South Ossetia Georgian government severed diplomatic relations with Russia. Russian forces left the buffer areas bordering Abkhazia and South Ossetia on 8 October and the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia assumed authority over the buffer areas. Since the war, Georgia has maintained that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are Russian-occupied Georgian territories. South Ossetia is in the very heart of the Caucasus at the juncture of Asia and Europe, and it occupies the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range and the foothills' part of the Kartalin Valley. South Ossetia is a very mountainous region. The Likhi Range is roughly in
South Ossetia Ossetian Agriculture ministry also imported some tractors in 2008, and was expecting delivery of more farm machinery in 2009. Russia planned to spend 10 billion rubles in the restoration of South Ossetia in 2008. The economy is currently very dependent on funding from Russia. In 2017 the Administration of South Ossetia estimated its GDP to be nearly 0.1 billion US dollars. The country's principal university is South Ossetia State University in Tskhinvali. After the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, education officials attempted to place most university-bound students from South Ossetia in Russian post-secondary education institutions. South Ossetia South Ossetia (, ),