KOSOVO

Population with an estimate of 1.8 million, and a territory of 10,908 km2, Kosovo is landlocked in the central Balkan Peninsula. In antiquity, the Dardanian Kingdom (one of the tribes of the ancient Illyrians) and later the Roman province of Dardania was located in the region. In the Middle Ages after the Roman Empire was divided, Dardania remained under the reign of the Byzantine Empire, afterwards it became a part of the Ottoman Empire for five centuries. After the WWI the Kingdom of Serbia took a large part of the Vilayet of Kosovo, following the events of WWII and the rise of communist Yugoslavia where Kosovo was part of until the year 1998-99 when the Yugoslavian wars ended with Kosovo by the military intervention from NATO, forcing Serbia to withdraw it’s military forces. From 1999 – 2008 Kosovo was under UN protectorate until the Kosovo’s parliament declared independence and became a sovran democratic state.

“LOVE YOUR COUNTRY AS MUCH AS KOSOVARS LOVE AMERICA”

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Surviving the day in Kosovo would be pretty easy. Here in this part of the world pretty much everybody (people under 50s) speaks English. There are plenty of hostels and private flats you can rent with an affordable price. So you don’t have to scratch your head about organizing the daily routine, but rather start planing what do you want to do when you get here.

If you like hiking, there are places like Rugova National Park and Sharr Mountains that you wouldn’t wanna miss. “Winter is coming” yeah, Brezovica resort is the ideal place for winter sports. Is it antiquity you’re after? We covered that part a little bit on some section, there are great places for you to explore. There are bars, night clubs and other social gatherings going on downtown somewhere, if you’re more like a party-animal.

Vintage sites amongst modern cities

There are a lot of interesting places in different cities of Kosovo where you can enjoy a hundred year old buildings or even a whole neighborhood which are still well preserved.  

Prizren would be your first choice. It’s diversity in culture, religion and ethnicity can be seen and felt in every corner of the city. The Old Stone Bridge, Sinan Pasha mosque, Churches from the Byzantine era and the 11th century Fortres on the hill above the city, must be on your bucket list.

The city of Gjakova is another place you want to visit. The Old Town (Çarshia e Madhe) is well preserved from the Ottoman era, with cobbled srteets, old residents and the big Hadum mosque in the center of the city. Gjakova had a developed trade center durint the Ottoman Empire.

The oldest city in Kosovo is considered to be Vushtrria, dated back to the 4th century BC when the Kingdom of Dardania (Illyrian tribe) ruled those lands.  And then the Ottoman Empire took over the lands, establishing the sanjak of Vıçıtırın. The most important things to see here are the Ottoman Bridge which is preserved from the medieval period and the Castle located in the heart of the city.

Kosovo. The Newborn Country in Europe

As the newest country in Europe, Kosovo is located on southeast of Europe in the heart of the Balkans.

Kosovo has an area of 10,887 km2. The border of Kosovo is approximately 702 km long. It borders Albania to the southwest, Macedonia to the southeast, Montenegro to the west, and Central Serbia to the north and east.

Most of Kosovo’s terrain is mountainous; the highest peak is Geravica (Gjeravica, 2,656 m). 39.1% of Kosovo is forested, about 52% is classified as agricultural land, 31% of which is covered by pastures and 69% is arable.

Kosovo has a humid continental climate with Mediterranean and oceanic influences, featuring warm summers and cold and snowy winters.

The Politics of Kosovo takes place in a framework of a multi-party parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Kosovo is the head of government, and the President of Kosovo is the head of state. Executive power is exercised by the Executive of Kosovo. Legislative power is vested in both the Executive and the Assembly of Kosovo. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.