Tskhinvali (Georgian: ცხინვალი [ˈt͡sʰχinʷali] ⓘ) or Tskhinval (Ossetian: Цхинвал, Чъреба, romanized: Cxinval, Čreba, Ossetian pronunciation: [t͡sχinˈvɒɫ, ˈt͡ʃʼɾʲebɑ] ⓘ; Russian: Цхинвал(и), romanized: Tskhinval(i), [tsxʲɪnˈval(ʲɪ)]) is the capital of the disputed de facto independent Republic of South Ossetia, internationally considered part of Shida Kartli, Georgia (except by the Russian Federation and four other UN member states).

[3][neutrality is disputed] It is located on the Great Liakhvi River approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) northwest of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

[9] The town saw clashes between Georgian People's Guard and pro-Bolshevik Ossetian peasants during the 1918–20 period, when Georgia gained brief independence from Russia.

Soviet rule was established by the invading Red Army in March 1921, and a year later, in 1922, Tskhinvali was made a capital of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the Georgian SSR.

During the acute phase of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, Tskhinvali was a scene of ethnic tensions and ensuing armed confrontation between Georgian and Ossetian forces.

[13] However, Mark Ames, who was covering the last war for The Nation, 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.

[14] Located in the Caucasus, at 860 metres (2,820 ft) above sea level, Tskhinvali has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb), with an average annual precipitation of 805 millimetres (31.7 in).