It borders the country of Georgia to the south, and the Russian federal subjects of Kabardino-Balkaria to the west, Stavropol Krai to the north, Chechnya to the east and Ingushetia to the southeast.

[15] Unlike many ethnic groups in the North Caucasus, the majority of Ossetians are Christians, predominantly Eastern Orthodox.

Almost 30% of the population adheres to Ossetian ethnic religion, generally called Uatsdin (Уацдин, "True Faith"), and there is a sizable Muslim minority.

The republic has experienced spillover from the Chechen conflict, most notably in the form of the 2004 Beslan school siege.

[19] In the last years of the Soviet Union, as nationalist movements swept throughout the Caucasus, many intellectuals in the North Ossetian ASSR called for the revival of the name of Alania, a medieval kingdom of the Alans.

The term "Alania" quickly became popular in Ossetian daily life through the names of various enterprises, TV channels, political and civic organizations, publishing house, football team, etc.

According to Georgian sources, the Iberians and the ancestors of the Ossetians established contacts during the Iberian–Armenian War[22] Alania greatly profited from the Silk Road which passed through its territory.

Conflicts between the Khanate of Crimea and the Ottoman Empire eventually pushed Ossetia into an alliance with Imperial Russia in the 18th century.

Soon, Russia established a military base in the capital, Vladikavkaz, making it the first Russian-controlled area in the northern Caucasus.

The Russian Revolution of 1917 resulted in North Ossetia being merged into the Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1921.

In World War II, it was subject to a number of attacks by Nazi German invaders unsuccessfully trying to seize Vladikavkaz in 1942.

In December 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR abolished the autonomous Ossetian enclave amid the rising ethnic tensions in the region, which was further fanned by Moscow; a lot of the conflict zone population, faced with the ethnic cleansing, was forced to flee across the border to either North Ossetia or Georgia proper.

Additionally, North Ossetia provoked the predominantly Ingush population in the Prigorodny District, which sparked the Ossetian–Ingush conflict.

[27] From 2005 to 2007, the average monthly wage in North Ossetia–Alania doubled, with the actual cash earnings increased by 42.5 percent.

[26] The regional government’s economic priorities include industrial growth, development of small enterprise, spas, and resorts, and strengthening the budgetary and tax discipline.

[26] The agricultural sector is varied and specializes in the cultivation of wheat, corn, and sunflowers; horticulture; viticulture; and cattle and sheep breeding.

[32] Projects under a program for spa, resort, and tourism development have been successfully implemented in the mountainous part of the republic, according to the head of the regional government.

The complex includes two federal highways (Georgian Military Road connects Vladikavkaz with Transcaucasia) running across the Greater Caucasus Range, two customs checkpoints for cars, a developed railway network, Vladikavkaz international airport, and well-equipped transport terminals.

[35]Number of refugees: 12,570[36] Life expectancy:[37][38] [40] The majority of the population of North Ossetia are Christians who belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, although there is also a Muslim minority who are of Ossetian-speaking origin.

Since 1991, CPSU lost all the power, and the head of the Republic administration, and eventually the governor was appointed/elected alongside elected regional parliament.

The Oblast administration supports the activities of the Governor who is the highest official and acts as guarantor of the observance of the krai Charter in accordance with the Constitution of Russia.