Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the north and east, and North Macedonia to the southeast. It covers an area of and has a population of nearly 1.6 million, of whom the vast majority are ethnic Albanians. Kosovo has a varied terrain, with high plains along with rolling hills and mountains, some of which have an altitude over. Its climate is mainly continental with some Mediterranean and Alpine influences. Kosovo's capital and most populous city is Pristina; other major cities and urban areas include Prizren, Ferizaj, Gjilan, and Peja.
Kosovo formed the core territory of the Dardani, an Illyrian people, attested in classical sources from the 4th century BCE. The Dardani established the Kingdom of Dardania, with its political and cultural center likely located near present-day Lipjan. The kingdom was incorporated into the Roman Empire in the 1st century BCE; later, in the 3rd century CE, it was transformed into a separate Roman province. During the Byzantine period, the region was eventually organised as part of the Theme of Dardania and remained under imperial control, facing Slavic migrations in the 6th and 7th centuries CE. Control shifted between the Byzantines and the First Bulgarian Empire. In the 13th century, Kosovo became integral to the Serbian medieval state and the establishment of the Serbian Patriarchate. Ottoman expansion in the Balkans in the late 14th and 15th centuries led to the decline and fall of the Serbian Empire; the Battle of Kosovo of 1389, in which a Serbian-led coalition of various ethnicities fought against the Ottoman Empire, is considered one of the defining moments.
Various dynasties, mainly the Branković, governed Kosovo for much of the period after the battle. The Ottoman Empire fully conquered Kosovo after the Second Battle of Kosovo, ruling for nearly five centuries until 1912. Kosovo was the centre of the Albanian Renaissance and experienced the Albanian revolts of 1910 and 1912. After the Balkan Wars, it was ceded to the Kingdom of Serbia, and after World War II, it became an Autonomous Province within Yugoslavia. Tensions between Kosovo's Albanian and Serb communities simmered during the 20th century and occasionally erupted into major violence, culminating in the Kosovo War of 1998 and 1999, which resulted in the Yugoslav Army's withdrawal and the establishment of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo.
Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008 and has since gained diplomatic recognition by at least 110 member states of the United Nations. Serbia does not officially recognise Kosovo as a sovereign state and continues to claim it as its constituent Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija; however, it accepts the governing authority of the Kosovo institutions as part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement.
Kosovo is a developing country with an upper-middle-income economy. It has experienced solid economic growth over the last decade, as measured by international financial institutions, since the onset of the 2008 financial crisis. Kosovo is a member of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Venice Commission, and the International Olympic Committee, and has applied for membership in the Council of Europe, UNESCO, and Interpol, as well as observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. In December 2022, Kosovo filed a formal application to become a member of the European Union.
Etymology
The name Kosovo is of South Slavic origin. Kosovo is the Serbian neuter possessive adjective of kos, 'blackbird', an ellipsis for Kosovo Polje, 'Blackbird Field', the name of a karst field situated in the eastern half of today's Kosovo and the site of the 1389 Battle of Kosovo Field. In the Middle Ages, territory to the west of Kosovo was known as 'Metohija' because large portions of land were owned by Serbian Orthodox monasteries and the Mount Athos. The name of the karst field was applied to a wider area for the first time when the Ottoman Vilayet of Kosovo was created in 1877.The entire territory that corresponds to today's country is commonly referred to in English simply as Kosovo and in Albanian as Kosova or Kosovë. In Serbia, a formal distinction is made between the eastern and western parts of the country; the term Kosovo is used for the eastern part of Kosovo centred on the historical Kosovo Field, while the western part of the territory of Kosovo is called Metohija. Thus, in Serbian, the entire area of Kosovo is referred to as Kosovo and Metohija.
An alternative name for Western Kosovo is Dukagjini or Dukagjini plateau, having been in use since the 15th–16th century as part of the Sanjak of Dukakin with its capital Peja, and is named after the medieval Albanian Dukagjini family.
Modern usage
Some Albanians also prefer to refer to Kosovo as Dardania, the name of an ancient kingdom and later Roman province which covered the territory of modern-day Kosovo. The name is derived from the ancient tribe of the Dardani, which is considered to be related to the Proto-Albanian term dardā, which means "pear". The former Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova was an enthusiastic backer of a "Dardanian" identity, and the Kosovar presidential flag and seal refer to this national identity. However, the name "Kosova" remains more widely used among the Albanian population. 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 official conventional long name, as defined by the constitution, is Republic of Kosovo. 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 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and the International Court of Justice Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence." This arrangement, which has been dubbed the "asterisk agreement", was agreed in an 11-point arrangement on 24 February 2012.
History
Ancient history
The strategic position including the abundant natural resources were favourable for the development of human settlements in Kosovo, as is highlighted by the hundreds of archaeological sites identified throughout its territory.File:Hyjnesha_muze.jpg|thumb|Neolithic Goddess on the Throne is one of the most significant archaeological artefacts of Kosovo and has been adopted as the symbol of Pristina.
Since 2000, the increase in archaeological expeditions has revealed many previously unknown sites. The earliest documented traces in Kosovo are associated to the Stone Age; namely, indications that cave dwellings might have existed, such as Radivojce Cave near the source of the Drin River, Grnčar Cave in Viti municipality and the Dema and Karamakaz Caves in the municipality of Peja.
The earliest archaeological evidence of organised settlement in Kosovo belongs to the Neolithic Starčevo and Vinča cultures. Vlashnjë and Runik are important sites of the Neolithic era with the rock art paintings at Mrrizi i Kobajës near Vlashnjë being the first find of prehistoric art in Kosovo. Amongst the finds of excavations in Neolithic Runik is a baked-clay ocarina, which is the first musical instrument recorded in Kosovo.
The first archaeological expedition in Kosovo was organised by the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I in the Illyrian tumuli burial grounds of Nepërbishti within the district of Prizren.
The beginning of the Bronze Age coincides with the presence of tumuli burial grounds in western Kosovo, like the site of Romajë.
The Dardani were the most important Paleo-Balkan tribe in the region of Kosovo. A wide area which consists of Kosovo, parts of Northern Macedonia and eastern Serbia was named Dardania after them in classical antiquity, reaching to the Thraco-Illyrian contact zone in the east. In archaeological research, Illyrian names are predominant in western Dardania, while Thracian names are mostly found in eastern Dardania.
Thracian names are absent in western Dardania, while some Illyrian names appear in the eastern parts. Thus, their identification as either an Illyrian or Thracian tribe has been a subject of debate, the ethnolinguistic relationship between the two groups being largely uncertain and debated itself as well. The correspondence of Illyrian names, including those of the ruling elite, in Dardania with those of the southern Illyrians suggests a thracianisation of parts of 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.
Roman period
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. Praevalitana and the rest of Illyria was conquered by the Roman Republic in 168 BC. On the other hand, Dardania maintained its independence until the year 28 BC, when the Romans, under Augustus, annexed it into their Republic. Dardania eventually became a part of the Moesia province. During the reign of Diocletian, Dardania became a full Roman province and the entirety of Kosovo's modern territory became a part of the Diocese of Moesia, and then during the second half of the 4th century, it became part of the Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum.File:ULPIANA foto Arben Llapashtica 2016.jpg|thumb|The ruins of Ancient Ulpiana, situated southeast of Pristina. The city, built by Trajan, was an important political, cultural, and financial centre of the Roman province of Dardania.
During Roman rule, a series of settlements developed in the area, mainly close to mines and to the major roads. The most important of the settlements was Ulpiana, which is located near modern-day Gračanica. 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. Ulpiana became especially important during the rule of Justinian I, after the Emperor rebuilt the city after it had been destroyed by an earthquake and renamed it to Iustinianna Secunda.
Other important towns that developed in the area during Roman rule were Vendenis, located in modern-day Podujevë; Viciana, possibly near Vushtrri; and Municipium Dardanorum, an important mining town in Leposavić. Other archeological sites include Çifllak in Western Kosovo, Dresnik in Klina, Pestova in Vushtrri, Vërban in Viti, Poslishte between Vërmica and Prizren, Paldenica near Hani i Elezit, as well as Nerodimë e Poshtme and Nikadin near Ferizaj. The one thing all the settlements have in common is that they are located either near roads, such as Via Lissus-Naissus, or near the mines of North Kosovo and eastern Kosovo. Most of the settlements are archaeological sites that have been discovered recently and are being excavated.
File:Arkeologji - Periudha Romake - Kllokot.JPG|thumb|Dea Dardanica, a sculpture representing an ancient deity of the Dardani
It is also known that the region was Christianised during Roman rule, though little is known regarding Christianity in the Balkans in the three first centuries AD. The first clear mention of Christians in literature is the case of Bishop Dacus of Macedonia, from Dardania, who was present at the First Council of Nicaea. 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. The first known bishop of Ulpiana is Machedonius, who was a member of the council of Serdika. Other known bishops were Paulus, and Gregentius, who was sent by Justin I to Ethiopia and Yemen to ease problems among different Christian groups there.