Kosovska Mitrovica

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Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica
Mitrovica/ Косовска Митровица /Mitrovicë
—  Municipality and city  —
Bridge over the Ibar, which divides the city in two.

Seal
Kosovska Mitrovica is located in Kosovo
Mitrovica
Kosovska Mitrovica
Location in Kosovo
Coordinates: 42°53′N 20°52′E / 42.883°N 20.867°E / 42.883; 20.867Coordinates: 42°53′N 20°52′E / 42.883°N 20.867°E / 42.883; 20.867
Country Kosovo
District District of Kosovska Mitrovica
Area
 • Land 350 km2 (140 sq mi)
Population (2011)
 • Municipality and city 71,601 (municipality)
 • Density 213.0/km2 (552/sq mi)
 • Metro 45,000 City
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 40000
Area code(s) +381 28
Car plates 02

Kosovska Mitrovica (Serbian: Косовска Митровица, Kosovska Mitrovica; Albanian Mitrovicë or Mitrovica), is a city and municipality in northern Kosovo.[a] It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district. The city is multi-ethnic though Albanians form the absolute majority. With no accurate statistics for the present time, the estimate is 80%-90% Albanian though Serbs (at around 9%) are the second largest group. However, the Serbs are heavily concentrated in the north of the city across the River Ibar, an area known as North Kosovska Mitrovica, functioning as a small town and de facto capital of Serbian-majority North Kosovo which it joins onto.

Contents

Name [edit]

The city was named "Civitas Sancti Demetrii" in the 14th century after Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki,[1] a name that later became "Mitrovica", as happened to other locations in the Balkans named after Saint Demetrius.[2][3]

After Tito's death, when each of the constituent parts of Yugoslavia had to have one place named with the word 'Tito' (or 'Tito's') included, the city was also known as Titova Mitrovica (Титова Митровица) in Serbian or Mitrovica e Titos in Albanian.

The city is known as Kosovska Mitrovica (Косовска Митровица) in Serbian About this sound listen (help·info) and Mitrovica or Mitrovicë in Albanian.

History [edit]

Early history [edit]

Kosovska Mitrovica train station in 1894

The city is one of the oldest known settlements in Kosovo, being first mentioned in written documents during the Middle Ages.[citation needed] The name Kosovska Mitrovica comes from the 14th century, from Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki,[citation needed] but there are some other legends on the origin of its name.[citation needed] Near Kosovska Mitrovica is the medieval fortress of Zvečan, which played an important role during the Kingdom of Serbia under Nemanjić rule.

Under Ottoman rule Kosovska Mitrovica was a typical small Oriental city. Rapid development came in the 19th century after lead ore was discovered and mined in the region, providing what has historically been one of Kosovo largest industries.

It became an industrial town, formerly the economic centre of Kosovo because of the nearby Trepča Mines. It grew in size as a centre of trade and industry with the completion of the railway line to Skopje in 1873–1878, which linked Kosovska Mitrovica to the port of Thessalonika.[4] Another line later linked the town to Belgrade and Western Europe.[4] During World War II, the city was part of Axis-backed Serbia. In 1948, Kosovska Mitrovica had a population of 13,901 and in the early 1990s of about 75,000.[4]

Mitrovica during and after the Kosovo War [edit]

Gnome-searchtool.svg This section's factual accuracy is disputed. (March 2008)
Old building in Kosovska Mitrovica

Both the town and municipality were badly affected by the 1999 Kosovo War. According to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the area had been the scene of guerrilla activity by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) prior to the war. It came under the command of NATO's French sector; 7,000 French troops were stationed in the western sector with their headquarters in Kosovska Mitrovica. They were reinforced with a contingent of 1,200 troops from the United Arab Emirates, and a small number of Danish troops.

In the aftermath of the war, the town became a symbol of Kosovo's ethnic divisions. The badly damaged southern half of the town was repopulated by an estimated 50,000 Albanians. Their numbers have since grown with the arrival of refugees from destroyed villages in the countryside.[citation needed] Most of the approximately 6,000 Roma fled to Serbia, or were relocated to one of two resettlement camps, Cesmin Lug, or Osterode, in North Kosovska Mitrovica. In the north, live some 17,000 Kosovo Serbs, with 2,000 Kosovo Albanians and 1,700 Muslim Slavs inhabiting discrete enclaves on the north bank of the Ibar river. Almost all of the Serbs living on the south bank were displaced to North Kosovska Mitrovica after the Kosovo War. In 2011, the city had an estimated total population of 71,601 and the municipality's population is estimated to be some 71,601.

Kosovska Mitrovica became the focus for ethnic clashes between the two communities, exacerbated by the presence of nationalist extremists on both sides. The bridges linking the two sides of the town were guarded by armed groups determined to prevent incursions by the other side. Because of the tense situation in the town, KFOR troops and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) police were stationed there in large numbers to head off trouble. However, violence and harassment was often directed against members of the "wrong" ethnic community on both sides of the river, necessitating the presence of troops and police checkpoints around individual areas of the city and even in front of individual buildings.

Instruction when crossing the Kosovska Mitrovica bridge

On March 17, 2004, the drowning of an Albanian child in the river prompted major ethnic violence in the town and a Serbian teenager was killed. Demonstrations by thousands of angry Albanians and Serbs mobilized to stop them crossing the river degenerated into rioting and gunfire, leaving at least eight Albanians dead and at least 300 injured. The bloodshed sparked off the worst unrest in Kosovo seen since the end of the 1999 war (in which 11 Serbs were killed).

A Bosniak resident of southern Kosovska Mitrovica was murdered after being overheard speaking the Bosnian language.[5]

The local prison was the scene of an international incident on 18 April 2004 when Ahmad Mustafa Ibrahim, a Jordanian policeman working as a UN prison guard, opened fire on a group of UN police officers leaving a class, killing three.[6][7]

Kosovo independence [edit]

Tensions rose considerably in the city of Kosovska Mitrovica after the Kosovo declared independence on 17 February 2008. Some 150 Kosovo Serb police officers refused to take orders from the ethnic Albanian authorities and were suspended.

Serb protesters prevented ethnic Albanian court employees from crossing the bridge over the Ibar River. UN police raided and seized the courthouse on March 14 using tear gas against Serbs and leaving some of them wounded.

The explosion of a hand-grenade injured several UN and NATO staff on March 17; UN forces were later withdrawn from the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica.[8]

The Serbian minority has formed the Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija in the city, but it has no police force. Serbs refuse to accept the jurisdiction of Kosovo courts,[9] Republic of Kosovo leaders have expressed concern over the future of the region, stating their commitment to keep Kosovska Mitrovica part of Kosovo and prevent crime or war there.[10]

"To build trust and confidence, Kosovo authorities need to be attentive to culture and religious symbols, such as the Serb Orthodox cemetery in Mitrovica, on the Albanian, south, bank of the Ibar. The main Albanian cemetery is in the North and intact. The Serb cemetery is devastated, hundreds of headstones in shards and the chapel at its centre desecrated and burned. Most of the damage dates to 1999 and March 2004, but also to 2007 and 2008. The site is unguarded and open to sporadic vandalism, some allegedly perpetrated by residents of a neighbouring Ashkali settlement apparently seeking to ingratiate themselves with Albanians by lashing out at Serbs. Northern Serbs often cite the two cemeteries as signs of their tolerance and Albanian hostility. The Kosovo authorities’ failure to repair and secure the graveyard sends a terrible message to Northern Serbs: this is what your future will look like, once you have integrated."[11]

Demographics [edit]

Before the 1999 Kosovo War, the municipality had a population estimated by the OSCE to comprise some 116,500 people, 81% of them Kosovo Albanian, 10% Serb and the remainder other ethnicities (notably Bosniaks and Roma). Most of the non-Albanians lived in the town of Kosovska Mitrovica, which had a population of 68,000 – 71% Kosovo Albanian, with approximately 9,000 Serbs and 10,141 other nationalities. Kosovo Albanians lived throughout the city, but most Serbs lived in the north side, divided from the predominantly Albanian south side by the Ibar River.

Ethnic Composition, Including IDPs
Year/Population Albanians  % Serbs  % Bosniaks  % Roma/Ashkali  % Turks  % Total
1961 34,481 57.55 21,533 35.94 59,913
1991 82,837 78 10,698 10.2 5,205 4.96 4,851 4.63 431 0.41
1998 95,231 81.74 10,447 8.96
Current figure N/A N/A 2,000 1.76 545 0.48 600 0.53
Source: 1991 census: FRY Institute of Statistics and UNHCR statistics of 1998/OSCE estimates. It is noted that the 1991 census was highly politicised and is thus unreliable.
Ref: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe[12]

Official languages [edit]

In Kosovska Mitrovica Municipality Albanian and Serbian languages are official languages.[13]

Economy [edit]

The Trepča Mines are located in Kosovska Mitrovica, though they are not operating. With the closure of the Trepča complex, the influx of refugees and IDPs and the lack of investment, unemployment (estimated at approximately 77%) has been prevalent among all communities in the Kosovska Mitrovica municipality.

Culture and education [edit]

Serbian faculties of the University of Pristina were relocated from Pristina to Kosovska Mitrovica after the Kosovo War.

Sports [edit]

Three football clubs are situated on the territory of Kosovska Mitrovica: FK Partizan (in North Kosovska Mitrovica), and KF Trepça and KF Trepça'89 in south.

Notable people from Kosovska Mitrovica [edit]

Main article: List of people from Kosovska Mitrovica

International relations [edit]

Twin towns — sister cities [edit]

Kosovska Mitrovica is twinned with:

See also [edit]

Notes and references [edit]

Notes:

  1. ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. Kosovo's independence has been recognised by 99 out of 193 United Nations member states.

References:

  1. ^ Home – Prepare your next vacation to Europe – visiteurope.com
  2. ^ B92 – Travel – Restoran Moj
  3. ^ Civitas Sancti Demetrii
  4. ^ a b c Elsie, Robert. Mitrovica &f =false Historical dictionary of Kosovo. 
  5. ^ Kosovo Roma Oral History Project: Kosovska Mitrovica
  6. ^ Wood, Nicholas (2004-04-18). "3 U.N. Police Die in Shootout At Kosovo Jail". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-15. 
  7. ^ "International press on the UN police shooting incident in Kosovska Mitrovica". ERP KIM Archive. Retrieved 2008-10-15. 
  8. ^ BBC, Peacekeepers hurt in Kosovo blast, 17.03.08
  9. ^ TransConflict, Kosovo – what to do with the north, ad interim, April 2010
  10. ^ UNMIK Headlines, March 2, 2009
  11. ^ North Kosovo: Dual Sovereignty in Practice (in English) N°21. Crisis Group Europe Report. 14 March 2011. p. 11. 
  12. ^ "Mitrovicë/Mitrovica" (PDF). 
  13. ^ "Implementation of the Law on the Use of Languages by Kosovo Municipalities" (PDF). June 2008. 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kosovska Mitrovica

External links [edit]
1 Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. Kosovo's independence has been recognised by 99 out of 193 United Nations member states.
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