ossetia (; ; ; ) is a region in the greater caucasus mountains. most people living there are ethnic ossetians. the ossetian language is part of the eastern iranian branch of the family of indo-european languages. most countries recognise the southern area as part of georgia. but, russia has created arepublic of south ossetia there. most countries do not recognize the republic of south ossetia as an independent country. the northern part of the region is the republic of north ossetia–alania in the russian federation.