Pristina

Pristina Albanian: Prishtina or Prishtinë Serbian: Приштина or Priština
City
From top (left to right): a panoramic view of the city, clock-tower, Skanderbeg square, National Library of Kosovo, the Newborn monument (2013 repainting), the Kosovo Government Building and the Skanderbeg monument, National Museum of Kosovo and a view of Prishtina at night.
Seal
Pristina Location in Kosovo
Coordinates: 42°40′N 21°10′E / 42.667°N 21.167°E / 42.667; 21.167
Country	Kosovo
District	District of Pristina
Government
• Mayor	Shpend Ahmeti (VV)
Area
• City	572 km2 (221 sq mi)
Elevation	652 m (2,139 ft)
Population (12–2013)
• City	211,129
• Density	370/km2 (960/sq mi)
• Urban	211,129
• Metro	504,165
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Area code(s)	+383 38
Website	Municipality of Pristina (Albanian)

Pristina, also spelled Prishtina (Albanian: Prishtinë, IPA: [pɾiʃtinə]) or Priština (Serbian Cyrillic: Приштина), is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the homonymous municipality and district.

Geographically, it is located in the north-eastern part of Kosovo close to the Goljak mountains. The city is situated some 250 kilometres north-east of Tirana, 90 kilometres north of Skopje, 520 kilometres south of Belgrade and 300 kilometres east of Podgorica. Being Kosovo's largest city, Pristina is a hometown of many of the major local universities, cultural institutions and commercial companies.

One of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved within the Pristina area in the 8th millennium BC. In ancient times, Illyrians and Romans inhabited the region. In the 4th century BC, the king of Dardanians, Bardyllis brought various tribes together in the area of Pristina, establishing the Dardanian Kingdom. The ancient city of Ulpiana, near Pristina, was considered one of the most important Roman cities in the Balkans. In the middle ages, Pristina was an important town in Medieval Serbia. It was a royal estate of Stefan Milutin, Stefan Uroš III, Stefan Dušan, Stefan Uroš V and Vuk Branković. During the ottoman period, Pristina was classified as an important mining and trading center on the Balkan market due to its position near the rich mining town of Novo Brdo. The city was known for its trade fairs and items, such as goatskin and goat hair, as well as gunpowder produced by artisans from Pristina in 1485. The first mosque in Pristina was built in the late 14th century, while under the Serbian rule. Pristina 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.