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.

Name

The province is best known as Kosovo - this name has been the most widely used by maps and gazetteers within Serbia and abroad. The alternative spelling Kossovo was frequently used until the early 20th century and before that, Cassovo or Cassua, an Italianisation of the name.

Related Topics:
20th century - Italianisation

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The name Kosovo (pronounced "KO-so-vo" by Serbs, "ko-SO-vah" by Albanians) appears to have its roots in the Slavic word kos which means "blackbird". The root word is widely used as a toponym in Slavic countries and the historical German name for Kosovo Polje, Amselfeld, does indeed mean "field of the blackbird". The name "Kosovo" is itself used in other Slavic countries, appearing in Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, and Russia (see Kosovo (disambiguation)).

Related Topics:
Serbs - Albanians - Slavic - Blackbird - Toponym - German - Kosovo Polje - Belarus - Bosnia - Bulgaria - Croatia - Russia - Kosovo (disambiguation)

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Kosova (pronounced "ko-SO-vah") is the Albanian spelling for the province. Albanians tend to use "Kosova" exclusively in preference to the Serbian name, which many of them reject as a symbol of Serbian dominance. It is also occasionally spelled as Kosovë; this is due to the fact that in Albanian, adding the definite article to a noun changes the ending of the word.

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The Albanian-populated areas of the province and Albania itself tend to use "Kosova" exclusively. "Kosovo" is used, again almost exclusively, in the Serb-populated north of the province and in the rest of the former Yugoslavia. The international community tries to steer a middle path by referring formally to "Kosovo/Kosova." In practice, however, the Serbian variant is still the most frequently used outside of Kosovo while the Albanian variant is widely used by "internationals" within the province.

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The use of the two alternative names is a highly sensitive political issue for both Serbs and Kosovo Albanians, who regard the use of the other side's name as being a denial of their own side's territorial rights. During the Kosovo War, United States President Bill Clinton was criticised for frequently using "Kosova" and appearing to pronounce "Kosovo" the Albanian way, putting the emphasis on the middle syllable rather than on the first syllable as in the Serbian pronunciation. This may, however, have been a simple mispronunciation.

Related Topics:
Kosovo War - United States - Bill Clinton

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Metohia (alternatively spelled Metohija) derives from the Greek word ??????? (metochia), a term which denotes church-owned land. Historically, the estates of the Serbian Orthodox Church were located principally in this region. The name does not indicate a modern administrative district. Albanians tend not to use the name and instead prefer to call it Rrafshi i Dukagjinit, the "Dukagjin plateau".

Related Topics:
Greek - Church - Serbian Orthodox Church

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Some Kosovo Albanians refer to Kosovo as Dardania, the name of the ancient Roman province which covered the territory of modern Kosovo and part of the Republic of Macedonia. Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova has been an enthusiastic backer of a "Dardanian" identity and his flag and presidential seal refer to this notional identity. However, it is not recognised by any international power and the name "Kosova" remains more widely used among the Albanian population.

Related Topics:
Dardania - Ibrahim Rugova

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Former official names

• Autonomous Kosovo-Metohijan Area (1945-1963)
• Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (1963-1968)
• Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo (1968-1989)
• Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohia (1989 - present)
• Kosovo was also called "Republic of Kosova" by the shadow Kosovo Albanian government between a 1990 declaration of independence and the Kosovo War in 1999.

Adjective form

The question of what to call the inhabitants of Kosovo collectively has also aroused some debate. They have been called variously "Kosovars", "Kosovans" and "Kosovians". The two words accepted by the Oxford English Dictionary are "Kosovar" (borrowed from Albanian), the most widely used variant in English, by a long way, and "Kosovan" (using the English rules for demonyms) much less used. "Kosovian" is considered a non-standard word and very little used at all.

Related Topics:
Oxford English Dictionary - Demonym

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As Kosovo has no formal statehood, current international usage is to refer to Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians. Most of the Albanian-descended community in Kosovo would prefer the use of Kosovar or Kosovan because of the attendant political overtones, whilst the Serb minority continue to think of themselves as Serb or Serbian (from Kosovo).

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Kosovo placenames

Most localities in Kosovo have distinct Serbian and Albanian placenames, nearly all very similar, some differing radically, Like that of Ferizaj, for example. It went from Ferizaj to Ferizovic and eventually changed into Uro?evac. During the Serbian administration of 1912-1999, Kosovo localities were known internationally almost exclusively by their Serbian names.

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Since the United Nations took over administration of the province in June 1999, the administration and some international organisations have adopted a policy of treating both versions equally. For the sake of convenience, this article gives alternative placenames the first time a locality is mentioned, but will use the more familiar Serbian version thereafter. A useful list of Serbian and Albanian forms of Kosovo placenames is available here from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine, as the original page is missing.

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