Kosovo Area Code

+381 is the dialing code for Kosovo.

Kosovo broke out of Serbia in 2008 and proclaimed independence. Sweden belongs to the more than a hundred countries that have recognized Kosovo as their own state. Serbia does not accept the outbreak, and a challenge for the government is to integrate the Serbian-dominated northern part of Kosovo where resistance to the new state formation is strong. A NATO peacekeeping force is in place.

  • Abbreviationfinder: Brief profiles of Kosovo, including geography, history, politics, economics as well as common acronyms about this country.

Geography and climate

Kosovo is located in the middle of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe and lacks its own sea coast. The country, which is roughly the same size as Skåne, borders Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro.

Kosovo (Kosova in Albanian) is more or less surrounded by high mountain ranges. The highest is the Sharr / Šar mountains in the south with ever-snow-covered peaks over 2,500 meters. In the west, the mountains are inaccessible because rivers have created deep ravines. In the east the mountains are a little lower.

Inside the mountains lies a high plateau, which in turn is divided in the middle by a lower mountain range. From the western side of these mountains, water flows to the Vita Drin river and on into the Adriatic. From the east, the water streams form the river Ibri / Ibar, which eventually flows into the Danube.

Kosovo has an inland climate with hot, dry summers and relatively cold winters, often with a lot of snow. It rains most during October to December.

Kosovo

Country Facts

Geography

Cultivated land 52.8 %
Land area 10887 km 2

Population and health

Population development
Urban population (Urbanization) %
Death rate per 1000 residents
Life expectancy: Women year
Life expectancy: Men year
Birth rate births per 1000 residents
HDI index
Population 1870981
Infant mortality deaths / 1000 births

Population Graph Source: Countryaah.com

Energy

Electricity, production 5324 million kWh
Energy consumption per resident 1312.3 kg. oil per resident
Natural gas, production million cubic meters
Crude oil, production million tons

Infrastructure

Internet users per 100 residents
Mobile subscriptions 31 per 100 residents
Passenger cars per 1000 residents

Business and economics

Unemployment 35.3% of the workforce
GDP per resident
Primary occupations 24 %
Secondary profession 18 %
Tertiary professions 58 %

FACTS – GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

Surface

10 908 km2 (2018)

Adjacent country (s)

Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro

Capital with number of residents

Prishtina (Priština in Serbian), 210,000 residents

Other major cities

Prizren, Ferizaj / Uroševac, Peja / Peć, Mitrovica

Important rivers

Vita Drin and Ibri / Ibar

Average Precipitation / month

Prishtina 28 mm (June), 54 mm (Nov)

Average / day

Prishtina 23 °C (July), 1 °C (Jan)

2017

December

The UÇK guerrilla resurgence?

December 27

Since, among other things, the US ambassador intervened, a number of MPs are withdrawing plans to convene a special session during the Christmas and New Year holidays to try to tear down the law on the special court established in The Hague for crimes committed by the UÇK guerrilla during the millennium war at the turn of the millennium.. However, the MPs in question do not intend to give up and one of them, Daut Haradinaj, brother of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, threatens to revive the UÇK guerrillas as soon as any judgment is issued by the court. The Haradinaj brothers are among those at risk of facing war crimes.

October

First Pride Parade

October 10

In the capital Prishtina, Kosovo’s first pride parade is ever held. It has been preceded by hatred and threats from mainly strictly religious terms, but no incidents occur during the parade, which is also supported by President Hashim Thaҫi and the US ambassador, among others.

September

New government takes office

September 9th

With the hardly possible majority – 61 votes out of 120 in the newly elected parliament – AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj is elected new head of government. A few days earlier, PDK leader Kadri Veseli has been appointed President. This could happen after the small party AKR left its previous collaboration with LDK and joined the so-called PAN coalition, which has now been renamed the PANA coalition. The government is also supported by parties representing ethnic minorities (see Political system).

August

Legal agreement between Kosovo and Serbia

August 31st

As the Presidents of Kosovo and Serbia, Hashim Thaҫi and Aleksandar Vučić, resume the EU-led negotiations on normalization between the countries of Brussels, a legal agreement will be agreed upon between them, which will be fully implemented on October 17, 2017. This means that all judges, Prosecutors and other legal personnel in Kosovo, including those in the Serbian-dominated northern Kosovo, will be integrated into Kosovo’s legal system.

Kosovo’s first prime minister dead

21th of August

Bajram Rexhepi, who was Prime Minister of Kosovo in 2002-2004, dies at a hospital in Istanbul where he was treated for a stroke in April 2017. Rexhepi, who was a surgeon to the profession, represented the PDK and was also a member of the UCK guerrilla during the Kosovo War in late 1990s. He turned 63.

July

Assembly date for the newly elected parliament

July 24

President Hashim Thaҫi declares that the newly elected parliament will meet for the first time on August 3. However, who will form a government is still unclear.

June

Former guerrilla leaders win in parliamentary elections

June 11

A partial alliance dominated by PDK, AAK and Nisma (PAN) – all with roots in the guerrilla UÇK – wins the election with a total of 39 out of 120 seats. The left-wing nationalist Vetëvendosje, who stands on his own, is progressing strongly and receiving 32 seats. An alliance consisting of LDK, AKR and the Alternative receives 29 seats. AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj is expected to become prime minister.

May

The government is falling

May 10

With 78 votes in favor and 34 against, the opposition wins a vote of confidence in Parliament against the coalition government between PDK and LDK, led by LDK’s Isa Mustafa. Together with the opposition parties Vetëvendosje, AAK and Nisma also vote some MPs from PDK. The opposition, in particular, opposes the government’s controversial border agreement with Montenegro, as well as an agreement to establish autonomy for the Serbs in northern Kosovo. A vote in Parliament on these issues has been postponed several times (see, among other things, September 2016). New elections are announced until June 11.

April

Haradinaj free

April 27

Thousands of people welcome Ramush Haradinaj when he returns to Prishtina, after a French court refused to comply with Serbia’s request that he be extradited to face trial for war crimes (see January 2017).

January

Criticism from the EU

January 10

In its report on the progress of the reforms towards a membership of the Union, the European Parliament calls on both Kosovo and Serbia to improve their relations, including through Kosovo establishing the agreed autonomy for the Kosovo Serbs in the north and the latter abolishing the “parallel structures” which is there now. Kosovo is further urged to resolve the border issue with Montenegro as well as to take action against corruption and organized crime.

Haradinaj arrested in France

January 4th

Former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj is arrested by police in France at the urging of Serbia, for crimes that the Serbs believe he committed as guerrilla leader during the 1998–1999 Kosovo war. Haradinaj has previously been acquitted twice for war crimes by the Hague Court, but this shall apply to crimes not listed there. Kosovo’s Prime Minister Isa Mustafa calls on France to immediately release Haradinaj.