Janjevci

Janjevci

Town of Janjevo, the traditional centre of this community.
Total population
(ca. 10,000 (est.))
Regions with significant populations
Kosovo: ca. 400 people (2011)  Croatia: ca. 966 families (2002 est.)
Languages
Croatian, Albanian
Religion
Roman Catholicism
Related ethnic groups
Croats

Kosovo Croats (Albanian: Kroatët e Kosovës, Croatian: Kosovski hrvati), locally known as Janjevci (pronounced [ˈjaːɲeʋtsi], Albanian: Janjevët) are the Croat community in Kosovo, inhabiting the town of Janjevo and surrounding villages near Pristina, as well as villages centered on Letnica near Vitina (Shashare, Vrnez and Vrnavokolo).

The Janjevci declare as ethnic Croats, and derive their ethnonym (Janjevci) from their traditional community centre, in Janjevo. It is believed that the community descends from migrating merchants from the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik and its hinterland) who settled the area in the 14th century, when modern-day Kosovo was part of medieval Serbia. The first written mention of Catholics in Janjevo is a letter written by Pope Benedict XI in 1303, mentioning Janjevo as the center of the Catholic parish of St. Nicholas. Together with the Saxons from Central Europe, they worked the Serbian mines.

They have maintained their Catholic faith until today. The community speak the Prizren-South Morava sub-dialect of the Shtokavian dialect.

In 1948, there were 5,290 Croats (0.7%) in Kosovo; in 1971 there were 8,264; in 1981 - 8,718 (0.6%); in 1991 - 8,062 (0.4%). During and after the Kosovo War, most of the community had fled to Croatia. 1998 estimations had their number at only 1,800, of which 350 lived in Janjevo. In 2008, there were only 300 Croats estimated to live in Janjevo. In 2011, about 270 Croats lived in the area. The Croatian government has planned to resettle the remaining Janjevci in Kosovo to Croatia. According to the Kosovan 2011 census, there was a total of ca. 400 Janjevci, of whom 80 remain in the Vitina municipality.