LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Kosovo: Kosovo Serbs
built 178 days ago
The nationality problems of the Kosovo region, desperately poor despite considerable mineral wealth, are centuries old and were exacerbated in both world wars. Originally the home of Serbia's founding dynasty in the 12th century, Kosovo lost most of its remaining Serbian population in the 17th century when the Serbs, Orthodox Christians, fled northward to distance themselves from the Ottoman Turks. Albanian tribesmen filled the vacuum; they now constitute more than four-fifths of the province's population.
Source:
With the United Nations set to announce its decision on the final political status of Kosovo this February, ethnic tensions have been mounting. Albanians demand total political independence, while Serbs want the province to remain part of Serbia. Kosovo has been under the governance of the United Nations since NATO's 78-day bombing campaign drove out the Serb military in 1999.
Source:
The last disputed region of the now defunct communist Yugoslavia, the province of Kosovo has an extensive and rich history. Inhabited by several different groups, it was initially (circa 1300 B.C.E.) inhabited by Illyrians, which eventually became incorporated into the Roman empire and subsequently the Byzantine empire. From c. 6th century AD it was settled by several Slavic groups, including Serbs, migrating from the north. It was conquered by the Ottoman empire during their take-over of south-eastern Europe. However, it was regained by the Serbs after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the 1912-13 Balkan Wars. Kosovo has since been a region or province of modern Yugoslavia and its successor state of Serbia.
Source:
Kosovo has a population of about two million people, predominantly ethnic Albanians, with smaller populations of Serbs, Romani people, Goranis, Bosniaks, Turks and other ethnic communities. Pristina is the capital and largest city. Kosovo is landlocked, bordering Montenegro to the west, Albania to the southwest, the Republic of Macedonia to the south and Central Serbia to the north and east.
Source:
Kosovo, a southern province of Serbia and Montenegro, has seen deep conflict between its Serbian and ethnic Albanian population. In 1974, the Yugoslav constitution granted Kosovo, then part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, autonomous status. In 1989, amid rising breakaway movements throughout Yugoslovia, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic revoked Kosovo's autonomy, a step that deepened Serb-Kosovar differences. The majority Kosovar movement favored non-violent political action, but a separatist movement called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) came to the fore, receiving arms and funds from Albania and (later) from the US and German intelligence services, while the Russians backed the Serbs. The KLA attacked police and government installations as well as Serb civilians. As Serbian government forces struck back, they committed atrocities and the Kosovar population began to flee in large numbers.
Source:
The Kosovo region has been taken, retaken, and ruled by several empires. It lies both on the outer fringes of the Byzantine Empire and directly in the path of Slavic invasions in the 5th and 6th centuries, culminating with the arrival of White Serbs in the first half of the 7th who formed the realm of Rascia, the center of which was in northwest Kosovo. From 863 to 971, most of the remainder of Kosovo was ruled by Bulgaria, cementing the slavic character of Kosovo. Kosovo returned to the rule of the Byzantine Empire in a period of Bulgarian decline. Various Slavic rebellions wanted to restore the Bulgarian Empire, like the one from Macedonia in 976 to 1014 or the one raised in the 1040s. The Serbs from Doclea ... tried in 1070 to 1072 to restore the Bulgarian Empire, but they were defeated in the Battle of Sitnica.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Kosovo Serbs