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Kosovo

Capital:	Pristina
Population:	1,733,842
Official Languages:	Albanian Serbian
Time Zone:	+1 / Summer +2
Dialing Code:	+381

Government:	Parliamentary republic
Area:	10,908 km2
largest city:	Pristina
Currency :	Euro
ISO 3166 code:	XK

Basic Info

The Republic of Kosovo, is a partially recognised state in Southeastern Europe. Its largest city and capital is Pristina. Kosovo is landlocked and is bordered by the Republic of Macedonia to the south, Albania to the west and Montenegro to the northwest. The remaining line of demarcation is the subject of controversy — seen by proponents of Kosovan independence as the Kosovo-Serbia border and seen by opponents of the independence as the boundary between Central Serbia and an autonomous Kosovo within Serbia. Kosovo institutions have control over most of the territory of Kosovo, while North Kosovo, the largest Serb-majority enclave, is largely outside their control and is run by local Serbian institutions with funds and support from Belgrade.

Geography

Kosovo represents an important link between central and southern Europe and the Adriatic and Black Seas. Kosovo has an area of 10,908 square km. It lies between latitudes 41° and 44° N, and longitudes 20° and 22° E. The border of Kosovo is approximately 602.09 kilometers long.

Climate

The climatic area of Kosovo, which includes the Ibar-Valley, is influenced by continental air masses. For this reason, in this part of the country, the winters are colder with medium temperatures above –10°C (14°F), but sometimes down to –26°C (-14.8°F). The summers are very hot with average temperatures of 20°C (68°F), sometimes up to 37°C (98.6°C). This area is characterized by a dry climate and a total annual precipitation of 600 mm per year, approximately. The climatic area of Dukagjini (Rrafshi i Dukagjinit), which includes the watershed of the Drini i Bardh river, is influenced very much by the hot air masses, which cross the Adriatic Sea. Medium temperatures during winter range from 0.5°C (32.9°F) to sometimes 22.8°C (83.84°F). The average annual precipitation of this climatic area is about 700mm (27.5in) per year.

The winter is characterized by heavy snowfalls. The climatic area of the mountains and forest parts is characterized by a typical forest clime, that is associated with heavy rainfalls (900 to 1300mm or 35.4 - 51.1in per year), and summers that are very short and cold, and winters that are cold and with a lot of snow. Finally, it can be stated that the Kosovo territory is characterized by a sunny climate with variable temperature and humidity conditions.

Religion

Most of the Albanian population of Kosovo, together with the Bosniak, Gorani and Turkish communities, and some of the Roma/Ashkali/Egyptian community, have muslim family backgrounds. The results of the 2011 census gave the following religious affiliations for the population included in the census

Islamic: 1,663,412 (95.6%) Orthodox: 25,837 (1.4%) Catholic: 38,438 (2.2%) Other: 1,188 (0.1%) None: 1,242 (0.1%) No answer: 9,708 (0.6%)

Administrative divisions

Until 2007, Kosovo was divided into 30 municipalities. It is currently divided into 38 according to Kosovo law, in which ten municipalities have Serb majorities (including around 90% of the Serb population in Kosovo). Since Serbia does not recognise the legal validity of legislation by the Kosovo Assembly after the Declaration of Independence, it cannot recognise the legal validity even of new Serb-majority municipalities. However, the effective exercise of local administration - whether by authorities recognising Kosovo's independence, as is the case for Serb-majority municipalities south of the River Ibar, or not recognising it, as is the case for municipalities north of the River Ibar - follows the current boundaries established by Kosovo law.