Smaq | |
|---|---|
Village | |
  Smaq | |
| Coordinates: 42°20′01″N20°30′52″E / 42.33370232299749°N 20.514391147886816°E | |
| Location |  Kosovo |
| District | Gjakova |
| Municipality | Gjakova |
| Population (2011) [1] | |
| • Total | 435 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
Smaq is a village in District of Gjakova, Kosovo. Smaq is situated nearby to the villages Kushavec and Bishtazhin.
Smaq is mentioned as a village in the Ottoman defter of 1571 with 34 households. The names of the inhabitants were Albanian, indicating the village and the surrounding area was historically inhabited by an Albanian population. [2]
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a country in Southeast Europe with partial diplomatic recognition. Kosovo lies landlocked in the centre of the Balkans, bordered by Serbia to the north and east, North Macedonia to the southeast, Albania to the southwest, and Montenegro to the west. Most of central Kosovo sits on the plains of Metohija and the Kosovo field. The Accursed Mountains and Šar Mountains rise in the southwest and southeast, respectively. Kosovo's capital and largest city is Pristina.
The Kosovo Liberation Army was an ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia during the 1990s. Albanian nationalism was a central tenet of the KLA and many in its ranks supported the creation of a Greater Albania, which would encompass all Albanians in the Balkans, stressing Albanian culture, ethnicity and nation.
Rahovec or Orahovac, is a town and municipality located in the District of Gjakova in western Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Rahovec has 15,892 inhabitants, while the municipality has 56,208 inhabitants.
Peja is the fourth most populous city in Kosovo and serves as the seat of the Peja Municipality and the District of Peja. It is located in the Rugova region on the eastern section of the Accursed Mountains along the Lumbardhi i Pejës River in the western part of Kosovo.
Prizren is the second most populous city and municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and district. It is located on the banks of the Prizren River between the foothills of the Sharr Mountains in southern Kosovo. Prizren experiences an oceanic climate under the influence of the surrounding mountains.
Llap Region is a region located in the north-eastern part of Kosovo. Llap in the broadest sense includes the watershed of the Llapi River. The Llapi water collection begins in the mountains of Kopaonik in the north and west and its source is considered to be the village of Pollatë, and ends by joining the Sitnica river in Lumadh, municipality of Vushtrri, in the north-west of Pristina. The topographic watershed of the Llapi River covers an area of 945.4 km2 (365.0 sq mi).
Adem Jashari was one of the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a Kosovo Albanian separatist militia which fought for the secession of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the 1990s.
Leposavić, also known as Leposaviq or Albanik, is a town and the northernmost municipality in the Mitrovica District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has an estimated population of 18,600 inhabitants. The municipality covers an area of 539 km2 (208 sq mi) which makes it the fifth largest in Kosovo, and consists of the town and 72 villages.
Zubin Potok is a town and municipality located in the Mitrovica District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has an estimated population of 15,200 inhabitants. It covers an area of 335 km2 (129 sq mi), and consists of the main town and 63 villages.
Obiliq is a town and municipality in Kosovo. According to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) estimate from the 2011 census, there were 21,549 people residing in Obiliq Municipality, with Kosovo Albanians constituting the majority of the population.
Malisheva is a town and municipality in Kosovo. According to the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS) estimate from the 2011 census, there were 54,613 people residing in Malisheva Municipality, with Kosovo Albanians constituting the majority of the population.
The Albanians of Kosovo, also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo.
Drenica, also known as the Drenica Valley, is a hilly region in central Kosovo, covering roughly around 700 square kilometres (270 sq mi) of Kosovo's total area (6%). It consists of two municipalities, Drenas and Skenderaj, and several villages in Klina, Zubin Potok, Mitrovica and Vushtrri. It is located west of the capital, Pristina.
Dragash or Sharr, is a town and municipality located in the Prizren District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Dragash has 1,098 inhabitants, while the municipality has 34,827 inhabitants. The Albanian name Sharri is a reference to the Šar Mountains. The Serbian name Dragaš comes from medieval Serbian lord Constantine Dragaš.
Albanians in Serbia are a recognized national minority in Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the population of ethnic Albanians in Serbia is 61,687, constituting 0.93% of the total population. The vast majority of them live in the southern part of the country that borders Kosovo and North Macedonia, called the Preševo Valley. Their cultural center is located in Preševo.
Numerous war crimes were committed by all sides during the Kosovo War, which lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. According to Human Rights Watch, the vast majority of abuses were attributable to the government of Slobodan Milošević, mainly perpetrated by the Serbian police, the Yugoslav army, and Serb paramilitary units. During the war, regime forces killed between 7,000–9,000 Kosovar Albanians, engaged in countless acts of rape, destroyed entire villages, and displaced nearly one million people. The Kosovo Liberation Army has also been implicated in atrocities, such as kidnappings and summary executions of civilians. Moreover, the NATO bombing campaign has been harshly criticized by human rights organizations and the Serbian government for causing roughly 500 civilian casualties.
The Catholic Church has a population in Kosovo of approximately 65,000 in a region of roughly 2 million people.
Jasenica (Albanian:Jashanica) is a village in the municipality of Žitorađa, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 989 people.
An incident took place on the Albania–Yugoslav border in April 1999 when the Yugoslav Army shelled several Albanian border towns around Krumë, Tropojë. In these villages, refugees were being housed after fleeing the ongoing war in Kosovo by crossing into Albania. On 13 April 1999, Yugoslav infantry entered Albanian territory to close off an area that was used by the Kosovo Liberation Army to stage attacks against Yugoslav targets.
The Kosovo Agency of Statistics monitors various demographic features of the population of Kosovo, such as population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Censuses, normally conducted at ten-year intervals, record the demographic characteristics of the population. According to the first census conducted after the 2008 declaration of independence in 2011, the permanent population of Kosovo had reached 1,810,366.