+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.
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.