South Ossetia to merge with Russia

Posted By Joshua Keating Friday, August 29, 2008 - 3:25 PM Share

That was quick.

Only three days after Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia, officials from the disputed territory now say they plan to become part of Russia in the near future:

Soon there will be no North or South Ossetia — there will be a united Alania as part of Russia," [Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Tarzan] Kokoiti said, using another name for Ossetia.
"We will live in one united Russian state," he said.

Only this morning, the New York Times ran a feature on Ossetian nationalists imagining a future as the Andorra or Liechtenstein of the Caucasus. Oh well.

EXPLORE:CAUCASUS, BORDERS, GEORGIA, RUSSIA

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AMIK777

4:35 PM ET

August 29, 2008

Wow

What was the last time a country annexed a territory?

KAO_HSIEN_CHIH

1:06 AM ET

September 1, 2008

A few recent cases that are

A few recent cases that are not "officially" recognized--at least not immediately. Probably the best known case is annexation of East Jerusalem by Israel, but one could also add Irian Jaya/Western New Guinea by Indonesia, Goa and Calicut by India, etc.

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