South Ossetia is a very mountainous region located in the Caucasus at the juncture of Asia and Europe. It occupies the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus mountain range and its foothills which are part of the Iberia Plain, a geographic plateau that is roughly in the center of South Ossetia. The Likhi Range shapes the western geographic boundary of South Ossetia, although the northwestern corner of South Ossetia is located west of the range. Before the Georgian–Ossetian conflict, roughly two-thirds of the population of South Ossetia was Ossetian and 25–30% was Georgian. The dispute surrounding the presence of the Ossetian people in the South Caucasus has been one of the causes of conflict. In the late 1980s, a separatist movement emerged in South Ossetia that sought secession from Georgia and unification with North Ossetia–Alania. In 1989, Soviet troops were sent to maintain peace. Shortly after Georgia gained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, heavy fighting broke out between Ossetian and Georgian forces, forcing thousands to flee South Ossetia. In 2008, South Ossetia saw a brief war between Russia and Georgia. Moscow subsequently recognized South Ossetia as an independent state, and began a process of closer ties that Georgia views as effective annexation. Russia should recognise also North Ossetia as an independent state, too - the logic says.