Southeast Europe.

GMT + 1 (GMT + 2 from last Sunday in March to last Sunday in October).

10,887 sq km (4,203 sq miles).

2.1 million (2007).

192.8 per sq km.

Prishtina (Priština in Serbian). Population: 500,000 (2008).

Landlocked Kosovo shares borders with Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania. It is ringed by mountains: the Sharr (Šar in Serbian) 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, Gjeravica (Đeravica in Serbian), 2,656m (8,714ft) high. The central region is mainly hilly, but two large plains spread over Kosovo's west and east.

The former Serbian autonomous region of Kosovo declared independence in February 2008. With its Albanian-majority population, Kosovo gained de-facto independence after a brutal war between the Serbian government forces and Albanian paramilitaries. Some executive powers remain in the hands of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the newly created European Union Rule of Law Mission (EULEX), while remaining pockets of Serbian population, particularly in the north of Kosovo, are governed by local administrations integrated in the Serbian government structure.

President Fatmir Sejdiu since 2006.

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci since 2007.

In 1989, Slobodan Milosevic set out his ultranationalist agenda in a speech at the rally on the Battle of Kosovo field. His policies led to three major wars and the eventual disintegration of Yugoslavia; Kosovo conflict became the last act in the Balkan drama.

Brutal actions of the Serbian army and paramilitaries led to the exodus of almost the entire Albanian population and prompted NATO bombardment of Serbian cities in 1999. When the Albanians returned, it was the time for Serbian civilians to flee persecution by the Kosovo Liberation Army fighters.

Following years of unsuccessful talks in which neither party wanted to yield ground, Kosovo unilaterally proclaimed independence in February 2008, supported by major Western powers. It adopted a constitution which gives broad autonomy to Serbian enclaves.

However, Kosovo Serbs rejected this change and continue to see themselves as residents of the Serbian Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija.

Albanian, Serbian, Bosniak and Turkish.

Sunni Islamic majority, Orthodox Christian and Roman Catholic minorities.

220 volts AC, 50Hz. Two-pin and three-pin plug adaptors advised.

Avoid taking pictures of military installations and looted houses of Serbs in the Albanian-populated parts, and of Albanians in the Serbian-populated parts; it may cause bad feeling.