Pristina in the context of "First Balkan War"

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.

This is a list of cities and towns in the Kosovo in alphabetical order categorised by municipality or district, according to the criteria used by the Kosovo Agency of Statistics (KAS). Kosovo's population is distributed in 1,467 settlements with 26 per cent of its population concentrated in 7 regional centers, consisting of Ferizaj, Gjakova, Gjilan, Mitrovica, Peja, Pristina and Prizren.

According to the 2024 census, the cities in Kosovo are classified into the following population size categories:

Gjilan (Albanian definite form: Gjilani) or Gnjilane (Serbian Cyrillic: Гњилане), is the third most populous city in Kosovo and it serves as both a municipality and the administrative center of the Gjilan District. According to the 2024 census, the municipality of Gjilan has a population of 82,901 with the majority residing in the city.

The city is located in the east of Kosovo, in the region of Anamorava, and is well connected with the capital city of Kosovo, Pristina, as well as other surrounding cities such as Ferizaj, Kamenica, Preševo and Bujanovac.

Ulpiana was an ancient Roman city located in what is today Kosovo. It was also named Justiniana Secunda (Latin: Iustiniana Secunda, Serbian: Justinijana Sekunda, Albanian: Justiniana Sekunda). Ulpiana is located in the municipality of Gračanica, 12 km southeast of Pristina. The Municipium Ulpiana or Iustiniana Secunda was proclaimed an archaeological park under the permanent protection of Kosovo by the Kosova Council for Cultural Heritage in 2016. The archaeological park has an area of 161.10 hectares and a surrounding protection zone of 96.23 hectares. Ulpiana was among the largest settlements in the Balkans in late antiquity.

The Battle of Kosovo took place on 15 June 1389 between an army led by the Serbian Prince Lazar Hrebeljanović and an invading army of the Ottoman Empire under the command of Sultan Murad I. It was one of the largest battles of the Late Middle Ages.

The battle was fought on the Kosovo field in the territory ruled by Serbian nobleman Vuk Branković, in what is today Kosovo, about 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) northwest of the modern city of Pristina. The army under Prince Lazar consisted mostly of his own troops, a contingent led by Branković, and a contingent sent from Bosnia by King Tvrtko I, commanded by Vlatko Vuković. Additionally, Lazar was also supported by a Christian coalition from various European ethnic groups. Prince Lazar was the ruler of Moravian Serbia and the most powerful among the Serbian regional lords of the time, while Branković ruled the District of Branković and other areas, recognizing Lazar as his overlord.

Gjakova (pronounced [ɟakova]) or Đakovica (Serbian Cyrillic: Ђаковица, pronounced [ˈdʑakoʋitsa]) is the sixth-largest city in Kosovo and seat of the Gjakova Municipality and the Gjakova District. According to the 2024 census, the municipality of Gjakova has 78,699 inhabitants.

Geographically, it is located in the south-western part of Kosovo, about halfway between the cities of Peja and Prizren. It is approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) inland from the Adriatic Sea. The city is situated some 208 kilometres (129 mi) north-east of Tirana, 145 kilometres (90 mi) north-west of Skopje, 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of the capital Pristina, 435 kilometres (270 mi) south of Belgrade and 263 kilometres (163 mi) east of Podgorica.

The District of Pristina (Albanian: Rajoni i Prishtinës; Serbian: Приштински округ, Prištinski okrug) is a district in Kosovo. Its seat is the capital city of Pristina. It consists of eight municipalities and 298 villages. According to the 2024 census, the total population of the district is 511,938.