics of North Ossetia–Alania and Chechnya to its west and east, respectively; while having a border with Stavropol Krai to its north. Its capital is the town of Magas, while the largest city is Nazran.