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Location
Southeast Europe.
Time
GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).
Area
10,887 sq km (4,203 sq miles).
Population
2.2 million (2007 estimate).
Population Density
202 per sq km.
Capital
Pristina. Population: 165,844 (2003).
Geography
Landlocked Kosovo shares borders with Serbia, Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of), Montenegro and Albania. It is ringed by mountains: the Šar Mountains are located in the south and southeast, bordering Macedonia. The Kopaonik Mountains rise in the north. The southwest borders with Montenegro and Albania are also mountainous, and are home to the nation's highest mountain, Daravica, 2,656m (8,714ft) high. The central region is mainly hilly, but two large plains spread in Kosovo's west and east.
Government
The former Serbian autonomous region of Kosovo declared independence in February 2008. An EU police and justice mission will hold some executive powers.
Head of State
President Fatmir Sejdiu since 2006.
Head of Government
Prime Minister Hashim Thaci since 2007.
Recent History
Kosovo finally declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, a move that received rapturous approval at home, but the controversial new state remains unacknowledged by many other nations, including Serbia and Russia.
Kosovo has been awaiting independence since 1992, but was held back by war and then the need to obtain international consensus, which never arrived. The EU police and justice mission has now taken over the supervisory role played by the UN, but 16,000 Nato troups will remain.
Ibrahim Rugova, the president of Kosovo nicknamed ‘Ghandi of the Balkans', died on 21 January 2006 just before talks on Kosovo's future were due to take place. Fatmir Sejdiu was elected by parliament as his replacement in February 2006. Pro-independence Prime Minister Agim Ceku was then elected in March 2006, and succeeded by Hashim Thaci in January 2008. Thaci is a former Marxist guerrilla fighter and political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Kosovo has been awaiting independence since 1992, but was held back by war and then the need to obtain international consensus, which never arrived. The EU police and justice mission has now taken over the supervisory role played by the UN, but 16,000 Nato troups will remain.
Ibrahim Rugova, the president of Kosovo nicknamed ‘Ghandi of the Balkans', died on 21 January 2006 just before talks on Kosovo's future were due to take place. Fatmir Sejdiu was elected by parliament as his replacement in February 2006. Pro-independence Prime Minister Agim Ceku was then elected in March 2006, and succeeded by Hashim Thaci in January 2008. Thaci is a former Marxist guerrilla fighter and political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Language
Albanian, Serbian, Bosniak and Turkish.
Religion
Islamic majority, Eastern Orthodox Christian and Roman Catholic minorities.
Electricity
220 volts AC, 50Hz.
Social Conventions
Avoid taking pictures of military installations and of obvious bomb damage, which may cause ill feeling.
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