Genetik
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Genetik/Peoples/Ossetians

Ossetians

Осетины · Q106974

language area per Glottologcensus counts
485,646
Russia, census 2021
507,769
sum of censuses in 10 countries, 2001-2021
Indo-European
language family (Glottolog)

In brief

The largest documented number lives in Russia: 485,646 people in the 2021 census.

Official figures exist for 10 countries; together they add up to 507,769. This is not an estimate of the world total: the censuses were held in different years (2001-2021) and define belonging differently, and countries without such data are not counted.

In Russia's 2020 census (reference date 1 October 2021), 485,646 people identified with the nationality "Осетины" (Ossetians)1. That is 0.37% of the 130,587,364 residents who stated a nationality.

Rosstat also assigns 3 other self-designations to this nationality (listed in Russian in the source table).

Main language: Ossetic. Glottolog classifies it in the Indo-European family.

Where they live: census figures

Each figure comes from the country's official census. Censuses define belonging differently (self-identification, citizenship, mother tongue, ancestry); the type is given on each row.

Russia2021 · ethnicity / nationality · «Осетины» · [1]
485,646
Georgia2014 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Ossetian» · [2]
14,385
Ukraine2001 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Ossetian» · [3]
4,834
Kazakhstan2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Ossetian» · [4]
1,779
Tajikistan2010 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Ossetian» · [5]
396
Belarus2019 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Ossetian» · [6]
274
Latvia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Ossetian» · [7]
216
Lithuania2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Ossetian» · [8]
118
Estonia2021 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Ossetian» · [9]
78
Moldova, Republic of2014 · national and/or ethnic group, UN · «Ossetian» · [10]
43
Sum across 10 countries507,769

In detail: Russia, 2021 census

Sex

Men 232,742 · 47.9%Women 252,904 · 52.1%

Urban and rural

Urban 303,355 · 62.5%Rural 182,291 · 37.5%

Where: the 10 regions with the largest numbers

Republic of North Ossetia-Alania
439,949
Kabardino-Balkar Republic
6,877
Moscow (city)
6,797
Stavropol Krai
5,149
Moscow Oblast
2,971
Krasnodar Krai
2,911
Karachay-Cherkess Republic
2,511
Saint Petersburg (city)
2,220
Rostov Oblast
1,398
Krasnoyarsk Krai
1,282

Groups counted within this nationality

Digor people1,361Iron Ossetians323

Source [1]: Rosstat, 2020 census, vol. 5, table 1

Languages and their lineage

Ossetic

  1. Indo-Europeanindo1319
  2. Classical Indo-Europeanclas1257
  3. Indo-Iranianindo1320
  4. Iranian-Nuristaniiran1271
  5. Iranianiran1269
  6. Central Iranian PBScent2317
  7. Sogdic-Osseticsogd1247
  8. Osseticosse1245

Russian

  1. Indo-Europeanindo1319
  2. Classical Indo-Europeanclas1257
  3. Balto-Slavicbalt1263
  4. Slavicslav1255
  5. East Slaviceast1426
  6. Russianruss1263

People-to-language links: Wikidata (properties P103 and P2936), checked against ISO 639-3 codes. Language classification: Glottolog 5.3.

Peoples of the same language family

PakistanisRussiansMarathiGermansSpaniardsMexicansUkrainiansEnglishIrishAmericansItaliansRomaniansNepali (Khas-Arya)DutchBelarusiansTajiksCzechsScotsSerbsBulgariansSlovaksArmeniansCubansLithuanians

Sources

  1. Rosstat. National composition of the population of the Russian Federation. Results of the 2020 All-Russian Population Census (reference date 1 October 2021), vol. 5, table 1. Tom5_tab1_VPN-2020.xlsx (archived copy)
  2. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Georgia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  3. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Ukraine, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  4. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Kazakhstan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  5. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Tajikistan, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  6. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Belarus, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  7. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Latvia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  8. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Lithuania, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  9. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Estonia, Census - de jure - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  10. United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD). Demographic Yearbook, table 26: Population by national and/or ethnic group. Republic of Moldova, Census - de facto - complete tabulation, Final figure, complete. https://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=POP&f=tableCode%3a26%3bsexCode%3a0%3bareaCode%3a0%3bcountr…
  11. Hammarström H., Forkel R., Haspelmath M., Bank S. (2026). Glottolog 5.3. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. glottolog.org (CC BY 4.0)