Today, this blog was featured on the large and popular news site, Sky News for the Google map that I created involving the conflict in South Ossetia between Russia, Georgia and the South Ossetians. If you are looking for the post featured in the the article, you can find it here:

• Russia Responds to Georgia Handling Conflict in South Ossetia

An additional story covering the cyberattacks, when they first occurred in the region, can be found here:

• Cyberattacks Crippling and Defacing Georgian and Ossetian Web Sites

Here’s an excerpt from the Sky News story about the post:

“The map was created by American blogger David Drake who writes for the blog ilovebonnie.net.

David will be keeping the map up to date as events take place.

He told Sky News: “When I first heard about the conflict I was surprised that it was so difficult to find a good map of the area so I decided to make my own.”

“I first became interested in Russia when I took a History of Russian Culture class in my studies at George Mason University. We studied some of the conflicts that have happened, historically, in the region. Obviously Georgia came up during those discussions.”"

The main story from Sky News about the conflict can be found here.

While you’re here, please consider subscribing to my feed, and also be sure to check out the other Google maps post I’ve done including a map of the 2008 submarine cable cuts.

[UPDATE] – This post has been featured at Sky News. Check out more information here.

[UPDATE] – As events occur, I will do my best to add them to the map. It seems that Russia is no longer focusing on South Ossetia, but instead has started attacking all areas of the country of Georgia. The attacks are marked on the map and it can be seen that they are spread throughout the country.

[UPDATE] – Cyberattacks have been commencing against various governmental and news organizations for the country of Georgia. The website for the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (mfa.gov.ge) has been defaced, for example. Instead of a website, you are treated to an image of Hitler and Saakashvili. More details (including the image) can be found in this post.

Though the conflict has been going on for some years, today the region of South Ossetia has fallen victim to levels of violence not seen for quite some time.

Russia has decided to attack Georgia for their response against the South Ossetians. Many of whom, Russians say, are still Russian citizens.

It seems a bit too convenient that just a month ago, thousands of troops were meeting with other countries in the region for training exercises called “Immediate Response 2008.” You can see some photos of the event here. In addition, Russia has recently been critical of Georgia for wanting to join up with NATO.

I thought I might be able to get a decent view of the area with Google maps. However, there is very little data for the region. So, as I have done before, I created my own map to further my understanding of what is going on in the region. The map was created through research and the use of a map that was uploaded to Wikipedia detailing the region.

I tried my best to locate the various towns and villages that are scattered throughout the area. In addition, if you click on the View Larger Map link, then you can see the list of conflicts in the order they occurred along the left. I hope that others will be able to use this map to further their understanding of the region and what is really taking place.

In this map, you can find small towns and villages marked with a small green indicator, larger towns with a yellow indicator and capitals marked with reddish indicators. The area known as South Ossetia is highlighted in orange. In addition, if you zoom in, you can see the approximate route that the refugees are most likely taking to flee the area to Russia. The exclamation points mark where conflicts/attacks occurred and the tent-looking images represent military bases that have been attacked:

Now that I have completed the map I feel like I have a much better idea of what is going on over there. I hope that this map will help provide others with the same kind of knowledge.

Please let me know if there are any corrections that need to be made and I would be glad to make them. Also, if you liked this post, please be sure to subscribe to my feed.