The disputed region of Abkhazia is claimed by Georgia as part of its sovereign territory, but it has been entirely outside Georgia's effective control (and ruled instead by a "de facto" separatist government) since the early 1990s. Following the 2008 Russia–Georgia war, Abkhazia gained formal recognition as an independent state by Russia and a small number of other nations, though the United Nations (UN) and most of the international community still consider it to be part of Georgia. As a consequence of a 1992–1993 war with Georgia, most ethnic Georgians originally living in Abkhazia were either expelled or killed.