Ferizaj

Ferizaj
City and Municipality
Albanian: Ferizaj Serbian: Урошевац or Uroševac
The Mosque and Church of Ferizaj characterize the city center
Seal
Ferizaj
Coordinates: 42°22′N 21°10′E / 42.367°N 21.167°E / 42.367; 21.167Coordinates: 42°22′N 21°10′E / 42.367°N 21.167°E / 42.367; 21.167
Country	Kosovo
District	District of Ferizaj
Government
• Mayor	Muharrem Svarqa LDK
Area
• City and Municipality	345 km2 (133 sq mi)
• Urban	10.537 km2 (4.068 sq mi)
Elevation	500 m (1,600 ft)
Population (2014)
• City and Municipality	108,610
• Density	310/km2 (820/sq mi)
• Metro	68.000 City
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code	70000
Area code(s)	+383 290
Car plates	05
Climate	Cfb
Website	Municipality of Ferizaj (Albanian)

Ferizaj (in Albanian) or Uroševac (in Serbian) is a city and municipality in Kosovo. It is the third largest city in Kosovo and the administrative center of the homonymous district.

The city of Ferizaj has been populated since the prehistoric era by the Starčevo, Vinča and Baden culture. During the Ottoman period, Ferizaj served as a trading center on the route between Belgrade and Thessaloniki. Ferizaj has always been considered as a city where tolerance and coexistence in terms of religion and culture has been part of the society in the last centuries. In 1999, the base of the United States Army were established in the City. It is the largest and the most expensive foreign military base built by the Americans in Europe, since the Vietnam War.

Ferizaj is located in the south-eastern part of Kosovo, about halfway between the cities of Pristina and Skopje, Macedonia. It is some 230 kilometres north-east of Tirana, 55 kilometres north of Skopje, 300 kilometres west of Sofia, 35 kilometres south of Pristina and 300 kilometres east of Podgorica.

The town, was named Ferızovık when it was part of the Ottoman Empire, was little more than a village until 1873, when the Belgrade-Thessaloniki railway was opened, passing through the town. The name derives from a pre-1873 hotel owned by a local named Feriz Shasivari.

The oldest ethno-cultural group who lived in the 6th and 5th millenniums BC in the territory of Kosovo was the Starčevo culture. Members of this group constructed their homes near rivers and the river terraces. They made their homes of willows and mud, while their main profession was plowing and farming.