Serbs of Kosovo
Girls from Štrpce in Serbian traditional costumes
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 350,000+ (est.) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Kosovo |
146,128 (2013 est.) |
 Serbia (excl. Kosovo)
|
205,835 (2009) |
 Montenegro
|
6,600+ (2015) |
| Languages | |
| Serbian | |
| Religion | |
| Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Serbian Church) | |
| Year | Albanians | Serbs | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1455 | 1 % | 96 % | 3 % |
| 1871 | 32 % | 64 % | 4 % |
| 1899 | 48 % | 44 % | 8 % |
| 1921 | 69 % | 26 % | 15 % |
| 1931 | 60 % | 27 % | 13 % |
| 1948 | 68 % | 24 % | 8 % |
| 1953 | 65 % | 23 % | 11 % |
| 1961 | 67 % | 23 % | 9 % |
| 1971 | 73 % | 18 % | 8 % |
| 1981 | 77 % | 13 % | 9 % |
| 1991 | 82 % | 10 % | 8 % |
| 2000 | 88 % | 7 % | 5 % |
| 2007 | 92 % | 5 % | 3 % |
Kosovo Serbs are the largest ethnic minority group in Kosovo, numbering around 150,000 people. By the end of 19th century they were the majority population. Kosovo was the cultural, diplomatic and religious core of the medieval Serbian state.
Because of Serbian medieval history and monuments, Kosovo has long been called the "Serbian Jerusalem". The Medieval Monuments in Kosovo, founded by the Nemanjić dynasty, is a combined World Heritage Site consisting of four Serbian Orthodox Christian churches and monasteries.
The region of Kosovo was an important part of the 14th-century Serbian Empire, with Prizren serving as capital, until its subsequent occupation by the Ottomans following the Battle of Kosovo (1389), considered one of the most notable events of Serbian history. After centuries of Ottoman rule, Kosovo was annexed by the Kingdom of Serbia in 1912, following the First Balkan War. It was then part of Serbia (and later Yugoslavia), until the 1999 Kosovo War resulted in the de facto separation of Kosovo from the rest of Serbia, followed by its secession from Serbia in 2008 which is still yet to be wholly and legally recognised by the international community.
Most of Kosovo's pre-1999 Serb population relocated to central Serbia and Montenegro following ethnic cleansing campaigns while many of the remaining Serbs outside North Kosovo live in small isolated communities, called enclaves.
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Wikipedia