Nation profile


General information
1,895,250 inhabitants (2017 estimate CIA Factbook)
10,887 km²
Government of Kosovo and Assembly (Parliament) of Kosovo
Major cities
Pristina, Mitrovica, Decani, Gracanica, Pec, Prizren
State administration
Republic of Kosovo (partially recognized)
Territorial languages
Albanian, Serbo-Croatian, Turkish, Romany, Gorani
Official languages
Albanian and Serbo-Croatian (officially called Serbian) at the state level
Major religion
Islam, Eastern Orthodox Church
National day
17 February (Independence Day)


Kosovo is a Balkan territory that has proclaimed itself independent from Serbia twice: in 1992 and 2008. More than 100 states in the world recognize the independence of Kosovo. The others regard Kosovo as a Serbian province.

Both Albanian and Serbian nationalism consider Kosovo to be their own territory.

Albanian nationalism argues that Kosovo's first settlers were the Illyrians, and conceives them to be modern Albanians' ancestors. Furthermore, Albanian nationalism points out that the majority (over 90%) of the current population of Kosovo is Albanian.

Serbian nationalism, however, denies the validity of the Illyrian argument, and tends to emphasize that the ancestors of today's Serbs reached Kosovo over the 6th and 7th centuries, long before the territory had an Albanian majority (which happened in the 19th century).

The existence of Kosovo as an administrative unit dates back to 1946, when Yugoslavia established the autonomous district of Kosovo and Metohija. In 1963 the territory was upgraded to the status of autonomous province.

At the time of the disintegration of Yugoslavia, Kosovo proclaimed its independence (1992), which was recognized only by Albania. A Kosovo Albanian militia, the KLA or UÇK, waged a war against Yugoslav forces, which ended in 1999 after NATO forces defeated the Yugoslav army. An interim UN administration was established, and it lasted until 2008, when the country again declared independence, this time with support from major Western powers.


As of February 2019, 102 of 193 UN member states have recognized Kosovo as an independent state. These include notably the United States, Canada, France, the UK, Germany, Australia, Japan, and Pakistan. Countries not recognizing Kosovo include Russia, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Spain. Serbia does not recognize it either but is pursuing the normalization of relations with Kosovo following the 2013 Brussels Agreement.


President: Hashim Thaci, Kosovo Democratic Party, PDK (since 2016)
Prime Minister: Ramush Haradinaj, PAN Alliance (since 2017)
Political system: independent state. Not recognized by its former parent state (Serbia).
Distribution of seats in the Assembly (2017). 120 seats:
PAN Alliance (PDK+AAK+NISMA, centre-right) - 39
Vetëvendosje (centre-left, Albanian nationalism) - 32
LAA Alliance (LDK+Alternativa+AKR, centre to centre-right) - 29
Serbian List (Serbian autonomists) - 9
Turkish Democratic Party of Kosovo (KDTP, Turkish minority, centre-right) - 2
Vakat Alliance (Bosniak minority) - 2
Other minorities' parties - 7
Government: coalition of PAN Alliance, Serbian List, AKR, KDTP and Vakat

(Last updated March 2019.)