.ko Republic of Kosovo Country Information Kosovo is landlocked and is bordered by Central Serbia to the north and east, the Republic of Macedonia to the south, Albania to the west, and Montenegro to the northwest. The largest city and the capital of Kosovo is Pristina (alternatively spelled Prishtina or Pritina), while other cities include Pe? (Peja), Prizren, and Mitrovica (Kosovska Mitrovica).
Kosovo was a part of the lands of Thraco-Illyrian tribes, then of the Roman, Byzantine, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Ottoman empires. In the 20th century it shared between Kingdom of Montenegro and Kingdom of Serbia, and their successor state, Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After the Kosovo War and 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia the territory came under the interim administration of the United Nations (UNMIK). In February 2008, the Assembly of Kosovo declared Kosovo's independence as the Republic of Kosovo. As of 09 March 2009, its independence is recognised by 56 UN member states and the Republic of China (Taiwan). On the other hand, the proclemation of independence is not recognised by the majority of UN countries who view Kosovo as a UN administrated province of Republic of Serbia. On October 8, 2008, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution asking the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on the issue of Kosovo's declaration of independence.[7] Kosovo's two major ethnic groups, Albanians and Serbs have historically held and continue to hold strong hostility toward each other over the two groups' territory claims on Kosovo. Kosovo has an area of 10,908 square kilometers[77] and a population of about 2.2 million. The largest cities are Pristina, the capital, with an estimated 500,000[citation needed] inhabitants, Prizren in the south west with a population of 110,000, Pe? in the west with 70,000, and Mitrovica in the north with 70,000. The climate is continental, with warm summers and cold and snowy winters. Most of Kosovo's terrain in mountainous, the highest peak is ?eravica (2656 m). There are two main plain regions, the Metohija basin is located in the western part of the Kosovo, and the Plain of Kosovo occupies the eastern part. The main rivers of the region are the White Drin, running towards the Adriatic Sea, with the Erenik among its tributaries), the Sitnica, the South Morava in the Goljak area, and Ibar in the north. The biggest lakes are Gazivoda, Radonji?, Batlava and Badovac.
Phytogeographically, Kosovo belongs to the Illyrian province of the Circumboreal Region within the Boreal Kingdom. According to the WWF and Digital Map of European Ecological Regions by the European Environment Agency, the territory of Kosovo belongs to the ecoregion of Balkan mixed forests.
39.1% of Kosovo is forested, about 52% is classified as agricultural land, 31% of which is covered by pastures and 69% is arable.
Currently the 39,000 ha ar Mountains National Park, established in 1986 in the ar Mountains along the border with the Republic of Macedonia, is the only national park in Kosovo, although the Bjeshkët e Nemuna National Park in the Prokletije along the border with Montenegro has been proposed as another one.
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