Ferizaj

Template:Kosovo cities Uroševac (Albanian Ferizaj; Serbian Uroševac/Урошевац, Turkish: Ferizoviç) is a town located in Kosovo or Kosova, a United Nations-administered territory which is formally part of Serbia, some 40 km south of the regional capital Priština. It is the administrative centre of the Ferizaji District.

Uroševac/Ferizaj was little more than a village until 1873, when the Belgrade-Thessaloniki railway was opened, passing through the town. It derives its Serbian name from the medieval Saint Uroš, who is commemorated by a cathedral in the town. Its Albanian name derives from a pre-1873 hotel owned by a local Kosovo Albanian named Feriz Shashivari; thus Serbs called the community Ferizovići ("Feriz's village") while Albanians called it Ferizaj. The Turkish name of the town still contains the family name Ferizoviç in Serbian version,

In 2003 the town had a total population of 39,800. In 1998, prior to the Kosovo War, the population was recorded as 57,421, of whom 82.1 per cent were Albanian, 9.4 per cent Serb, and the remainder from various other national communities.

Uroševac/Ferizaj suffered some damage during the conflict, with some of its Albanian-populated neighborhoods being shelled and burned by the Yugoslav Army. Following the war, the town has seen serious intercommunal unrest which resulted in almost all of the non-Albanian inhabitants being expelled or fleeing.

Camp Bondsteel, the main base of the United States Army detachment to the KFOR peacekeeping force in Kosovo, is located nearby.

Demographics

Ethnic Composition, Including IDPs
Year/Population	Albanian	%	Serb	%	Ashkali/Roma	%	Gorani/Bosniaks	%	Total
1991 census *	81,737	85.9	8,191	8.6	2,081	2.2			95,156
October 1999	92,267	95.1	26	0.0	4,700	4.8			96,967
Current est.	140,000	97.4	147	0.1	3,594	2.3	248	0.2	143,842
It is noted that the 1991 census was highly politicised and is thus regarded as unreliable. Ref: OSCE [1]

See also

• Ferizaj District
• Kosovo Serb enclaves

External links

• RTV TEMA
• OSCE Profile of Ferizaj / Urosevac
• SOK Kosovo and its population