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Skiing takes place at the Brezovica ski resort within the Šar Mountains, with the close proximity to the Pristina Airport (60 km) and Skopje International Airport (70 km) which is a popular destination for international tourists. The industry accounted for 37.3% of GDP and employs roughly 24.8% of the labour force. Kosovo is dominated by the services sector, accounting for 54% of GDP and employing approximately 56.6% of the population. In 2018, the International Monetary Fund reported that approximately one-sixth of the population lived below the poverty line and one-third of the working age population was unemployed, the highest rate in Europe. Despite declining foreign assistance, the GDP has mostly grown since its declaration of independence. Pristina does not have any regional hospital and instead uses University Clinical Centre of Kosovo for health care services.

Climate

During Roman rule, Kosovo was part of two provinces, with its western region in Praevalitana and the vast majority of its modern territory belonging to Dardania. The Dardani retained an individuality and continued to maintain social independence after Roman conquest, playing an important role in the formation of new groupings in the Roman era. The flag of Dardania remains in use as the official Presidential seal and standard and is heavily featured in the institution of the presidency of the country. The entire territory that corresponds to today’s country is commonly referred to in English simply as Kosovo and in Albanian as Kosova (definite form) or Kosovë (indefinite form, pronounced kɔˈsɔvə).

Rise of nationalism

Kosovo’s society is strongly secularised and is ranked first in Southern Europe and ninth in the world as free and equal for tolerance towards religion and atheism. In Kosovo, Albanian and Serbian are the official languages at the national level, but Albanian is the predominant language in Kosovo, spoken by over 92% of the population. Ethnic Serbs are concentrated in the north of the country, as well as in other municipalities in the east of the country, such as Gračanica and Štrpce. A 2020 research report funded by the EU shows that there is a limited scale of trust and overall contact between the major ethnic groups in Kosovo. Ethnic prejudices, stereotypes and mutual distrust between ethnic Albanians and Serbs have remained common for decades.

In total around 10,317 civilians were killed during the war, of whom 8,676 were Albanians, 1,196 Serbs and 445 Roma and others in addition to 3,218 killed members of armed formations. Six KLA members were charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes by the ICTY following the war, and one was convicted. Nine senior Yugoslav officials, including Milošević, were indicted for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed between January and June 1999. During the war, over 90,000 Serbian and other non-Albanian refugees fled the province.

Education

The Kosovo Security Force (KSF) is the national security force of Kosovo commissioned with the task of preserving and safeguarding the country’s territorial integrity, national sovereignty and the security interests of its population. The country’s population rose steadily over the 20th century and peaked at an estimated 2.2 million in 1998. Following the independence of Kosovo in 2008, the Kosovo Police assumed the primary law enforcement responsibilities within the country.

United Nations administration

Turkish holds official language status in the Municipality of Prizren, regardless of the size of the Turkish-speaking population. The Global Safety Report by Gallup, which assesses personal security worldwide through the Law and Order Index Scores for 2023, includes Kosovo among the top ten countries globally in terms of perceived safety and law enforcement effectiveness. Kosovo’s notable challenges are identified in the realms of persistent conflicts and societal safety and security, both of which are intertwined with the country’s diplomatic ties to neighbouring countries and its domestic social and political stability.

International exposure of Kosovan art was limited in the 1990s due to Slobodan Milošević’s regime and the difficult circumstances during the struggle for independence. 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. In the Dukagjini region, at least 500 kullas were attacked, and most of them destroyed or otherwise damaged. It is Kosovo’s only international airport and the only port of entry for air travelers to Kosovo. The R6 Motorway, forming part of the E65, is the second motorway constructed in the region.

Declaration of independence

Kosovo,a officially the Republic of Kosovo,b is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe pin up online casino with partial diplomatic recognition.

• Ethnic Serbs are concentrated in the north of the country, as well as in other municipalities in the east of the country, such as Gračanica and Štrpce.
• However, this autonomy never materialised, and the revolt created serious weaknesses in the Ottoman ranks, luring Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece into declaring war on the Ottoman Empire and starting the First Balkan War.
• A 2020 research report funded by the EU shows that there is a limited scale of trust and overall contact between the major ethnic groups in Kosovo.
• The figures of Albanians forcefully expelled from Kosovo range between 60,000 and 239,807, while Malcolm mentions 100,000–120,000.

Soon, there were concerted Serbian colonisation efforts in Kosovo during various periods between Serbia’s 1912 takeover of the province and World War II, causing the population of Serbs in Kosovo to grow by about 58,000 in this period. During the Balkan Wars, over 100,000 Albanians left Kosovo and about 50,000 were killed in the massacres that accompanied the war. However, this autonomy never materialised, and the revolt created serious weaknesses in the Ottoman ranks, luring Montenegro, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece into declaring war on the Ottoman Empire and starting the First Balkan War. The rebels defeated the Ottomans and the latter were forced to accept all fourteen demands of the rebels, which foresaw an effective autonomy for the Albanians living in the Empire.

• 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.
• It is also known that Dardania had a Diocese in the 4th century, and its seat was placed in Ulpiana, which remained the episcopal centre of Dardania until the establishment of Justiniana Prima in 535 AD.
• At the municipal level, Turkish, Bosnian, and Romani may also be granted official status when a linguistic community constitutes at least 5% of the local population.
• The Bjeshkët e Nemuna National Park and Sharr Mountains National Park are the most important regions of vegetation and biodiversity in Kosovo.

The underlying ethnic tensions became part of a broader struggle of Christian Serbs against Muslim Albanians. The larger, eastern part of Kosovo remained overwhelmingly Serb Orthodox, with a Catholic Albanian, and later Muslim Albanian, presence growing from the west by the 16th century. Following the Great Turkish War, a number of Serbs migrated northwards to Habsburg territories near the Danube and Sava rivers led by Serbian Patriarch Arsenije III Crnojević.

According to the most recent census in 2024 by the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, Kosovo’s population is 1,585,566. The largest and most populous district of Kosovo is the District of Pristina with the capital in Pristina, having a surface area of 2,470 km2 (953.67 sq mi) and a population of 511,307. The ICO concluded operations in 2012 after fulfilling obligations, while EULEX continues to operate within Kosovo and international law.

Rise of nationalism

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. 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. 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. 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.

The main reason behind the 2022–23 demonstrations ended on 1 January 2024 when each country recognised each other’s vehicle registration plates.citation needed Some rapprochement between the two governments took place on 19 April 2013 as both parties reached the Brussels Agreement, an agreement brokered by the EU that allowed the Serb minority in Kosovo to have its own police force and court of appeals. The Serb minority of Kosovo, which largely opposed the declaration of independence, formed the Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija in response.

It was established in the 1st century AD, possibly developing from a concentrated Dardanian oppidum, and then was upgraded to the status of a Roman municipium at the beginning of the 2nd century during the rule of Trajan. It covers an area of 10,887 km2 (4,203 sq mi) and has a population of nearly 1.6 million, of whom the vast majority (approximately 92 per cent) are ethnic Albanians. Prior to Kosovo’s independence, other athletes such as Aziz Salihu, Vladimir Durković, Fahrudin Jusufi, and Milutin Šoškić represented Yugoslavia. Judo has become an important part of Kosovo’s success in international competitions, accounting for the majority of the nation’s medals.

At the same time Serbs and Montenegrins dominated the government, security forces, and industrial employment in Kosovo. A three-dimensional conflict ensued, involving inter-ethnic, ideological, and international affiliations. In the 19th century, there was an awakening of ethnic nationalism throughout the Balkans. In 1389, as the Ottoman Empire expanded northwards through the Balkans, Ottoman forces under Sultan Murad I met with a Christian coalition led by Moravian Serbia under Prince Lazar in the Battle of Kosovo. Only in the ninth century can the expansion of a strong Slav (or quasi-Slav) power into this region be observed.