Short answers, pulled from the story.
As of 2024, five United Nations member states recognise South Ossetia as a sovereign state: Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria. All other UN member states regard it as part of Georgia.
Russia recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent republics on the 26th of August 2008, following the five-day Russo-Georgian War that began on the 8th of August 2008. Georgia responded by severing diplomatic relations with Russia.
South Ossetia has an officially stated population of just over 56,500 people as of 2022, living in an area of 3,900 square kilometres. The capital city is Tskhinvali, where approximately 33,000 of the population live.
The Soviet Georgian government created the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast in April 1922 under pressure from the Caucasian Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Some historians argue the Bolsheviks granted the autonomy as a reward for Ossetian loyalty in fighting against the Democratic Republic of Georgia, since the area had no prior existence as a separate political entity.
Since a name-change referendum held on the 9th of April 2017, South Ossetia is formally known as the State of Alania, with "Republic of South Ossetia" and "State of Alania" holding equal constitutional status. The name echoes North Ossetia-Alania, a federal subject of Russia.
South Ossetia is critically dependent on Russian aid. By 2010, Russian donations made up nearly 99% of South Ossetia's budget. By 2021 that share had fallen to 83%, and the socio-economic development programme for 2022-2025 is also financed by Russia.