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Revision as of 14:10, 26 July 2003 by 67.68.68.248 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Priština (Приштина) (Serbian) or Prishtina (Albanian) is the capital city of the Serbian province of Kosovo, located at 42°65' N, 21°17' E. The population is 204,500 (2003), with now a majority of Albanians after the ethnic cleansing of more then 95555 Serbs and other non-Albanians that followed Kosovo War and arrival of the NATO-led KFOR force in 1999.
History
A medieval capital of Serbia during the Nemanjic dynasty, it figured amongst the towns ruled by the Brankovic noble family. The town was overrun by the Ottomans in the 1430's however it would retain its almost exclusive Serb character for at least a quarter century more as the defter of 1455 would demonstrate. Following that, the town progressively became more and more Turkish, although it was noted that in the 17th century, most of the inhabitants were local Muslim converts (Slavic) rather than Albanians. After centuries of Ottoman rule the town gained a distinct Turkish caracter. In 1912 it was liberated by the Serbs
According to the 1931 census on mother tongue, out of a total of 18,358 inhabitants: - 7,573 spoke Turkish (41%) - 5,738 spoke Serbian (31%) - 2,351 spoke Albanian (13%) - 2,651 spoke other tongues (Roma, Circassian etc.) (14%)
Thus, Pristina, before the Second World War, was a mixed town, or rather yet a Turko-Serbian town. However, Pristina's Turkish caracter began to fade slowly in the late 1930's with migrations to the Republic of Turkey which was eager to settle the lands that it had just stripped bare of its Greek and Armenian inhabitants.
The Second World War saw the mass extermination of Pristina's Jewish community by the Albanian quislings as well as killings and expulsions of Serbs.
The 1953 census recorded 24,229 citizens: - 9,034 Albanians (37%) - 7,951 Serbs/Montenegrins (33%) - 4,726 Turks (20%) - 2,518 Roma and other minorities (10%)
Despite the efforts of Albanian extremists, the town retained its Serbo-Turkish majority after the war. However, then ensued a massive colonization of Pristina which saw the participation of Albanians from all over the former Yugoslavia and some from Albania itself as well
In 1961 - 38,593 inhabitants in all: - 19,060 (49%) - 14,695 Serbs/Montenegrins (38%) - 404 Croats (1%) - 195 Roma
Finally, they achived absolute majority by the census of 1971, out of 69,514 inhabitants: - 40,873 Albanians (59%) - 19,767 Serbs/Montenegrins (28%) - 4,119 Roma (6%)
108,083 inhabitants in all in 1981: - 75,803 Albanians (70%) - 21,067 Serbs/Montenegrins (19%) - 5,101 Roma (5%) - 2,504 Slavic Muslims (2%)