Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the north and east, and North Macedonia to the southeast. It covers an area of 10,887 km (4,203 sq mi) and has a population of nearly 1.6 million, of whom the vast majority (approximately 92 per cent) are ethnic Albanians. Kosovo has a varied terrain, with high plains along with rolling hills and mountains, some of which have an altitude over 2,500 m (8,200 ft). Its climate is mainly continental with some Mediterranean and Alpine influences. Kosovo's capital and most populous city is Pristina; other major cities and urban areas include Prizren, Ferizaj, Gjilan, and Peja.
Kosovo formed the core territory of the Dardani, an Illyrian people, attested in classical sources from the 4th century BCE. The Dardani established the Kingdom of Dardania, with its political and cultural center likely located near present-day Lipjan (ancient Ulpiana). The kingdom was incorporated into the Roman Empire in the 1st century BCE; later, in the 3rd century CE, it was transformed into a separate Roman province. During the Byzantine period, the region was eventually organised as part of the Theme of Dardania and remained under imperial control, facing Slavic migrations in the 6th and 7th centuries CE. Control shifted between the Byzantines and the First Bulgarian Empire. In the 13th century, Kosovo became integral to the Serbian medieval state and the establishment of the Serbian Patriarchate. Ottoman expansion in the Balkans in the late 14th and 15th centuries led to the decline and fall of the Serbian Empire; the Battle of Kosovo of 1389, in which a Serbian-led coalition of various ethnicities fought against the Ottoman Empire, is considered one of the defining moments.
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