How many people live today in South Ossetia?

53,559 people live in South Ossetia now, this is a result.

The population of South Ossetia was previously calculated in 1989. There were 98,5 thousand people. 65 thousand of them were recorded as Ossetians; 28 thousand – as Georgians and 2 thousand – as Russians.

57,000 questionnaires for potential residents of the republic and 27,000 separate questionnaires to detalize the quality of life, have been printed this time. The questions in these questionnaire forms are mainly related to the housing issue. In, particularly when the house was built, how many rooms are there, whether there is a heating system, internet and etc.

It took over a year and a half to prepare for the census. The team of census takers, who were to get around all the houses and apartments, comprised 214 people and the local TV released a special clip, warning people to be cautious and check a census taker’s authorization document and passport before letting him/her into the house.

Anna Dryaeva interviewed over two hundred people. She says, only one person turned out to be that vigilant.

Census taker team members say, people were generally very interested in the process and friendly to them.

Anna Dryaeva also assumed voluntary obligations to tell the people, whom they visited to complete the questionnaires, about their right to unemployment benefits amounting to RUB 1,550 per month [about US$ 25]. She says, about every 11th person from those, she talked to, said, he/she did not know that he/she was entitled to unemployment benefits.

Inal Tibilov, who heads the statistics department, say, the census is important for any society and it is of particular significance for South Ossetia, since it will allow making social and economic programs more efficient. ‘Besides, census also has political importance for a young state, that must have accurate data on its population,’ – says Tibilov.

In future, it is planned to conduct population census once in decade.