Kosovo

Background:
Ethnic Serbs migrated to the territories of modern Kosovo in the 7th century but did not fully incorporate them into the Serbian realm until the early 13th century. The defeat of the Serbian empire at the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 led to five centuries of Ottoman rule during which large numbers of Turks and Albanians moved to Kosovo. By the end of the 19th century, Albanians replaced the Serbs as the dominant ethnic group in Kosovo. Serbia reacquired control over Kosovo from the Ottoman Empire during the First Balkan War of 1912. Kosovo became an autonomous province of Serbia with status almost equivalent to that of a republic under the 1974 Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Despite legislative concessions, Albanian nationalism increased in the 1980s, which led to riots and calls for Kosovo's independence. At the same time, Serb nationalist leaders, such as Slobodan MILOSEVIC, exploited Kosovo Serb claims of maltreatment to secure votes from supporters, many of whom viewed Kosovo as their cultural heartland. Under MILOSEVIC's leadership, Serbia instituted a new constitution in 1989 that revoked Kosovo's status as an autonomous province of Serbia. Kosovo Albanian leaders responded in 1991 by organizing a referendum that declared Kosovo independent. Under MILOSEVIC, Serbia carried out repressive measures against the Albanians in the early 1990s as the unofficial Kosovo government, led by Ibrahim RUGOVA, used passive resistance in an attempt to try to gain international assistance and recognition of an independent Kosovo. Albanians dissatisfied with RUGOVA's passive strategy in the 1990s created the Kosovo Liberation Army and launched an insurgency. Starting in 1998, Serbian military, police, and paramilitary forces conducted a counterinsurgency campaign that resulted in massacres and massive expulsions of ethnic Albanians. International attempts to mediate the conflict failed, and MILOSEVIC's rejection of a proposed settlement led to a three-month NATO bombing campaign against Serbia beginning in March 1999 that forced Serbia to agree to withdraw its military and police forces from Kosovo. UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) placed Kosovo under a transitional administration, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), pending a determination of Kosovo's future status. A UN-led process began in late 2005 to determine Kosovo's final status. The negotiations ran in stages between 2006 and 2007, but ended without agreement between Belgrade and Pristina. On 17 February 2008, the Kosovo Assembly declared Kosovo independent. Since then, over fifty countries have recognized Kosovo. Serbia continues to reject Kosovo's independence and subsequently has sought an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legality under international law of Kosovo's independence declaration.

Geography:
Area: 10,887 square kilometers (4,203 square miles), slightly smaller than Connecticut.
Capital: Pristina.

People:
Nationality: Adjective--Kosovo national.
Population (2000 est.): 2.1 million.
Ethnic groups: 90% ethnic Albanians, 6% ethnic Serbs, 2% Bosniaks, Gorani, 1.5% Roma, Ashkali, Egyptians, 1% Turks.
Religion: The majority ethnic Albanian population, as well as the Bosniak, Gorani, and Turkish communities, and some of the Roma/Ashkalia/Egyptian communities are adherents of Islam. The ethnic Serb population is largely Serb Orthodox. Approximately 3% of ethnic Albanians are Roman Catholic.
Languages: Albanian (official), Serbian (official), Roma, Turkish (official only in municipality of Prizren), Bosniak, English.
Education: Adult literacy rates (2004 est.): 94.12% (men 97.30%, women 91.30%). Enrollment (2003 est.)--96% of children ages 7-15 enrolled in primary school.
Health: Infant mortality rate--23.7/1000. Total fertility rate, births per woman (2000 est.)--2.7. Life expectancy (2003 est.)--75 years.

Economy:
GDP composition by sector: Agriculture 25%, industry 20%, services 55%.
GDP (purchasing power parity):$5 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):$3.237 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:5.1% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): $2,300 (2007 est.)
Agriculture: Products--Fruits and vegetables (potatoes, berries), wheat, corn, wine, beef.
Industry: Mineral mining, energy, telecommunications, forestry, agriculture, metal processing, construction materials, base metals, leather, machinery, appliances.
Income and employment (2001 est.): 53% of the Kosovo labor force is unemployed; 50.3% of Kosovo's citizens live below the poverty line, and 12% live in extreme poverty.
Over the past few years Kosovo's economy has shown significant progress in transitioning to a market-based system and maintaining macroeconomic stability, but it is still highly dependent on the international community and the diaspora for financial and technical assistance. Remittances from the diaspora - located mainly in Germany and Switzerland - are estimated to account for about 15% of GDP, and donor-financed activities and aid for another 15%. Kosovo's citizens are the poorest in Europe with an average annual per capita income of only $2,300. Unemployment, around 40% of the population, is a significant problem that encourages outward migration and black market activity. Most of Kosovo's population lives in rural towns outside of the capital, Pristina. Inefficient, near-subsistence farming is common - the result of small plots, limited mechanization, and lack of technical expertise. With international assistance, Kosovo has been able to privatize 50% of its state-owned enterprises (SOEs) by number, and over 90% of SOEs by value. Minerals and metals - including lignite, lead, zinc, nickel, chrome, aluminum, magnesium, and a wide variety of construction materials - once formed the backbone of industry, but output has declined because of ageing equipment and insufficient investment. A limited and unreliable electricity supply due to technical and financial problems is a major impediment to economic development. Kosovo's Ministry of Energy and Mining has solicited expressions of interest from private investors to develop a new power plant in order to address Kosovo and the region's unmet and growing demands for power. The official currency of Kosovo is the euro, but the Serbian dinar is also used in Serb enclaves. Kosovo's tie to the euro has helped keep core inflation low. Kosovo has one of the most open economies in the region, and continues to work with the international community on measures to improve the business environment and attract foreign investment.