About Kosova - Introduction

GEOGRAPHY

Land area: 10,900 km²
Land Boundaries: 702 km, landlocked (Albania 112 km, Macedonia 159 km, Montenegro 79 km, Serbia 352 km)
Terrain: Low flood plains throughout central Kosovo, surrounded by mountains to the north, west and south.
Highest elevation: Gjeravica 2,856m
Land Use: 52% agriculture, 39% forests
Largest City: Pristina - est. pop. 600,000

POPULATION

Population Description: approx. 1.8 million people (July 2010 est.)
Population in Diaspora: 400,000 - 500,000 people living abroad
Religion: Predominately Muslim, also Orthodox and Roman Catholic
Ethnicity: Kosovo Albanian 92%, Other 8% (Serb, Bosniak, Gorani, Roma, Turk, Ashkali, Egyptian)
Languages: Albanian, Serbian, Bosnian, Turkish, Roma, English

ECONOMIC DESCRIPTION

Currency: EURO (as of Jan. 1, 2002)
GDP: €5.4 billion (IMF 2010 est.)
GDP Growth Rate: 4.0% (World Bank 2009 est.)
GDP Per capita: €1,800 (World Bank 2010)
Labor Force: 310,000 (CIA 2009 est.)
Unemployment Rate: Over 40% (CIA and World Bank 2010 est.)
Extreme poverty: 15% (World Bank 2010 est.)

GOVERNMENT

Republic of Kosovo (independence declared February 17th, 2008)
President: Atifete Jahjaga
Prime Minister: Hashim Thaçi
Speaker of the Assembly: Jakup Krasniqi
Local Government is currently represented by 36 municipalities