Kosovo

Kosovo (Albanian: Kosovë / Kosova, Serbian: Косово и Метохија / Kosovo i Metohija) is a UN-administered territory of Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro. By the UN resolution 1244 (adopted in 1999), Kosovo is defined as autonomous territory within former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under UN administration. Whether this will remain the case is still unclear, as the final status of Kosovo is the subject of an ongoing dispute between government of Serbia and Kosovo's government. Talks on this issue started in Vienna, on February 20, 2006.

Geography
With an area of 10,912 square kilometres (4,213 sq. mi) and a population of over two million on the eve of the 1999 crisis, Kosovo borders Montenegro to the northwest, Serbia to the North and East; Macedonia to the south, and Albania to the southwest. The largest cities are Prishtinë/Pristina the capital, with an estimated 500,000 inhabitants, and Prizren in the southwest with 120,000: five other towns have populations in excess of 50,000. The name Metohija is used by mostly Serbs for the western part of the land. Albanians refer the area as Rrafshi i Dukagjinit.

History
It is likely that the region of Kosovo has been inhabited by Illyrian tribes since the Bronze Age. In ancient times the area has been known as Dardania and was settled by a tribe with the same name. The Dardani were of Illyrian or Thracian stock. Illyrians organised resistance against Greeks and Romans for hundreds of years but after the long wars of Illyrian tribes against intruders, the region was later occupied by the Roman Empire under Emperor Augustus. When the Roman Empire split in A.D. 395, the Kosovo region came under the Eastern Roman Empire, later known as the Byzantine Empire.

According to De administrando imperio the Slavs, or Serbs in precise, came to the territories of roughly modern-day Kosovo in the 6th-7th century. They were invited to settle in the area south of Danube as farmers by Byzantine emperor Heraclius to protect the area from invading Avars. The slavs were Christianized in several waves between the 7th and 9th century with the last wave taking place between 867 and 874. But by then Kosovo was ruled by the Bulgarians and Byzantines from the 850s until 1014.

The Serbs begin the takeover of Kosovo in the 11th century under a branch of the House of Voislav as the Grand Princes of Rascia. In 1093, Prince Vukan advanced all the way to Lipljan, burned it down and raided the neighbouring areas. The Byzantine Emperor himself came to Zvečan for negotiations. A peace was concluded, but Vukan broke it and defeated the army of John Comnenus, the Emperor's nephew. His armies stormed Kosovo. Byzantine Emperor Alexius had to come to Lipljan in 1094 and negotiate again. Peace was concluded and Vukan gave hostages to the Emperor, including his nephews Uroš and Stefan Vukan. Prince Vukan renewed the warring in 1106, once again defeating John Comnenus' army, but Vukan's following death put a halt to a total conquest of Kosovo.

In 1166 - 1168, a Serbian nobleman from Zeta, Stefan Nemanja, the founder of the House of Nemanja asserted to the Rascian Grand Princely throne and conquered most of Kosovo in an uprising against the Byzantine Emperor. He defeated the previous Grand Prince, his father, Tihomir's army at Pantino. Nemanja was eventually defeated and had to return some of his conquests, and vouched to the Byzantine Emperor that he would not raise his hand against him. In 1183, Nemanja embarked on a new offensive with the Hungarians after the Byzantine Emperor's death. Nemanja's son, Stephen II the First-crowned of Nemanja, recorded Nemanja's conquests, as Nemanja restored Kosovo from the Greeks, the border of the Serbian realm reaching the river of Lab. Grand Prince Stephen II finished the inclusion of the Kosovo territories in 1208, by which time he had conquered Prizren and Lipljan, and moved the border of his realm to the Šar mountain.

In 1217, the Serbian Kingdom ahieved recognition. In 1219, an autocephalous Serbian Orthodox Church was created, with the Hvosno, Prizren and Lipljan Episcoprics on Kosovo. By the end of the 13th century, the centre of the Serbian Church was moved to Peć from Žiča.

In the 13th century, Kosovo becomes the heart of the Serbian political and religious life with the Šar mountain becoming the political center of the Serbian rulers. The main chatteu was that in Pauni. On an island was Svrčin and on the coast Štimlji, and in the mountains was the Castle of Nerodimalj. There Complexes were used for counciling, crowning of rulers, negotiating and as the rulers' living quarters.

After 1291, the Tartars broke all the way to Peć. Serbian King Stefan Milutin managed to defeat them and then chase them further. He raised the Temple of the Mother of Christ of Ljeviška in Prizren around 1307, which became the seat of the Prizren Episcopric and the magnificent Gračanica in 1335, the seat of the Lipljan Episcopric. In 1331, Juvenille King Dušan attacked his father, Serbian King Stefan of Dechani at his castle in Nerodimalj. King Stefan closed in his neighbouring fortress of Petrič, but Dušan captures him and closed him with his second wife Maria Palailogos and their children in Zvečan, where the dethroned King died on 11 November 1331.

In 1327 and 1328, Serbian King Stefan of Dechani started forming the vast Dečani domain, although, Serbian King Dušan would finish it in 1335.

King and Tsar Stefan Dušan founded the vast Monastery of Saint Archaengel near Prizren in 1342-1352. King Dušan declared himself as Emperor of Serbs and Greeks in 1345, thereby starting the Serbian Empire. Stefan Dušan received John Cantakuzines in 1342 in his Castle in Pauni to discuss a joint War against the Byzantine Emperor. In 1346, the SerbianArchepiscopric at Peć was upgraded into a Patriarchate, but not recognized before 1370.

After the Serbian Empire fell into disarray prior to his death in 1355, feudal anarchy caught up with the country during the reign of Tsar Stefan Uroš V. Kosovo became a domain of the House of Mrnjava, but Prince Voislav Voinović expanded his demesne further onto Kosovo. The armies of King Vukašin Mrnjavčević from Priština and his allies defeated Voislav's forces in 1369, puting a halt to his advances. After the Battle of Marica on 26 September 1371 in which the Mrnjavčević brothers lost their lives, Đurađ I Balšić of Zeta took Prizren and Peć in 1372. A part of Kosovo became the demesne of the House of Lazarević.

The Ottomans invaded the Serbian Realm and met the coalition of South East European nobility on 28 June 1389, near Priština, at Gazi Mestan. The Serbian Army was assisted by various allies. The epic Battle of Kosovo followed, in which Prince Lazar himself lost his life. Prince Lazar amassed 70,000 men on the battlefield and the Ottomans had 140,000. Through the cunning of Miloš Obilić Sultan Murad was murdered and the new Sultan Beyazid had, despite winning the battle, to retreat to consolidate his power. The Ottoman Sultan was buried with one of his sons at Gazi Mestan. Both Prince Lazar and Miloš Obilić were canonised by the Serbian Ortodox Church for their efforts in the battle. The local House of Branković came to prominence as the local lords of Kosovo, under Vuk Branković, with the temporary fall of the Serbian Despotate in 1439. Another great battle occurred between the Hungarian troops supported by (self-proclaimed King) Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, and Ottoman troops supported by the Brankovićs in 1448. Skanderbeg's troops which were going to help John Hunyadi were stopped by the Brankovic's troops, who was more or less a Turkish Vassal. Hungarian King John Hunyadi lost the battle after a 2-day fight, but essentially stopped the Ottoman advance northwards. Kosovo then became vassalaged to the Ottoman Empire, until its direct incorporation after the final fall of Serbia in 1459.

In 1455, new castles arise in Priština and Vučitrn, centres of the Ottoman vassalaged House of Branković.

The Ottomans brought Islamisation with them, particularly in towns, and later also created the Viyalet of Kosovo as one of the Ottoman territorial entities. This brought a great shift, as the Orthodox Serb population began to lose its majority when masses of Turks and Albanians (Muslims) moved to Kosovo. During the Islamisation many Churches and Holy Orthodox Christian places were raised to the ground or turned in to Mosques. The big Monastery of Saint Archangel near Prizren was teared down at the end of the 16th century and the material used to build the Mosque of Sinan-pasha, an Islamized Serb, in Prizren. Kosovo was taken by the Austrian forces during the Great War of 1683 - 1699 with help of 5,000 Albanians and their leader, a Catholic Archibishop Pjetër Bogdani. The archbishop died of plague during the war, and his grave was later reopened, with his body scattered and given to the dogs by the Ottomans because of his role in the rebellion. In 1690, the Serbian Patriarch of Peć Arsenije III, who previously escaped a certain death, led 30,000 families from Kosovo, to evade Ottoman wrath since Kosovo had just been retaken by the Ottomans. The people that followed him were probably mostly Serbs, but it's possible also people of other different ethnic origins followed him. Due to the terror from the Ottomans, other migrations of Orthodox people from the Kosovo and Metohija area continued throughout the 18th century. It is also noted that some Serbs adopted Islam and some even gradually fused with the predominantly Albanian Moslems and adopted their culture and even language. By the 19th century, Albanians replaced the Serbs as the dominating nation of Kosovo.

Refugees from territories conquered in the 1876-1877 Serbo-Turkish wars inhabited almost every Kosovo and Macedonian town escaping from the Serbian army and population were committing against unarmed civilians. These populations are now known as 'muhaxher' (which means 'refugee') and are the ancestors of many who are still known by their same surnames, Muhaxheri. It is also estimated that 200,000 to 400,000 Serbs were cleansed out of the Vilayet of Kosovo between 1876 and 1912, especially during the Greek-Ottman War in 1897.

Albanians formed the League of Prizren in Prizren in the 19th century. Hundreds of Albanian leaders from all over Albania gathered and discussed the urgent issues concerning them. They successfully opposed any Serbian invasion attemps. Serbia complained to the Western Powers that the promised territories were not being held because Ottomans were hesitating to do that. Western Powers put pressure to the Ottomans and in 1881, the Ottoman Army started the fighting against Albanians. The Prizren League created a Provisional Government with a President, Prime Minister (Ymer Prizreni) and Ministries of War (Sylejman Vokshi) and Foreign Ministry (Abdyl Frashëri). After three years of war, the Albanians were defeated. Many of the leaders were executed and imprisoned. In 1910, an Albanian uprising spread from Prishtina and lasted until the Ottoman Sultan's visit to Kosovo in June 1911. The Aim of the League of Prizren as to unite the four Albanian Vilayets by merging the majority of Albanian inhabitants within the Ottoman Empire into one Albanian State. However at that time Serbs have consisted about 40% of Kosovo's overall population and were opposing the Albanian nationalism along with other Slavs and Turks in Kosovo.

In 1912 during the Balkan Wars, most of Kosovo was conquered by Serbia while Metohija was captured by Montenegro. And exodus of the local Moslem, especially Albanian population occured. This is best described by Leon Trotsky, who was the reporter for the 'Pravda' newspaper at the time. The Serbian authorities planned a recolonization of Kosovo. In the winter of 1915-1916 Kosovo saw a large exodus of its Serbian population and army; hundreds of thousands soldiers have died of starvation, extreme weather and Albanian reprisals as they were approaching the Allies in Corfu and Thessaloniki. (See Serbia in WWI).

After the 1918-1929 period of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and the 1929-1941 Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis forces. The greatest part of Kosovo became a part of Italian-controlled Fascist Albania, and smaller bits by the Nazi-Fascist Tsardom of Bulgaria and Nazi German-occupied Kingdom of Serbia. Since the Albanians had decided in the Conference of Bujan that Kosovo would remain Albanian, they have started immediately an ethnic cleansing of the non-Albanians in the occupied Kosovo. The infamous SS Division Skanderbeg is known to committed horrible crimes. Tens of thousands of Serbs lost their lives and around 75,000 Serbs fled Kosovo during the war. Hundreds of thousands more would leave in the following decades, following the shift of power in Kosovo. Around 10,000 Serbs died in Albanian extirmination camps by the hand of militarist squadrons like the Vipurii.

After the war Kosovo gained the status of a province within Yugoslavia. In the 1974 constitution, Kosovo gained more powers and was advanced to a status of which was almost that of a republic, but not in name. It was part of a Yugoslav Federation to some extent and part of Serbia to some extent. It is disputed but there was some intention that Kosovo should become the seventh republic. For a better picture of the position of Kosovo within YU-Federation, it is best to give the example that no decision could be taken at the Federative level without the vote and consent of Kosovo.

In 1981 the Kosovar Albanian students organized protests seeking that Kosovo become a republic within Yugoslavia. Those protests were harshly attacked by the Serbian government. In 1986, the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts published a document Memorandum which contained heavily Serbian nationalist rhetoric. With Serbian nationalism on the increase, Slobodan Milošević came to power.

In 1989, following Milošević's rise of power (especially the Gazimestan gathering, marking 600 years from the Battle of Kosovo) the autonomy of Kosovo was revoked. Most Albanians organized a peaceful resistance movement. Most Albanians were expelled from their jobs, Albanian schools and the medical care system were shut down, and Kosovo was put under an effective apartheid. On July 2, 1990 Kosovo parliament declared Kosovo an independent country. In September of that year, the parliament, meeting in secrecy in the town of Kaçanik, adopted the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. Two years later, Kosovo organized a referendum which was observed by international organisations but was not recognized internationally. With an 80% turnout, 98% voted for Kosovo to be independent. In January, 1992 Albanians in Macedonia also voted for autonomy and independence in parts of western Macedonia. In the early nineties, Albanians organized a parallel state system which managed the non-violent resistance movement and organized a parallel system of education and healthcare, among other things.

With the events in Bosnia and Croatia coming to an end, the Serb government started moving Serb refugees from Croatia and Bosnia to Kosovo. In a number of cases, Albanian families were expelled from their apartments to make space for the refugees.

After the Dayton Agreement and numerous atrocities committed by Serb security forces inside Kosovo, the Albanians organized into the Kosovo Liberation Army. This triggered a 78-day NATO campaign in 1999. During the conflict, some 12,000 Kosovar Albanians were killed and 500,000 to 800,000 expelled. Some 3,000 Albanians are still missing. The number of Serbian soldier, policemen, and civilian deaths is considered to be around 3,000, but it's also disputed to be much more, as 2,800 people of Serb origin are still missing, believed dead. According to OSCE numbers and Kosovar Albanian sources on population size and distribution, an estimated 45.7 percent of the Albanian population and 59.5 percent of the Serb population had fled Kosovo during the bombings (i.e. from 23 March to 9 June 1999).

With the arrival of NATO, a large number of Serbs fled the region, estimated at 100,000 by the UNHCR. Around 120,000 remain in Kosovo and oppose any rule by Albanians. The Serbian government usually claims that some 250,000 Serbs have fled Kosovo. This instills fear within the Albanians and makes them oppose return projects. There are now, according to the European Stability Initiative, some 65,000 Kosovo Serbs living in Serbia. Some 20,000 may go back, mainly rural Serbs, while urban Serbs have largely integrated into Serbia and will not go back to Kosovo regardless of what their status will be. Many Serbs fear to return to their homes since it's proven not to be safe for them, even with UNMIK protection, notably the unrest in 2004, when 900 Serbian houses were burned and other property destroyed while the Serbian populace was closed into enclaves and had to concentrate to the north of Kosovo until today.

The Status talks started in February 2006, it is set to end in the course of the year. The security of the minorities, must be provided by Kosovo Albanian governments, but it is disputed if the Kosovo Albanian Institutions can grant these guarantees. The EU still is said that they will not raise any demands for an independent Kosovo.

Economy
UNMIK declared the euro to be the official currency of the province in 2001 in the course of implementing a currency reform. This was undertaken to replace the previous widespread use of the Deutschmark, which had become the de facto currency even before the 1999 war. However, the Serbian dinar remains an official currency, used principally in the Kosovo Serb enclaves; it is only used sporadically outside of them. Most trade is conducted using the euro; Kosovo's administration uses the euro exclusively, and all commercial banks use the euro as the primary currency. Of other international currencies, the United States dollar and Swiss franc are the most widespread.

Demographics
Ethnic Albanians comprise almost 90% of the population of the province. In the aftermath of the conflict some one thousand non-Albanians, particularly Serbs and Roma either followed Serb soldiers as they withdrew, were forcibly expelled by the Albanian majority or fled the province to escape perceived threats of revenge by Albanians. The non-Albanian population of Kosovo has continued to fall since the arrival of NATO and the UN as a result of violence, perceived intimidation, and economic hardship. Many still live in communal camps in Serbia or Macedonia cared for by international relief agencies. However, there have been many attempts by Kosovo's government to resettle non-Albanians in the region which have largely been successful, including the resettlement of well over one thousand Serbians and Roma from 2004 - 2005. The Kosovo government has been widely praised for paying for the rebuilding of Serb houses in the aftermath of the 2004 riots. This has been marked as the first case of reparations in the history of the Balkans.

According to the 2000 Living Standard Measurement Survey of the Statistical Office of Kosovo, Kosovo's total population is estimated between 1,8 and 2,0 million in the following ethnic proportions: However, the figures are highly disputable and may presently include an Albanian majority well above 90 percent.
 * 88% Albanians (between 1,584,000 or 1,733,600)
 * 7% Serbs (between 126,000 or 140,000)
 * 3% Muslims and Bosniaks (54 to 60 thousand)
 * 2% Roma (36 to 40 thousand) (see also Roma in Mitrovica Camps)
 * 1% Turks (18 to 20 thousand)

Presidents

 * Ibrahim Rugova, 1992-2006 (deceased)
 * Fatmir Sejdiu, 2006-present

Prime Ministers

 * Bajram Rexhepi, 2002-2004
 * Ramush Haradinaj, 2004-2005
 * Bajram Kosumi, 2005-2006
 * Agim Çeku, 2006-present

Pro-Albanian

 * Balkan Update- A blog with news, analysis and the lates updates from Balkans
 * Economic Initiative for Kosovo - "...latest news, analysis and publications from the Kosovar economy"
 * Albanian.com - general information
 * Kosova e lirë (Free Kosova) -- Material about Kosovars and Albanians in Albanian language.
 * General information from Beqiraj.com (in German)
 * General information from Beqiraj.com (in Albanian)
 * Why Independence for Kosovo? A summary of the case for an independent Kosova by two Prishtina intellectuals

Pro-Serbian

 * Hugo Roth, Kosovo Origins: a historian's comprehensive overview
 * Kosovo.com Serbian Orthodox Church's official website on Kosovo
 * Account of destroyed Serbian Orthodox churches in Kosovo and Metohija
 * Kosovo Newsgroup archive
 * Coordination Center of SCG and the Republic of Serbia for Kosovo
 * Serbian Government Kosovo-Metohija site
 * Eastern Orthodox Resource Centre
 * Southern Serbia: The second Kosovo?

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