Kosovo

Kosovo (Kosova or Kosovë ; Косово) is a disputed territory and  partially recognised state  in Southeastern Europe that declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo (Republika e Kosovës; Република Косово Republika Kosovo).

Kosovo is landlocked in the central Balkan Peninsula. With its strategical position in the Balkans, it serves as a important link in the connection between central and south Europe, the Adriatic Sea, and Black Sea. The nation's capital and largest city is Pristina followed by Prizren to the south. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, the Republic of Macedonia to the southeast, Montenegro to the west and Serbia to the north and east. While Serbia recognises administration of the territory by Kosovo's elected government, it still continues to claim it as its own Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.

In antiquity, the Dardanian Kingdom, and later the Roman province of Dardania was located in the region. The area was inhabited by several ancient Illytian tribes. In the Middle Ages, it was part of the Byzantine Empire, Bulgarian Empire and Serbia, and many consider the Battle of Kosovo of 1389 to be one of the defining moments in Serbian medieval history. Kosovo was the core of the medieval Serbian state and it has been the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church from the 14th century when its status was upgraded into a patriarchate. After being part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th to the early 20th century, in the late 19th century Kosovo became the centre of the Albanian independence movement with the League of Prizren. As a result of the defeat in the First Balkan War (1912–13), the Ottoman Empire ceded the Vilayet of Kosovo to the Balkan League; the Kingdom of Serbia took its larger part, while the Kingdom of Montenegro annexed the western part before both countries joined the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I. After a period of Yugoslav unitarianism in the Kingdom, the post-World War II Yugoslav constitution established the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within the Yugoslav constituent republic of Serbia.

Long-term ethnic tensions between Kosovo's Albanian and Serb populations left the territory ethnically divided, resulting in inter-ethnic violence, culminating in the Kosovo War of 1998–99, part of the wider regional Yugoslav Wars. The war ended with a military intervention of NATO, which forced the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to withdraw its troops from Kosovo, which became a UN protectorate under UNSCR 1244. On 17 February 2008 Kosovo's Parliament declared independence. It has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by and Taiwan. Serbia refuses to recognise Kosovo as a state, although with the Brussels Agreement of 2013 it has accepted the legitimacy of Kosovar institutions. Kosovo is classified as a lower-middle-income country which has experienced solid economic growth over the last decade by international financial institutions, and as one of only four countries in Europe to experience growth in every year since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008.

Etymology
The entire region is commonly referred to in English simply as Kosovo and in Albanian as Kosova (definite form, ) or Kosovë ("indefinite" form, ). In Serbia, a formal distinction is made between the eastern and western areas; the term Kosovo (Косово) is used for the eastern part centred on the historical Kosovo Field, while the western part is called Metohija (Метохија) (known as Dukagjini in Albanian).

Kosovo (Косово, ) is the Serbian neuter possessive adjective of kos (кос) "blackbird", an ellipsis for Kosovo Polje, 'blackbird field', the name of a plain situated in the eastern half of today's Kosovo and the site of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo Field. The name of the plain was applied to the Kosovo Province created in 1864.

Albanians refer to Kosovo as Dardania, the name of a Roman province located in Central Balkans that was formed in 284 AD which covered the territory of modern Kosovo. The name is derived from the Albanian word "dardha/dardā" which means pear, and for the country meaning "The land of pears". The former Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova had been an enthusiastic backer of a "Dardanian" identity and the Kosovan flag and presidential seal refer to this national identity. However, the name "Kosova" remains more widely used among the Albanian population.

The official conventional long name of the state is the Republic of Kosovo as defined by the Constitution of Kosovo and is used to represent Kosovo internationally. Additionally as a result of an arrangement agreed between Pristina and Belgrade in talks mediated by the European Union, Kosovo has participated in some international forums and organisations under the title "Kosovo*" with a footnote stating "This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSC 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence". This arrangement, which has been dubbed the "asterisk agreement" was agreed in an 11-point arrangement agreed on 24 February 2012.

The current borders of Kosovo were drawn while part of SFR Yugoslavia in 1946, when the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija was created as an administrative division of the new Socialist Republic of Serbia. In 1974, the compositional "Kosovo and Metohija" was reduced to a simple "Kosovo" in the name of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, but in 1990 the region was renamed the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (Аутономна Покрајина Косово и Метохија, Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo i Metohija). By the independence declaration in 2008, its conventional long name became "Republic of Kosovo" (, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo).

Prehistory
In prehistory, the succeeding Starčevo culture, Vinča culture, Bubanj-Hum culture, Baden culture were active in the region. The area in and around Kosovo has been inhabited for nearly 10,000 years. During the Neolithic age, Kosovo lay within the area of the Vinča-Turdaş culture which is characterised by West Balkan black and grey pottery. Bronze and Iron Age tombs have been found in Metohija.

The favorable Geo-strategic position as well as abundant natural resources were ideal for the development of life since the prehistoric periods, proven by hundreds of archaeological sites discovered and identified throughout Kosovo, which proudly present its rich archeological heritage. The number of sites with archaeological potential is increasing, this as a result of findings and investigations that are carried out throughout Kosovo but also from many superficial traces which offer a new overview of antiquity of Kosovo.

The earliest traces documented in the territory of Kosovo belong to the Stone Age Period, namely there are indications that cave dwellings might have existed like for example the Radivojce Cave set near the spring of the Drin river, then there are some indications at Grnčar Cave in the Vitina municipality, Dema and Karamakaz Caves of Peć and others. However, life during the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age is not confirmed yet and not scientifically proven. Therefore, until arguments of Paleolithic and Mesolithic man are confirmed, Neolithic man, respectively the Neolithic sites are considered as the chronological beginning of population in Kosovo. From this period until today Kosovo has been inhabited, and traces of activities of societies from prehistoric, ancient and up to medieval time are visible throughout its territory. Whereas, in some archaeological sites, multilayer settlements clearly reflect the continuity of life through centuries.

Antiquity
During antiquity, the area which now makes up Kosovo was inhabited by various tribal ethnic groups, who were liable to move, enlarge, fuse and fissure with neighbouring groups. As such, it is difficult to locate any such group with precision. The Dardani, whose exact ethno-linguistic affiliation is difficult to determine, were a prominent group in the region during the late Hellenistic and early Roman eras.

The area was then conquered by Rome in the 160s BC, and incorporated into the Roman province of Illyricum in 59 BC. Subsequently, it became part of Moesia Superior in AD 87. The region was exposed to an increasing number of 'barbarian' raids from the 4th century AD onwards, culminating with the Slavic migrations of the 6th and 7th centuries. Archaeologically, the early Middle Ages represent a hiatus in the material record, and whatever was left of the native provincial population fused into the Slavs.

Middle Ages
The subsequent political and demographic history of Kosovo is not known with absolute certainty until the 13th century. Archaeological findings suggest that there was steady population recovery and progression of the Slavic culture seen elsewhere throughout the Balkans. The region was absorbed into the Bulgarian Empire in the 850s, where Christianity and a Byzantine-Slavic culture was cemented in the region. It was re-taken by the Byzantines after 1018, and became part of the newly established Theme of Bulgaria. As the centre of Slavic resistance to Constantinople in the region, the region often switched between Serbian and Bulgarian rule on one hand and Byzantine on the other, until Serbian Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja secured it by the end of the 12th century. An insight into the region is provided by the Byzantine historian-princess, Anna Comnena, who wrote of "Serbs" being the main inhabitants of the region (referring to it as "eastern Dalmatia" and the "former Moesia Superior"). The earliest reference of Albanians comes from Michael Attaleiates, who spoke of the "Arbanitai" located around the hinterland districts of Dyrrachium, modern Durrës. The zenith of Serbian power was reached in 1346, with the formation of the Serbian Empire. During the 13th and 14th centuries, Kosovo became a political, cultural and religious centre of the Serbian Kingdom. In the late 13th century, the seat of the Serbian Archbishopric was moved to Peć, and rulers centred themselves between Prizren and Skopje, during which time thousands of Christian monasteries and feudal-style forts and castles were erected. Stefan Dušan used Prizren Fortress as the capital of the Empire. When the Serbian Empire fragmented into a conglomeration of principalities in 1371, Kosovo became the hereditary land of the House of Branković. In the late 14th and the 15th centuries parts of Kosovo, the easternmost area of which was located near Pristina, were part of the Principality of Dukagjini, which was later incorporated into an anti-Ottoman federation of all Albanian principalities, the League of Lezhë.



Medieval Monuments in Kosovo is a today combined UNESCO World Heritage Site consisting of four Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries. The constructions were founded by members of Nemanjić dynasty, the most important dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages.

In the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, Ottoman forces defeated a coalition led by Lazar Hrebeljanović. Soon after, Lazar's son accepted Turkish nominal vassalage (as did some other Serbian principalities) and Lazar's daughter was married to the Sultan to seal the peace. By 1459, Ottomans conquered the new Serbian capital of Smederevo, leaving Belgrade and Vojvodina under Hungarian rule until second quarter of the 16th century.

Kosovo was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1455 to 1912, at first as part of the eyalet of Rumelia, and from 1864 as a separate province (vilayet). During this time, Islam was introduced to the population. The Vilayet of Kosovo was an area much larger than today's Kosovo; it included all today's Kosovo territory, sections of the Sandžak region cutting into present-day Šumadija and Western Serbia and Montenegro along with the Kukës municipality, the surrounding region in present-day northern Albania and also parts of north-western Macedonia with the city of Skopje (then Üsküp), as its capital. Between 1881 and 1912 (its final phase), it was internally expanded to include other regions of present-day Republic of Macedonia, including larger urban settlements such as Štip (İştip), Kumanovo (Kumanova) and Kratovo (Kratova).

Serbs likely formed a majority of Kosovo's from the 8th to the mid-19th century. Some scholars, such as the historian Fredrick F. Anscombe, believe that medieval and Ottoman Kosovo was ethnically heterogeneous, with Serbs and Albanians dominating at different times.

Kosovo was part of the wider Ottoman region to be occupied by Austrian forces during the Great War of 1683–99, but the Ottomans re-established their rule of the region. Such acts of assistance by the Austrian Empire (then arch-rivals of the Ottoman Empire), or Russia, were always abortive or temporary at best. In 1690, the Serbian Patriarch Arsenije III led thousands people from Kosovo to the Christian north, in what came to be known as the Great Serb Migration. In 1766, the Ottomans abolished the Patriarchate of Peć and fully imposed the jizya on its non-Muslim population.

Although initially stout opponents of the advancing Turks, Albanian chiefs ultimately came to accept the Ottomans as sovereigns. The resulting alliance facilitated the mass conversion of Albanians to Islam. Given that the Ottoman Empire's subjects were divided along religious (rather than ethnic) lines, Islamisation greatly elevated the status of Albanian chiefs. Prior to this, they were organised along simple tribal lines, living in the mountainous areas of modern Albania (from Kruje to the Sar range). Soon, they expanded into a depopulated Kosovo, as well as northwestern Macedonia, although some might have been autochthonous to the region. However, Banac favours the idea that the main settlers of the time were Vlachs.

Modern


Many Albanians gained prominent positions in the Ottoman government. "Albanians had little cause of unrest", according to author Dennis Hupchik. "If anything, they grew important in Ottoman internal affairs."

In the 19th century, there was an awakening of ethnic nationalism throughout the Balkans. The underlying ethnic tensions became part of a broader struggle of Christian Serbs against Muslim Albanians. The ethnic Albanian nationalism movement was centred in Kosovo. In 1878 the League of Prizren (Lidhja e Prizrenit) was formed. This was a political organisation that sought to unify all the Albanians of the Ottoman Empire in a common struggle for autonomy and greater cultural rights, although they generally desired the continuation of the Ottoman Empire. The League was dis-established in 1881 but enabled the awakening of a national identity among Albanians. Albanian ambitions competed with those of the Serbs. The Kingdom of Serbia wished to incorporate this land that had formerly been within its empire.

During and after the Serbian–Ottoman War of 1876–78, between 30,000 and 70,000 Muslims, mostly Albanians, were expelled from the Sanjak of Niş and fled to the Kosovo Vilayet.

Yugoslavia


The Young Turk movement took control of the Ottoman Empire after a coup in 1912 which deposed Sultan Abdul Hamid II. The movement supported a centralised form of government and opposed any sort of autonomy desired by the various nationalities of the Ottoman Empire. An allegiance to Ottomanism was promoted instead. An Albanian uprising in 1912 exposed the empire's northern territories in Kosovo and Novi Pazar, which led to an invasion by the Kingdom of Montenegro. The Ottomans suffered a serious defeat at the hands of Albanians in 1912, culminating in the Ottoman loss of most of its Albanian-inhabited lands. The Albanians threatened to march all the way to Salonika and reimpose Abdul Hamid.

A wave of Albanians in the Ottoman army ranks also deserted during this period, refusing to fight their own kin. Two months later in September of the same year, a joint Balkan force made up of Serbian, Montenegrin, Bulgarian and Greek forces drove the Ottomans out of most of their European possessions.

The rise of nationalism unfortunately hampered relations between Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo, due to influence from Russians, Austrians and Ottomans. After the Ottomans' defeat in the First Balkan War, the 1913 Treaty of London was signed with Western Kosovo (Metohija) ceded to the Kingdom of Montenegro and Eastern Kosovo ceded to the Kingdom of Serbia. Soon, there were concerted Serbian colonisation efforts in Kosovo during various periods between Serbia's 1912 takeover of the province and World War II. So the population of Serbs in Kosovo fell after World War II, but it had increased considerably before then.

An exodus of the local Albanian population occurred. Serbian authorities promoted creating new Serb settlements in Kosovo as well as the assimilation of Albanians into Serbian society. Numerous colonist Serb families moved into Kosovo, equalising the demographic balance between Albanians and Serbs.

In the winter of 1915–16, during World War I, Kosovo saw the retreat of the Serbian army as Kosovo was occupied by Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary. In 1918, the Allied Powers pushed the Central Powers out of Kosovo. After the end of World War I, the Kingdom of Serbia was transformed into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians on 1 December 1918.

Kosovo was split into four counties, three being a part of Serbia (Zvečan, Kosovo and southern Metohija) and one of Montenegro (northern Metohija). However, the new administration system since 26 April 1922 split Kosovo among three Areas of the Kingdom: Kosovo, Raška and Zeta. In 1929, the Kingdom was transformed into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the territories of Kosovo were reorganised among the Banate of Zeta, the Banate of Morava and the Banate of Vardar.

In order to change the ethnic composition of Kosovo, between 1912 and 1941 a large-scale Serbian re-colonisation of Kosovo was undertaken by the Belgrade government. Meanwhile, Kosovar Albanians' right to receive education in their own language was denied alongside other non-Slavic or unrecognised Slavic nations of Yugoslavia, as the kingdom only recognised the Slavic Croat, Serb, and Slovene nations as constituent nations of Yugoslavia, while other Slavs had to identify as one of the three official Slavic nations while non-Slav nations were only deemed as minorities.

Albanians and other Muslims were forced to emigrate, mainly with the land reform which struck Albanian landowners in 1919, but also with direct violent measures. In 1935 and 1938 two agreements between the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Turkey were signed on the expatriation of 240,000 Albanians to Turkey, which was not completed because of the outbreak of World War II.

After the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in 1941, most of Kosovo was assigned to Italian-controlled Albania, with the rest being controlled by Germany and Bulgaria. A three-dimensional conflict ensued, involving inter-ethnic, ideological, and international affiliations, with the first being most important. Nonetheless, these conflicts were relatively low-level compared with other areas of Yugoslavia during the war years, with one Serb historian estimating that 3,000 Albanians and 4,000 Serbs and Montenegrins were killed, and two others estimating war dead at 12,000 Albanians and 10,000 Serbs and Montenegrins. An official investigation conducted by the Yugoslav government in 1964 recorded nearly 8,000 war-related fatalities in Kosovo between 1941 and 1945, 5,489 of whom were Serb and Montenegrin and 2,177 of whom were Albanian. It is not disputed that between 1941 and 1945 tens of thousands of Serbs, mostly recent colonists, fled from Kosovo. Estimates range from 30,000 to 100,000. There had been large-scale Albanian immigration from Albania to Kosovo which is by some scholars estimated in the range from 72,000 to 260,000 people (with a tendency to escalate, the last figure being in a petition of 1985). Some historians and contemporary references emphasize that a large-scale migration of Albanians from Albania to Kosovo is not recorded in Axis documents.

Communist Yugoslavia
The province as in its outline today first took shape in 1945 as the Autonomous Kosovo-Metohian Area. Until World War II, the only entity bearing the name of Kosovo had been a political unit carved from the former vilayet which bore no special significance to its internal population. In the Ottoman Empire (which previously controlled the territory), it had been a vilayet with its borders having been revised on several occasions. When the Ottoman province had last existed, it included areas which were by now either ceded to Albania, or found themselves within the newly created Yugoslav republics of Montenegro, or Macedonia (including its previous capital, Skopje) with another part in the Sandžak region of southwest Serbia.

Tensions between ethnic Albanians and the Yugoslav government were significant, not only due to ethnic tensions but also due to political ideological concerns, especially regarding relations with neighbouring Albania. Harsh repressive measures were imposed on Kosovo Albanians due to suspicions that there were sympathisers of the Stalinist regime of Enver Hoxha of Albania. In 1956, a show trial in Pristina was held in which multiple Albanian Communists of Kosovo were convicted of being infiltrators from Albania and were given long prison sentences. High-ranking Serbian communist official Aleksandar Ranković sought to secure the position of the Serbs in Kosovo and gave them dominance in Kosovo's nomenklatura.

Islam in Kosovo at this time was repressed and both Albanians and Muslim Slavs were encouraged to declare themselves to be Turkish and emigrate to Turkey. At the same time Serbs and Montenegrins dominated the government, security forces, and industrial employment in Kosovo. Albanians resented these conditions and protested against them in the late 1960s, accusing the actions taken by authorities in Kosovo as being colonialist, as well as demanding that Kosovo be made a republic, or declaring support for Albania.

After the ouster of Ranković in 1966, the agenda of pro-decentralisation reformers in Yugoslavia, especially from Slovenia and Croatia, succeeded in the late 1960s in attaining substantial decentralisation of powers, creating substantial autonomy in Kosovo and Vojvodina, and recognising a Muslim Yugoslav nationality. As a result of these reforms, there was a massive overhaul of Kosovo's nomenklatura and police, that shifted from being Serb-dominated to ethnic Albanian-dominated through firing Serbs in large scale. Further concessions were made to the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo in response to unrest, including the creation of the University of Pristina as an Albanian language institution. These changes created widespread fear among Serbs that they were being made second-class citizens in Yugoslavia. By the 1974 Constitution of Yugoslavia, Kosovo was granted major autonomy, allowing it to have its own administration, assembly, and judiciary; as well as having a membership in the collective presidency and the Yugoslav parliament, in which it held veto power.

In the aftermath of the 1974 constitution, concerns over the rise of Albanian nationalism in Kosovo rose with the widespread celebrations in 1978 of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the League of Prizren. Albanians felt that their status as a "minority" in Yugoslavia had made them second-class citizens in comparison with the "nations" of Yugoslavia and demanded that Kosovo be a constituent republic, alongside the other republics of Yugoslavia. Protests by Albanians in 1981 over the status of Kosovo resulted in Yugoslav territorial defence units being brought into Kosovo and a state of emergency being declared resulting in violence and the protests being crushed. In the aftermath of the 1981 protests, purges took place in the Communist Party, and rights that had been recently granted to Albanians were rescinded – including ending the provision of Albanian professors and Albanian language textbooks in the education system.

Due to very high birth rates, the proportion of Albanians increased from 75% to over 90%. In contrast, the number of Serbs barely increased, and in fact dropped from 15% to 8% of the total population, since many Serbs departed from Kosovo as a response to the tight economic climate and increased incidents with their Albanian neighbours. While there was tension, charges of "genocide" and planned harassment have been debunked as an excuse to revoke Kosovo's autonomy. For example, in 1986 the Serbian Orthodox Church published an official claim that Kosovo Serbs were being subjected to an Albanian program of 'genocide'.

Even though they were disproved by police statistics, they received wide attention in the Serbian press and that led to further ethnic problems and eventual removal of Kosovo's status. Beginning in March 1981, Kosovar Albanian students of the University of Pristina organised protests seeking that Kosovo become a republic within Yugoslavia and demanding their human rights. The protests were brutally suppressed by the police and army, with many protesters arrested. During the 1980s, ethnic tensions continued with frequent violent outbreaks against Yugoslav state authorities, resulting in a further increase in emigration of Kosovo Serbs and other ethnic groups. The Yugoslav leadership tried to suppress protests of Kosovo Serbs seeking protection from ethnic discrimination and violence.

Disintegration of Yugoslavia
Inter-ethnic tensions continued to worsen in Kosovo throughout the 1980s. In 1989, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević, employing a mix of intimidation and political manoeuvring, drastically reduced Kosovo's special autonomous status within Serbia and started cultural oppression of the ethnic Albanian population. Kosovo Albanians responded with a non-violent separatist movement, employing widespread civil disobedience and creation of parallel structures in education, medical care, and taxation, with the ultimate goal of achieving the independence of Kosovo.

In July 1990, the Kosovo Albanians proclaimed the existence of the Republic of Kosova, and declared it a sovereign and independent state in September 1992. In May 1992, Ibrahim Rugova was elected its president in an election in which only Kosovo Albanians participated. During its lifetime, the Republic of Kosova was only officially recognised by Albania. By the mid-1990s, the Kosovo Albanian population was growing restless, as the status of Kosovo was not resolved as part of the Dayton Agreement of November 1995, which ended the Bosnian War. By 1996, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic Albanian guerrilla paramilitary group that sought the separation of Kosovo and the eventual creation of a Greater Albania, had prevailed over the Rugova's non-violent resistance movement and launched attacks against the Yugoslav Army and Serbian police in Kosovo, resulting in the Kosovo War.

By 1998, international pressure compelled Yugoslavia to sign a ceasefire and partially withdraw its security forces. Events were to be monitored by Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) observers according to an agreement negotiated by Richard Holbrooke. The ceasefire did not hold and fighting resumed in December 1998, culminating in the Račak massacre, which attracted further international attention to the conflict. Within weeks, a multilateral international conference was convened and by March had prepared a draft agreement known as the Rambouillet Accords, calling for the restoration of Kosovo's autonomy and the deployment of NATO peacekeeping forces. The Yugoslav delegation found the terms unacceptable and refused to sign the draft. Between 24 March and 10 June 1999, NATO intervened by bombing Yugoslavia aimed to force Milošević to withdraw his forces from Kosovo, though NATO could not appeal to any particular motion of the Security Council of the United Nations to help legitimise its intervention. Combined with continued skirmishes between Albanian guerrillas and Yugoslav forces the conflict resulted in a further massive displacement of population in Kosovo.

During the conflict, roughly a million ethnic Albanians fled or were forcefully driven from Kosovo. In 1999 more than 11,000 deaths were reported to the office of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia prosecutor Carla Del Ponte. , some 3,000 people were still missing, of which 2,500 are Albanian, 400 Serbs and 100 Roma. By June, Milošević agreed to a foreign military presence in Kosovo and the withdrawal of his troops. After the Yugoslav Army withdrew, over half of Kosovo's Serbs and other non-Albanians flew or were expelled and many of the remaining civilians were subjected to abuse.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) prosecuted crimes committed during the Kosovo War. Nine senior Yugoslav officials, including Milošević, were indicted for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed between January and June 1999. Six of the defendants were convicted, one was acquitted, one died before his trial could commence, and one (Milošević) died before his trial could conclude. Six KLA members were charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes by the ICTY following the war, but only one was convicted.

UN Administration
On 10 June 1999, the UN Security Council passed UN Security Council Resolution 1244, which placed Kosovo under transitional UN administration (UNMIK) and authorised Kosovo Force (KFOR), a NATO-led peacekeeping force. Resolution 1244 provided that Kosovo would have autonomy within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and affirmed the territorial integrity of Yugoslavia, which has been legally succeeded by the Republic of Serbia. Estimates of the number of Serbs who left when Serbian forces left Kosovo vary from 65,000 to 250,000 (194,000 Serbs were recorded as living in Kosovo in the census of 1991. But many Roma also left and may be included in the higher estimates). The majority of Serbs who left were from urban areas, but Serbs who stayed (whether in urban or rural areas) suffered violence which largely (but not entirely) ceased between early 2001 and the riots of March 2004, and ongoing fears of harassment may be a factor deterring their return. International negotiations began in 2006 to determine the final status of Kosovo, as envisaged under UN Security Council Resolution 1244. The UN-backed talks, led by UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari, began in February 2006. Whilst progress was made on technical matters, both parties remained diametrically opposed on the question of status itself.

In February 2007, Ahtisaari delivered a draft status settlement proposal to leaders in Belgrade and Pristina, the basis for a draft UN Security Council Resolution which proposed 'supervised independence' for the province. A draft resolution, backed by the United States, the United Kingdom and other European members of the Security Council, was presented and rewritten four times to try to accommodate Russian concerns that such a resolution would undermine the principle of state sovereignty.

Russia, which holds a veto in the Security Council as one of five permanent members, had stated that it would not support any resolution which was not acceptable to both Belgrade and Kosovo Albanians. Whilst most observers had, at the beginning of the talks, anticipated independence as the most likely outcome, others have suggested that a rapid resolution might not be preferable.

After many weeks of discussions at the UN, the United States, United Kingdom and other European members of the Security Council formally 'discarded' a draft resolution backing Ahtisaari's proposal on 20 July 2007, having failed to secure Russian backing. Beginning in August, a "Troika" consisting of negotiators from the European Union (Wolfgang Ischinger), the United States (Frank G. Wisner) and Russia (Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko) launched a new effort to reach a status outcome acceptable to both Belgrade and Pristina. Despite Russian disapproval, the U.S., the United Kingdom, and France appeared likely to recognise Kosovar independence. A declaration of independence by Kosovar Albanian leaders was postponed until the end of the Serbian presidential elections (4 February 2008). Most EU members and the US had feared that a premature declaration could boost support in Serbia for the ultra-nationalist candidate, Tomislav Nikolić.

Provisional Self-Government
In November 2001, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe supervised the first elections for the Kosovo Assembly. After that election, Kosovo's political parties formed an all-party unity coalition and elected Ibrahim Rugova as President and Bajram Rexhepi (PDK) as Prime Minister. After Kosovo-wide elections in October 2004, the LDK and AAK formed a new governing coalition that did not include PDK and Ora. This coalition agreement resulted in Ramush Haradinaj (AAK) becoming Prime Minister, while Ibrahim Rugova retained the position of President. PDK and Ora were critical of the coalition agreement and have since frequently accused that government of corruption.

Parliamentary elections were held on 17 November 2007. After early results, Hashim Thaçi who was on course to gain 35 per cent of the vote, claimed victory for PDK, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, and stated his intention to declare independence. Thaçi formed a coalition with current President Fatmir Sejdiu's Democratic League which was in second place with 22 percent of the vote. The turnout at the election was particularly low. Most members of the Serb minority refused to vote.

Independence
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008. recognise its independence, including all of its immediate neighbours, with the exception of Serbia. Since declaring independence, it has become a member of the international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, though not of the United Nations.

The Serb minority of Kosovo, which largely opposes the declaration of independence, has formed the Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija in response. The creation of the assembly was condemned by Kosovo's president Fatmir Sejdiu, while UNMIK has said the assembly is not a serious issue because it will not have an operative role. On 8 October 2008, the UN General Assembly resolved, on a proposal by Serbia, to ask the International Court of Justice to render an advisory opinion on the legality of Kosovo's declaration of independence. The advisory opinion, which is not binding over decisions by states to recognise or not recognise Kosovo, was rendered on 22 July 2010, holding that Kosovo's declaration of independence was not in violation either of general principles of international law, which do not prohibit unilateral declarations of independence, nor of specific international law – in particular UNSCR 1244 – which did not define the final status process nor reserve the outcome to a decision of the Security Council.

Some rapprochement between the two governments took place on 19 April 2013 as both parties reached the Brussels Agreement, an EU brokered agreement that would allow the Serb minority in Kosovo to have its own police force and court of appeals. The agreement is yet to be ratified by either parliament.

Politics
The largest political parties in Kosovo are the centre-right Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), which has its origins in the 1990s non-violent resistance movement led by Ibrahim Rugova until his death in 2006, and two parties having their roots in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA): the centre-left Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) led by former KLA leader Hashim Thaçi and the centre-right Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) led by former KLA commander Ramush Haradinaj. In 2006 Swiss-Kosovar businessman Behgjet Pacolli, reputed to be the richest living Albanian, founded the New Kosovo Alliance (AKR), which came third in the 2007 elections and fourth in those of 2010.

Politics in Serb areas south of the River Ibar are dominated by the Independent Liberal Party (Samostalna Liberalna Stranka), led by Slobodan Petrović; Serbs north of the river almost totally boycotted the Assembly elections of 2010. In February 2007 the Union of Serbian Districts and District Units of Kosovo and Metohija transformed into the Serbian Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija. On 18 February 2008, day after Kosovo's declaration of independence, the assembly declared it "null and void". Following the Brussels Agreement, Serbs from North Kosovo reluctantly followed the call from the Serbian government to participate in the 2014 parliamentary elections, and Belgrade-backed List "Srpska" took 9 out of 10 seats appointed to Serb minority.



The Government of the Republic of Kosovo is defined under the 2008 Constitution of Kosovo as a multi-party parliamentary representative democratic republic. Legislative power is vested in both the Assembly of Kosovo and the ministers within their competencies. The President of Kosovo is the head of state and represents the "unity of the people". The Government of Kosovo exercises the executive power and is composed of the Prime Minister of Kosovo as the head of government, the deputy prime ministers, and the ministers of the various ministries. The Judiciary of Kosovo is composed of the Supreme Court and subordinate courts, a Constitutional Court, and independent prosecutorial institutions. There also exist multiple independent institutions defined by the Constitution and law, as well as local governments. The Law of Kosovo is based upon a civil law system

International civil and security presences are operating under auspices of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. Previously this included only the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), but has since expanded to include the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX). In December 2008, EULEX was deployed throughout the territory of Kosovo, assuming responsibilities in the areas of police, customs and the judiciary. A Kosovo Police Force was established in 1999.

The Republic of Kosovo is governed by legislative, executive and judicial institutions which derive from the Constitution of Kosovo, adopted in June 2008, although until the Brussels Agreement, North Kosovo was in practice largely controlled by institutions of the Republic of Serbia or parallel institutions funded by Serbia. The Constitution provides for a temporary international supervisory function exercised by the International Civilian Office (ICO), and, in the field of the rule of law, by EULEX. The International Steering Group has announced that the ICO's mandate has been successfully concluded and that the ICO ceased to exist on 10 September 2012.

The Constitution provides for a primarily parliamentary democracy, although the President has the power to return draft legislation to the Assembly for reconsideration, and has a role in foreign affairs and certain official appointments. It specifies that "the Republic of Kosovo is a secular state and is neutral in matters of religious beliefs". Freedom of belief, conscience and religion is guaranteed with religious autonomy ensured and protected. All citizens are equal before the law and gender equality is ensured by the constitution. Like the Constitutional Framework before it, it guarantees a minimum of ten seats in the 120-member Assembly for Serbs, and ten for other minorities, and also guarantees Serbs and other minorities places in the Government.

A wide range of legislation affecting minority communities requires not only a majority in the Assembly for passage or amendment, but also the agreement of a majority of those Assembly members who are Serbs or from other minorities. Although Kosovo is not currently a member of the Council of Europe (and thus her citizens cannot appeal to the European Court of Human Rights) the Constitution enshrines the European Convention on Human Rights in Kosovo law, and gives it primacy over any domestic Kosovo laws. Kosovo's independent Constitutional Court has indeed overturned executive actions on the grounds that they infringe upon the Convention.

The Constitution provides extensive powers to the municipalities; boundaries of municipalities cannot be changed without their agreement. Three Serb-majority municipalities (North Mitrovica, Gračanica, and Štrpce) are directly given powers which other Kosovo municipalities do not have in the fields of university education and secondary health care; the constitutional right of Serb municipalities to associate and co-operate with each other means that, indirectly, they too have potential powers in these fields

Foreign relations


UN member countries recognise the Republic of Kosovo, while do not. It is not a member of the UN, but is a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, International Road and Transport Union (IRU), Regional Cooperation Council, Council of Europe Development Bank, Venice Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Kosovo has gained full membership in many major sports federations. Within the European Union, it is recognised by 23 of the 28 members and is a potential candidate for future enlargement of the European Union. In November 2015, Kosovo's bid to become a member of UNESCO fell three votes short of the two-third majority required to join.

21 countries maintain embassies in the Republic of Kosovo. The Republic of Kosovo maintains 24 embassies and 28 consular missions abroad.

Law
Following the Kosovo War, due to the many weapons in the hands of civilians, law enforcement inefficiencies, and widespread devastation, both revenge killings and ethnic violence surged tremendously. The number of reported murders rose 80% from 136 in 2000 to 245 in 2001. The number of reported arsons rose 140% from 218 to 523 over the same period. UNMIK pointed out that the rise in reported incidents might simply correspond to an increased confidence in the police force (i.e., more reports) rather than more actual crime. According to the UNODC, by 2008, murder rates in Kosovo had dropped by 75% in five years.

Although the number of noted serious crimes increased between 1999 and 2000, since then it has been "starting to resemble the same patterns of other European cities". According to Amnesty International, the aftermath of the war resulted in an increase in the trafficking of women for sexual exploitation. According to the IOM data, in 2000–2004, Kosovo was consistently ranked fourth or fifth among the countries of Southeastern Europe by number of human trafficking victims, after Albania, Moldova, Romania and sometimes Bulgaria.

Residual landmines and other unexploded ordnance remain in Kosovo, although all roads and tracks have been cleared. Caution when travelling in remote areas is advisable.

Kosovo is extremely vulnerable to organised crime and thus to money laundering (see Albanian Mafia). In 2000, international agencies estimated that Kosovo was supplying up to 40% of the heroin sold in Europe and North America. Due to the 1997 unrest in Albania and the Kosovo War in 1998–1999 ethnic Albanian traffickers enjoyed a competitive advantage, which has been eroding as the region stabilises. However, according to a 2008 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, overall, ethnic Albanians, not only from Kosovo, supply 10 to 20% of the heroin in Western Europe, and the traffic has been declining.

In 2010, a report by Swiss MP Dick Marty claimed to have evidence that a criminal network tied to the Kosovo Liberation Army and the Prime Minister, Hashim Thaci, executed prisoners and harvested their kidneys for organ transplantation. The Kosovo government rejected the allegation. On 25 January 2011, the Council of Europe endorsed the report and called for a full and serious investigation into its contents.

Military
A 2,500-strong Kosovo Security Force (KSF) was trained by NATO instructors and became operational in September 2009. The KSF did not replace the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) which was disbanded several months later. Agim Çeku is the current Minister of Security Forces of the Republic of Kosovo. On 5 March 2014, Prime Minister Hashim Thaqi declared that the Kosovan government had decided to establish a Defence Ministry and by 2019, officially transform the Kosovo Security Forces into the Kosovan Armed Forces, an Army which meets all the standards of NATO states with aim in joining the alliance in the future.

Continued International Supervision
The Ahtisaari Plan envisaged two forms of international supervision of Kosovo after independence: the International Civilian Office (ICO), which would monitor the implementation of the Plan and would have a wide range of veto powers over legislative and executive actions, and the European Union Rule of Law Mission to Kosovo (EULEX) which would have the narrower mission of deploying police and civilian resources (including prosecutors) with the aim of developing the Kosovo police and judicial systems but also with its own powers of arrest and prosecution. The Kosovo Declaration of Independence and subsequent Constitution granted these bodies the powers assigned to them by the Ahtisaari Plan. Since the Plan was not voted on by the UN Security Council, the ICO's legal status within Kosovo was dependent on the de facto situation and Kosovo legislation; it was supervised by an International Steering Group (ISG) composed of the main states which recognised Kosovo. It was never recognised by Serbia or other non-recognising states. EULEX was also initially opposed by Serbia, but its mandate and powers were accepted in late 2008 by Serbia and the UN Security Council as operating under the umbrella of the continuing UNMIK mandate, in a status-neutral way, but with its own operational independence. The ICO's existence terminated on 10 September 2012, after the ISG had determined that Kosovo had substantially fulfilled its obligations under the Ahtisaari Plan. EULEX continues its existence under both Kosovo and international law; in 2012 the Kosovo president formally requested a continuation of its mandate until 2014.

Minorities
Despite their planned integration into the Kosovar society and their recognition in the Kosovar constitution, the Romani, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities continue to face many difficulties, such as segregation and discrimination, in housing, education, health, employment and social welfare. Many camps around Kosovo continue to house thousands of Internally Displaced People, all of whom are from minority groups and communities. Because many of the Roma are believed to have sided with the Serbs during the conflict, taking part in the widespread looting and destruction of Albanian property, Minority Rights Group International report that Romani people encounter hostility by Albanians outside their local areas. The report adds:

"In Kosovo, the critical issue for most minorities has been that of day-to-day security. Organised violence, harassment and attacks on property began at the start of the international administration and have continued ever since. Minorities do not feel adequately protected by the authorities in Kosovo. As described above, organised systematic ethnic cleansing took place in 1999 and 2004, but at all times ongoing insecurity has been chronic. What is critical is not only the actual insecurity but also the perception of minorities as to whether they can be adequately protected."

The relations between Kosovo's ethnic Albanian and Serb populations have been hostile since the rise of nationalism in the Balkans during the 19th century, and the rivalry became strong after Serbia gained Kosovo from the Ottoman Empire in 1913 and after Albania became independent in the same year. During the Tito-era of communist rule in Yugoslavia, the ethnic Albanian and Serb populations of Kosovo were strongly irreconcilable with sociological studies during the Tito-era indicating that ethnic Albanian and Serb peoples in Kosovo rarely accepted each other as neighbours or friends and few held interethnic marriages. Ethnic prejudices, stereotypes and mutual distrust between ethnic Albanians and Serbs have remained common for decades. The level of intolerance and separation between the ethnic Albanian and Serb communities during the Tito-period was reported by sociologists to be worse than that of Croat and Serb communities in Yugoslavia which also had tensions but held some closer relations between each other.

Administrative divisions
Until 2007, Kosovo was divided into 30 municipalities. It is currently subdivided into seven districts and divided into 38, according to Kosovo law and the Brussels Agreement of 2013, which stipulated the formation of new municipalities with Serb majority populations. These municipalities, 10 altogether, are in the process of forming a community encompassing approximately 90% of the Serb population in Kosovo.

Geography


Kosovo has an area of 10,887 square km. It lies between latitudes 42° and 43° N, and longitudes 20° and 22° E. The border of Kosovo is approximately 702 km long. It borders Albania to the southwest (112 km), Macedonia to the southeast (159 km), Montenegro to the west (79 km), and Central Serbia to the north and east (352 km).

Most of its terrain is mountainous; the highest peak is Gjeravica with (2656 m). There are two main plain regions, the Metohija basin in the west, and the Plain of Kosovo in the east. The main rivers of the region are the White Drin, running towards the Adriatic Sea, the South Morava in the Goljak area, and Ibar in the north. Sitnica, a tributary of Ibar, is the longest river lying completely within Kosovo. The biggest lakes are Gazivoda, Radonjić, Batlava and Badovac. The largest cities are Pristina, the capital, with an estimated 198,000 inhabitants, Prizren on the southwest, with a population of 178,000, Pejë in the west with 95,000 inhabitants, and Ferizaj in the south at around 108,000.

39.1% of Kosovo is forested, about 52% is classified as agricultural land, 31% of which is covered by pastures and 69% is arable. Phytogeographically, Kosovo belongs to the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agency, the territory of Kosovo belongs to the ecoregion of Balkan mixed forests. The 39,000 ha Šar Mountains National Park, established in 1986 along the border with the Republic of Macedonia, is the only national park in Kosovo, although the Balkan Peace Park in the Albanian Alps along the border with Montenegro has been proposed as another one. The Nerodimka river, near Ferizaj, is the only example in Europe of a river dividing with its waters flowing into two different seas.

Climate
Kosovo has a humid continental climate with Mediterranean and oceanic influences, featuring warm summers and cold and snowy winters. Precipitation ranges from 600 to 1300 mm per year, and is well distributed year-round. To the northeast, Kosovo field and Ibar river valley are drier (with total precipitation of about 600 mm per year) and more influenced by continental air masses, with colder winters and very hot summers. In the southwest, climatic area of Metohija receives more Mediterranean influences with warmer summers, somewhat higher precipitation (700 mm) and heavy snowfalls in the winter. Mountainous areas of Prokletije in the west, Sharr on the south and Kopaonik in the north have a more alpine climate, with high precipitation (900 to 1300 mm per year), short and fresh summers, and cold winters. The average annual temperature of Kosovo is 9.5 C. The warmest month is July with average temperature of 19.2 C, and the coldest is January with -1.3 C. Except Prizren and Istok, all other meteorological stations in January recorded average temperatures under 0 C.

Biodiversity
The flora and fauna of the Kosovo forests is quite rich due to the exposure to Mediterranean climate through the White Drin valley. In that context, the Sharr Mountains and the Prokletije (Albanian Alps) are the two most important areas of the biodiversity. The woodlands of Sharr are habitat to 86 vascular plants of international significance, while the Prokletije house 128 endemic species. The flora is represented by 139 orders classified in 63 families, 35 genera and 20 species. It has a significance for the entire region of Balkans – although Kosovo represents only 2.3% of the entire surface of Balkans, in terms of vegetation it represents 25% of the Balkans flora and about 18% of the European flora.

The fauna of Kosovo is composed of a wide range of species due to its relief, ecological factors and geographic location. The forests with the greatest varieties are the ones located in the Sharr, Prokletije, Kopaonik and Mokna.

Demographics
According to the Kosovo in Figures 2005 Survey of the Statistical Office of Kosovo,  Kosovo's total population is estimated between 1.9 and 2.2 million with the following ethnic composition: Albanians 92%, Serbs 4%, Bosniaks and Gorans 2%, Turks 1%, Roma 1%. CIA World Factbook estimates the following ratio: 88% Albanians, 8% Kosovo Serbs and 4% other ethnic groups. According to CIA The World Factbook estimated data from July 2009, Kosovo's population stands at 1,804,838 persons. It stated that ethnic composition is "Albanians 88%, Serbs 7%, other 5% (Bosniak, Gorani, Roma, Turk, Ashkali, Egyptian, Janjevci – Croats)".

Albanians, steadily increasing in number, have constituted a majority in Kosovo since the 19th century, the earlier ethnic composition being disputed. Kosovo's political boundaries do not quite coincide with the ethnic boundary by which Albanians compose an absolute majority in every municipality; for example, Serbs form a local majority in North Kosovo and two other municipalities, while there are large areas with an Albanian majority outside of Kosovo, namely in the neighbouring regions of former Yugoslavia: the north-west of Macedonia, and in the Preševo Valley in Southern Serbia.

At 1.3% per year (2008 data), ethnic Albanians in Kosovo have the fastest rate of growth in population in Europe. Over an 82-year period (1921–2003) the population of Kosovo grew to 460% of its original size. Whereas Albanians constituted 60% of Kosovo's 500,000 person population in 1931, by 1991 they reached 81% of Kosovo's 2 million person population. In the second half of the 20th century, Kosovo Albanians had three times higher birth rates than Serbs. In addition, most of Kosovo's pre-1999 Serb population relocated to Serbia proper following the ethnic cleansing campaign in 1999.

Religion
The country has no official religion. The constitution establishes Kosovo as a secular state that is neutral in matters of religious beliefs and where everyone is equal before the law and freedom to belief, conscience and religion is guaranteed.

According to 2013-2015 Freedom of Thought reports by the International Humanist and Ethical Union, Kosovo ranked first in the Balkans and ninth in the world as a "Free and equal" country for tolerance towards religion and atheism.

A large majority of the people of Kosovo follow Islam, while a small portion follow Christianity. According to 2011 census (which was partially boycotted by Serbs as well as no data from North Kosovo), 95.6% of Kosovars followed Islam. These figures do not represent individual sects operating in Kosovo such as Sufism or Bektashism which are sometimes classified generally under the category of "Islam". 3.69% of Kosovars were followers of Christianity. The Serb population is largely Serbian Orthodox. The Catholic Albanian communities are mostly concentrated in Gjakova, Prizren, Klina, and a few villages near Peć and Vitina.

Christianity in Kosovo has a long-standing tradition dating back to the ancient Illyrians and Romans. In the middle ages, before the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, the entire Balkan region had been Christianized by both the Roman and Byzantine Empires. From 1389 until 1912, Kosovo was officially governed by the Muslim Ottoman Empire and a high level of Islamization occurred. During the time period after World War II, Kosovo was ruled by secular socialist authorities in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). During that period, Kosovars became increasingly secularized. Today, over 90% of Kosovo's population are from Muslim family backgrounds, most of whom are ethnic Albanians., but also including Slavic speakers (who mostly identify themselves as Gorani or Bosniaks) and Turks.

Until the 16th century, the degree of Islamisation in Kosovo was minimal, and largely confined to urban centres. The pace of conversions to Islam only increased significantly in the second half of the 16th century, possibly because converts thus became exempt from the cizje, a tax levied only on non-Muslims; the tax burden tended to go up as Ottoman power relative to foreign Christian powers came under challenge. So far as Catholic Albanians were concerned, the Catholic Church was less powerful and privileged within the Ottoman Empire than the Serbian Orthodox Church (and less well staffed); the Bektashi Order of dervishes carried out a conversion campaign which stressed the similarities between their version of Islam and Christianity (the Bektashis drank wine and had a quasi-Trinitarian doctrine). A phenomenon of "crypto-Catholicism" developed in Kosovo Albanian society, where large numbers of people would convert officially to Islam but follow Catholic rites in private. From 1703 ecclesiastical decrees banned this practice and did not accept that crypto-Catholics could receive holy rites. In 1717, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, wife of the British Ambassador to the Sublime Porte wrote that her Albanian escort from Belgrade to Istanbul claimed to go to the mosque on Fridays and church on Sundays. Albanians in Kosovo who had been passing as Muslims were declaring themselves Catholics (to avoid conscription) as late as 1845.

Language
As defined by the Constitution of Kosovo, Albanian and Serbian are official languages in Kosovo. According to the 2011 Census, almost 95% of the citizens speak Albanian as their native language, followed by South Slavic languages and Turkish. Due to North Kosovo's boycott of the census, Bosnian resulted in being the second-largest language after Albanian. However, Serbian is de facto the second most spoken language in Kosovo.

Since the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the Albanian language has become dominant language in Kosovo, although equal status is given to Serbian and special status is given to other minority languages. The legislative framework for the protection and promotion of minority languages follows the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, even though Kosovo is not member of Council of Europe. However, lack of political willingness to enforce legislation from Kosovo institutions and the continued separation of Serb and Albanian communities impede the actual enjoyment of minority language rights.

Assembly of Kosovo adopted Law on the Use of Languages in 2006 committed Kosovo institutions to ensuring the equal use of Albanian and Serbian as the official languages in Kosovo. Other languages can also gain recognition at municipal level as official languages if the linguistic community represents at least 5% of the total population of municipality. Additionally, the Law on the Use of Languages gives Turkish the status of an official language in the municipality of Prizren, irrespective of the size of the Turkish community living there. Although both Albanian and Serbian are official languages, municipal civil servants are only required to speak one of them in a professional setting and, according to Language Commissioner of Kosovo Slaviša Mladenović statement from 2015, no organizations have all of their documents in both languages.

Education


Kosovo has a long tradition of education since the beginning of civil life. Among the first schools known in the county were those opened during the Ottoman period dated back to the middle ages. Albanians in the region were allowed to attend these schools, most of which were religious, with only few of them being secular. In 1913, in Pristina there were few Serbian-language primary schools and gymnasiums opened. The period that followed the Ottoman rule between 1916 and 1918, was also important for the educational system in Kosovo. During that period Pristina, along with other municipalities such as Ferizaj and Prizren, was occupied by Bulgaria. Bulgarian occupier did not allow Albanian schools, however because of the positive impact of the Austro-Hungarians in the Bulgarian area, some religious catholic schools were allowed in Pristina and other municipalities occupied by them. In 1916, the Bulgarian National Gymnasium was opened in Pristina. The situation in terms of education was worse in the region under the rule of Bulgaria compared to the region occupied by Austro-Hungarian forces where 300 Albanian-language schools were allowed to be opened.

In the 1990s, Kosovo-Albanians established a parallel education system as a temporary solution to the situation created during that period. Around 300-450,000 students boycotted the state educational institutions and attended the parallel Albanian-language private schools. For a period of more than six years, Albanian-Kosovar students attended parallel primary and secondary schools and were unable to attend University as they were neither allowed to enter nor attend the University or Pristina. These private/parallel schools were located in mosques, private houses, garages, etc.

On September 1, 1996, President of Serbia, Milošević and Kosovar leader (known as Gandhi of the Balkans), Rugova signed an agreement that would allow ethnic Albanian students and teachers to return to schools. However, this agreement was never implemented and this led to protest held between October 1997 and January 1998. Again, during these protests a number of the students were arrested and beaten by the police. On March 23, 1998, another agreement was signed that allowed Albanian students to return to schools and in the University of Pristina. However, this agreement did not allow the integration of Albanian students and pupils with the Serbian ones. To maintain this, a shift schedule was applied so that Serb students attended the lectures in the morning and Albanians in the afternoon. In response to this agreement and as a way to show their disagreement, Serb students and professors at the University of Pristina organized a protest where 10,000 people were gathered.

Health
In the past, Kosovo's capabilities to develop a modern health care system were limited. Low GDP during 1990 worsened the situation even more. However, the establishment of Faculty of Medicine in the University of Pristina marked a significant development in health care. This was also followed by launching different health clinics which enabled better conditions for professional development.

Nowadays the situation has changed and health care system in Kosovo is organised in three sectors including, primary, secondary and tertiary health care. Primary health care in Pristina is organised in thirteen family medicine centres and fifteen ambulantory care units. Secondary health care is decentralised in seven regional hospitals. Pristina does not have any regional hospital and instead uses University Clinical Center of Kosovo for health care services. University Clinical Center of Kosovo provides its health care services in twelve clinics, where 642 doctors are employed. At a lower level, home services are provided for several vulnerable groups which are not able to reach health care premises. Kosovo health care services are now focused on patient safety, quality control and assisted health.

Economy
Kosovo was the poorest part of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), and in the 1990s its economy suffered from the combined results of political upheaval, the Yugoslav wars, Serbian dismissal of Kosovo employees, and international sanctions on Serbia, of which it was then part. After 1999, it had an economic boom as a result of post-war reconstruction and foreign assistance. In the period from 2003 to 2011, despite declining foreign assistance, growth of GDP averaged over 5% a year. This was despite the global financial crisis of 2009 and the subsequent Eurozone crisis. Inflation was low. Most economic development since 1999 has taken place in the trade, retail and construction sectors. The private sector which has emerged since 1999 is mainly small-scale. The industrial sector remains weak. The economy, and its sources of growth, are therefore geared far more to demand than production, as shown by the current account, which was in 2011 in deficit by about 20% of GDP. Consequently, Kosovo is highly dependent on remittances from the diaspora (the majority of these from Germany and Switzerland), FDI (of which a high proportion also comes from the diaspora), and other capital inflows.

In 2009 the Industry sector accounted for 22.60 of GDP and a general workforce of 800,000 employees. It's on the 150th place, compared to the rest of the world. There are numerous reasons for this kind of stagnation, ranging from consecutive occupations, political turmoil and the recent War in Kosovo (1999). The electricity sector of Kosovo relies on coal-fired power plants (97%) and is considered one of the sectors with the greatest potential of development. The inherited issues after the war in Kosovo and the transition period have had an immense effect on the progress of this sector. Regulation of activities in energy sector in Kosovo is a responsibility of the Energy Regulatory Office (ZRrE). An additional factor in the energy sector in Kosovo is Ministry of Economic Development (MZHE), which has the responsibility of dealing with issues that have to do with energy. MZHE prepares legislation and drafts strategies and projects. Kosovo has large reserves of lead, zinc, silver, nickel, cobalt, copper, iron and bauxite. There is also believed to be around 14,000 billion tonnes of lignite. In 2005 the Directorate for Mines and Minerals and the World Bank estimated that Kosovo had €13.5 billion worth of minerals.

Kosovo has a strongly negative balance of trade; in 2004, the deficit of the balance of goods and services was close to 70 percent of GDP, and was 39% of GDP in 2011. Remittances from the Kosovo diaspora accounted for an estimated 14 percent of GDP, little changed over the previous decade. The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) introduced an external trade office and customs administration on 3 September 1999, when it established border controls in Kosovo. All goods imported to Kosovo face a flat 10% duty. These taxes are collected at all Customs Points at Kosovo's borders, including that between Kosovo and Serbia. UNMIK and Kosovo institutions have signed free-trade agreements with Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and the Republic of Macedonia. Kosovo enjoys a free trade within the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), agreed with UNMIK, enabling its producers to access the regional market with its 28 million consumers, free of any customs duties. According to the Business Registry data for 2007, there are 2,012 companies of foreign and mixed ownership that have already used the opportunity to invest in Kosovo. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA, a member of the World Bank Group) guarantees investments in Kosovo in the value of 20 million Euro. The US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) also provides political risk insurance for foreign investors in Kosovo. A major deterrent to foreign manufacturing investment in Kosovo was removed in 2011 when the European Council accepted a Convention allowing Kosovo to be accepted as part of its rules for diagonal cumulative origination, allowing the label of Kosovo origination to goods which have been processed there but originating from somewhere outside the Convention. Since 2002 the European Commission has compiled a yearly progress report on Kosovo, evaluating its political and economic situation. Kosovo became a member of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on 29 June 2009.

Government revenue is also dependent on demand rather than production; only 14% of revenue comes from direct taxes and the rest mainly from customs duties and taxes on consumption. In part this reflects low levels of production as shown in the current account; but in part it reflects very low direct taxation rates. In 2009 corporation tax was halved from 20% to 10%; the highest rate of income tax is also 10%. However, Kosovo has very low levels of general government debt (only 5.8% of GDP), although this would rise if Serbia recognised Kosovo and an agreement was reached on Kosovo's share of SFRY debt (which Serbia estimated in 2009 at $1.264 billion and which it is currently servicing, though Kosovo is putting money into a separate account to take account, on a conservative basis, of potential liabilities). The Government also has liquid assets resulting from past fiscal surpluses (deposited in the Central Bank and invested abroad). Under applicable Kosovo law, there are also substantial assets from privatisation of socially owned enterprises (SOEs), also invested abroad by the Central Bank, which should mostly accrue to the Government when liquidation processes have been completed.

The net foreign assets of the financial corporations and the Pension Fund amount to well over 50% of GDP. Moreover, the banking system in Kosovo seems very sound. For the banking system as a whole, the Tier One Capital Ratio as of January 2012 was 17.5%, double the ratio required in the EU; the proportion of non-performing loans was 5.9%, well below the regional average; and the credit to deposit ratio was only just above 80%. The assets of the banking system have increased from 5% of GDP in 2000 to 60% of GDP as of January 2012. Since the housing stock in Kosovo is generally good by South-East European standards, this suggests that (if the legal system's ability to enforce claims on collateral and resolve property issues is trusted), credit to Kosovars could be safely expanded.

The euro is the official currency of Kosovo. Kosovo adopted the German mark in 1999 to replace the Serbian dinar, and later replaced it with the euro, although the Serbian dinar is still used in some Serb-majority areas (mostly in the north). This means that Kosovo has no levers of monetary policy over its economy, and must rely on a conservative fiscal policy to provide the means to respond to external shocks. Officially registered unemployment stood at 40% of the labour force in January 2012, although some estimates have put it as high as 60%. The IMF have pointed out, however, that informal employment is widespread, and the ratio of wages to per capita GDP is the second highest in South-East Europe; the true rate may therefore be lower. Unemployment among the Roma minority may be as high as 90%. The mean wage in 2009 was $2.98 per hour.

The dispute over Kosovo's international status, and the interpretation which some non-recognising states place on symbols which may or may not imply sovereignty, continues to impose economic costs on Kosovo. Examples include flight diversions because of a Serbian ban on flights to Kosovo over its territory; loss of revenues because of a lack of a regional dialling code (end-user fees on fixed lines accrue to Serbian Telecoms, while Kosovo has to pay Monaco and Slovenia for use of their regional codes for mobile phone connections; no IBAN code for bank transfers until 2015; and no regional Kosovo code for the Internet. Nevertheless, Information and communications technology in Kosovo has developed very rapidly and one survey has suggested that broadband internet penetration is comparable to the EU average.

Wine


Wine has historically been produced in Kosovo; both red and white. The wine industry is successful and has been growing after Kosovo War. The main heartland of Kosovo's wine industry is in Rahovec where millions of litres of wine are produced. The main cultivars include Pinot noir, Merlot, and Chardonnay. Kosovo exports wines Germany and the United States. While local small-scale wine production has seen significant growth during the last twenty years, the wine industry in Kosovo became large-scale in the 1970s with the founding of the first larger state-owned enterprises. During the "glory days" of the wine industry, grapes were grown from the vineyard area of 9,000 ha, divided into private and public ownership, and spread mainly throughout the south and west of Kosovo. The four state-owned wine production facilities were not as much "wineries" as they were "wine factories". Only the Rahovec facility that held approximately 36 percent of the total vineyard area had the capacity of around 50 million litres annually. The major share of the wine production was intended for exports. At its peak in 1989, the exports from the Rahovec facility amounted to 40 million litres and were mainly distributed to the German market.

Tourism
The natural values of Kosovo represent quality tourism resources. The description of Kosovo's potential in tourism is closely related to its geographic position. Its position in the centre of the Balkan Peninsula in south-eastern Europe represents a crossroads which historically dates back to Illyrian and Roman times. The mountainous south of Kosovo has great potential for winter tourism. Skiing takes place at the winter resort Brezovica in the Sharr Mountains. It offers perfect weather and snow conditions for ski seasons from November to May.

Brezovica also includes three hotels with 680 rooms, two restaurants and nine ski lifts with a transport capacity of 10,000 skiers per hour. With close proximity to Prishtina International Airport (60 km) and Skopje Airport (70 km), the resort is a possible destination for international tourists and has the potential to become the most desired winter tourism destination in the Balkans.

Kosovo is generally rich with mountains, artificial lakes, canyons and rivers and therefore also offers prime possibilities for hunting and fishing.

Infrastructure
Currently, there are two main motorways in Kosovo: the Albania–Kosovo Highway and the Arbën Xhaferi connecting Pristina with the Macedonian border at Hani i Elezit.

The Albania–Kosovo Highway links Kosovo to Albania's Adriatic coast: the Kosovan side was completed in 2013, and now it takes only two hours and a half to go from the Kosovo border to Durrës. Once the remaining E80 Pristina-Merdare section project will be finalized and completed, the motorway will link Kosovo through the present E80 highway with the Pan-European corridor X (E75) near Niš, Serbia. Since the end of the Kosovo War of 1999, hundreds of thousands of Albanians have passed through the poor old mountain road to get to Albania's beaches. It was clear that building a highway in both sides would "crystallize a year-round tourism industry and double the size of the Albanian market", while allowing both communities to rationalize agriculture. Construction of the Albanian side began in 2007 and that of the Kosovo side in 2010.



After both motorways were completed in 2010 and 2013 respectively, travel times have been lowered to two and a half hours or less, down from seven.

R6 Motorway is currently under construction. Forming part of the E65, it is the second motorway constructed in the region and it links the capital Pristina with the Macedonian border at Hani i Elezit, which is about 20 km from Skopje. Construction of the motorway started in 2014 and it is going to be finished between 2017 and 2018.

There are three Airports situated in Kosovo, the Gjakova Airport, Batlava-Donja Penduha Airfield and the only international Airport of Pristina. Gjakova's Airport was built by the Kosovo Force (KFOR) following the Kosovo War, next to an existing airfield used for agricultural purposes, and was used mainly for military and humanitarian flights. The local and national government plans to offer Gjakova Airport for operation under a public-private partnership with the aim of turning it into a civilian and commercial airport.

Pristina International Airport is located southwest of Pristina. It is Kosovo's only international airport that handles over 1.75 million passengers per year and the only port of entry for air travelers to Kosovo.

Art


Kosovan art was unknown to the international public for a very long time, because of the regime, many artists were unable to display their art in art galleries, and so were always on the lookout for alternatives, and even resorted to taking matters into their own hands. During the Kosovo War, many studios were burned down and many artworks were destroyed or lost. Until 1990, artists from Kosovo presented their art in many prestigious worldwide renowned centers. They were affirmed and evaluated highly because of their unique approach to the arts considering the circumstances in which they were created, making them distinguished and original.

On February 1979, the Kosova National Art Gallery was founded. It became the highest institution of visual arts in Kosovo. It was named after one of the most prominent artists of Kosovo Muslim Mulliqi. Engjëll Berisha, Masar Caka, Tahir Emra, Abdullah Gërguri, Hysni Krasniqi, Nimon Lokaj, Aziz Nimani, Ramadan Ramadani, Esat Valla and Lendita Zeqiraj are some of few Albanian painters born in Kosovo.

Monuments


In 2004, UNESCO recognized the Visoki Dečani monastery as World Heritage Site for its outstanding universal value. Two years later, the site of patrimony was extended as a serial nomination, to include three other religious monuments: Patriarchate of Peć, Our Lady of Ljeviš and Gračanica monastery under the name of Medieval Monuments in Kosovo.

It is consisting of four Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries which represent the fusion of the eastern Orthodox Byzantine and the western Romanesque ecclesiastical architecture to form the Palaiologian Renaissance style. The construction was founded by members of Nemanjić dynasty, the most important dynasty of Serbia in the Middle Ages.

These monuments have come under attack, especially during the 2004 ethnic violence. In 2006, the property was inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger due to difficulties in its management and conservation stemming from the region's political instability.

Cuisine


The cuisine in Kosovo is similar to the cuisine of the surrounding places (Albania, Montenegro, Greece), and has been significantly influenced by Turkish cuisine and Albanian cuisine. Common dishes include burek, pies, flija, kebab, suxhuk and other sausages, stuffed peppers, lamb, beans, sarma, burjan, pita and rice. Bread and dairy are important staples in Kosovar Albanian cuisine.

The most widely used dairy products are milk, yogurt, ayran, spreads, cheese and kaymak. Meat (beef, chicken and lamb), beans, rice and peppers are, likewise, major parts of the Kosovo Albanian diet. Vegetables are used seasonally. Usually, cucumbers, tomatoes and cabbage are pickled. Herbs such as salt, black pepper, red pepper and Vegeta are also popular.

Traditional Kosovan desserts are often made with sherbet, which is cooked sugar with either lemon or vanilla flavor. Baklava is one of the most widely used pastries in Kosovo. Another is Kajmaçin, which is composed of baked eggs, mixed with sugar and oil. Sheqer Pare is a pastry similar to baklava, as it is topped with sherbet. Other pastries such as Kaqamak, Tespishte, Rovani, Tulluma and Pallaqinka are also a very popular breakfast foods in Kosovo. They are usually topped with Nutella, cheese, or honey. Shampite or Llokuma is served as a treat for children, and mostly as the first treat to guests on the days of Bayram.

Media
The media of Kosovo consists of different kinds of communicative media such as radio, television, newspapers, and internet web sites. Most of the media survive from advertising and subscriptions. According to IREX there are 92 radio stations and 22 television stations.

Music


Although the music in Kosovo is diverse, authentic Albanian and Serbian music still exist. Albanian music is characterised by the use of the Çifteli (authentic Albanian instrument), mandolin, mandola and percussion. Classical music is well known in Kosovo and has been taught at several music schools and universities (at the University of Prishtina Faculty of Arts in Pristina and the University of Priština Faculty of Arts at Mitrovica). In 2014 Kosovo submitted their first film for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, with Three Windows and a Hanging directed by Isa Qosja.

In the past, epic poetry in Kosovo and Northern Albania was sung on a lahuta (one-string fiddle) and then a more tuneful çiftelia was used which has two strings-one for the melody and one for drone. Kosovan music is influenced by Turkish music due to the almost 500 year span of Ottoman rule in Kosovo though Kosovan folklore has preserved its originality and exemplary. Archaeological researches tells about how old is this tradition and how was it developed in parallel way with other traditional music in the Balkan. There were found lots of roots since 5th Century BC like paintings in the stones of singers with instruments. (Is famous the portrait of "Pani" who was holding an instrument similar to flute)

The contemporary music artists Rita Ora, Dua Lipa and Era Istrefi, are all of Albanian origin and have achieved international recognition for their music. One widely recognised musician from Prizren is guitarist Petrit Çeku, winner of several international prizes.

Serbian music from Kosovo presents a mixture of traditional music, which is part of the wider Balkan tradition, with its own distinctive sound, and various Western and Turkish influences. Serb songs from Kosovo were an inspiration for 12th song wreath (sr. Руковет) by composer Stevan Mokranjac. Most of Serbian music from Kosovo was dominated by church music, with its own share of sung epic poetry. Serbian national instrument Gusle is also used in Kosovo.

Viktorija, a singer from Vučitrn, is only artist from Kosovo who represented Yugoslavia in the Eurovision Song Contest as part of Aska in 1982. Some of Kosovo Albanians artists compete in the Festivali i Këngës, the national selection for Albania. The Kosovo Albanian singer, Rona Nishliu, ended 5th in the grand final in 2012 and Lindita will represent Albania in 2017. Some singers from Kosovo, especially Kosovo Serbs, participate in Serbian national selection organized by RTS. Nevena Božović represented Serbia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007 and, as member of Moje 3, in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013.

Sports
Several sports federations have been formed in Kosovo within the framework of Law No. 2003/24 "Law on Sport" passed by the Assembly of Kosovo in 2003. The law formally established a national Olympic Committee, regulated the establishment of sports federations and established guidelines for sports clubs. At present only some of the sports federations established have gained international recognition. The Olympic Committee of Kosovo was recognised as a provisional member of the International Olympic Committee on 22 October 2014 before becoming a full member of the International Olympic Committee on 9 December 2014. Kosovo participated in the 2015 European Games and the 2016 Summer Olympics.



Majlinda Kelmendi is a judoka who became World champion in 2013 and 2014 and European Champion in 2014. On 7 August 2016 she became the first Kosovan Olympic athlete to win a gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games. In Olympic Games Rio 2016 she became the first decorated Kosovan athlete to win the gold medal, the first gold medal for Kosovo as a country that debuted on a major sport tournament. Nora Gjakova won first medal for Kosovo at the European Games, when she earned bronze in 57 kg category.

The most popular sport in Kosovo, football was first codified in 1946. The playing of football in Kosovo is documented since at least 1914. However, only in 1922 were formed the two first football clubs FC Gjakova and FC Prishtina. During the years 1945 until 1991 the football in the former Yugoslavia was advancing so fast that in 1946 it was formed even the Football Federation of Kosovo, as a subsidiary of the Football Federation of Yugoslavia. The most successful team from Kosovo in the first league of Yugoslavia was FC Prishtina, while KF Trepça was part of the league for one year. Though, in 1991 was first found the Football Federation of Kosovo after all football players from Kosovo were banned from the First League in Yugoslavia. The first game was held in the stadium of KF Flamurtari on September 13, 1991 in Prishtina which marked in the same time the start of the first independent championship in Kosovo. The governing body in Kosovo is mainly responsible for national team and for the most main cup competitions.

Three football players born in Kosovo (Milutin Šoškić, Fahrudin Jusufi, Vladimir Durković) was part of Yugoslavia national football team, who won gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics and silver medal at the 1960 European Championship. Stevan Stojanović from Kosovo, who played for Yugoslavia was part of Red Star Belgrade and they won 1990–91 European Cup. Nowadays, in many European teams there are players of Albanian origin from Kosovo how had the opportunity to show their talents and values. Thus, Lorik Cana was the captain of Olympique de Marseille and Sunderland A.F.C as well as the Albanian national team, while Valon Behrami who played for West Ham United F.C., and currently is playing for Watford FC and Swiss national football team. There are other players who had the opportunity to play for European Football Teams such as Xherdan Shaqiri, who plays as a midfielder for Stoke City and for the Switzerland national football team or Adnan Januzaj.

Basketball is one of the most popular sports in Kosovo. The first championship was held in 1991 with the participation of eight teams. The first champion was KB Prishtina. The Basketball Federation of Kosovo was accepted as a full member of FIBA on 13 March 2015. Notable players born in Kosovo who played for very successful Yugoslavia and Serbia national teams include Zyfer Avdiu, Marko Simonović, Dejan Musli. Some of them are continued to competing for Serbia after recognition of Kosovo from FIBA.



Fashion
Pristina is an important fashion design, production and trade hub in the Albanian-speaking territories. Kosovo has been well documented for its success in global beauty pageantry at Miss Universe. Furthermore, Miss Kosovo is a closely followed event throughout the Kosovo. Kosovo ranks 40 in the Global Beauties webpage list. The first titleholder in Zana Krasniqi who placed as a Top 10 finalist at the 2008 Miss Universe pageant. She is the first ever Kosovar woman to enter and place in the contest, finishing 6th, just two tenths of a point from the top five. The following year turned out to be another success for the Miss Universe Kosovo pageant: Marigona Dragusha, known as "Gona Dragusha", placed second runner-up to Miss Universe 2009 in the Bahamas making her to be the first delegate from Kosovo to make it top the top five.

In terms of placements, Kosovo has been one of the most successful entrants into the Miss Universe pageant. Ever since debuting in 2008, Kosovo has missed the semi-finals only twice, in 2010 and 2014, beating many other countries that have been competing for decades.

Katarina Šulkić from Zvečan became 2015 Miss Serbia and Anđelka Tomašević from Zubin Potok represented Serbia at the Miss Earth 2013 and Miss Universe 2014.