Islam in South Ossetia
Islam is the third most practiced religion in the predominantly Christian South Ossetia.[1]
History
Islam started to spread in Ossetia in the 14th and 15th centuries. According to sources, mostly high noble families of Ossetian society received Muslim religion and peasants remained into the Christian faith.
“In the 17th and 18th centuries, part of Ossetian people from Digor (under influence of Kabarday) received Islam religion. However, Islam was transpassed by christianity during the reign of the Russian Empire in Ossetia since 1801.[2] In fact, according to Ruslan Bzargov:"In Ossetia Muslims never had more than 12-15% of the population"[3]
Demographics
Athough there are on official censuses, estimates say that about 35% of the population of Abkhazia adnd South Ossetia are Muslims. Officials also suspect that Russia's military and political actions will likely cause this percentage to increase.[4]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Religious Identity of Ossetian People
- ↑ http://osetia.info/articles/2455/
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
