Kosovo

Kosovo and Metohia (Serbian: ?????? ? ???????? / Kosovo i Metohija, Albanian: Kosovë / Kosova), in English most often called just Kosovo, is a province of Serbia. It is the subject of an ongoing territorial dispute between the Serbian government and the province's majority ethnic Albanian population. It is a part of Serbia, but since the Kosovo War it has been administered by the United Nations as a protectorate. Its Albanian population referred to the province as the Republic of Kosovo between 1990 and 1999 and declared it an independent state, though this was recognized abroad only by Albania. The province's final status has yet to be determined; talks on this issue are scheduled for later in 2006.

Administrative subdivisions

Main article: Subdivisions of Serbia and Montenegro

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Administratively, Kosovo is divided in districts (okrug) which are further divided into municipalities (opstina). After establishing of UNMIK, district and municipal governments were relocated outside of the province (list), where they still operate. Meanwhile, UNMIK has set up its administration according to the same subdivisions though with some alterations (notably, merging municipalities of Gora and Opolje into one municipality of Draga?). They do not precisely parallel the administrative subdivisions set up by the parallel ethnic Albanian government. The Kosovo Government and Assembly are planning to reconcile this and implement broad devolution throughout the province.

Related Topics:
District - Okrug - Municipalities - Opstina - UNMIK - Gora - Opolje - Draga?

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