Pristina (Prishtina) — capital city of Kosovo
Pristina is the capital and largest city of Kosovo, a political, cultural, and economic center with a diverse history, majority Albanian population, notable institutions, and modern urban growth.
Pristina (also spelled Prishtina or Prishtinë) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's English pronunciations are given in some references as UK and US variants; local forms appear in Albanian (Prishtina / Prishtinë) and Serbian (Приштина). 
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Overview and character
Pristina is a modern European capital shaped by layers of history. Administratively it hosts national institutions, government ministries, the main university, and foreign missions. The city combines late Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian urban traces with 20th-century Yugoslav architecture and new commercial developments. Public squares, cafés, and cultural venues contribute to a lively urban atmosphere.
History and development
The site has been occupied for centuries and came under Ottoman rule in the 15th century, which left a lasting cultural imprint. In the 20th century it was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and later socialist Yugoslavia, when industrial and educational institutions expanded. The late-20th-century conflicts in the region affected the city’s demographics and infrastructure. Following a period of international administration, Kosovo declared independence in 2008, and Pristina became the capital of a newly established state.
Geography, population and economy
Located on a plain north of surrounding low mountains, Pristina has a temperate continental climate. Its residents include a large Albanian majority and smaller ethnic communities. The local economy centers on public administration, education, services, retail, and a growing information and communications sector. The University of Pristina and cultural institutions are important employers.
Culture, landmarks and transport
Key sites include modern government buildings, museums, concert halls, and historic mosques and monuments. The city’s cultural calendar features festivals, exhibitions, and university events. Transport links include major roads and an international airport serving the region. Visitors often use Pristina as a base to explore Kosovo’s natural and historical attractions.
Notable facts
- Pristina is the political and cultural center of Kosovo.
- It hosts the country's principal university and several national institutions.
- The city reflects a mix of Ottoman, Yugoslav, and contemporary urban styles.
Geography
Pristina is located east of central Kosovo in the historic landscape of Blackbird Field (Albanian Rrafsh i Kosovës, Serbian Косово Поље Kosovo Polje) at 595 m a.s.l. The city is surrounded by the fertile plains of this region, with only the hills of Zhegoc (Serbian Žegovac) rising to the east. There are no rivers in the town. The rivers that existed until the 1950s, the Pristina and the Vellusha, were largely covered by rubbish and soil and disappeared from the cityscape. The two once flowed into the Sitnica, which flows west of the city area to the northwest. Southeast of Pristina in the Zhegoc mountains is Lake Badovac, a reservoir about 5.5 kilometers long.
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View of the city centre from the west in 2005. The Youth, Culture and Sports Palace (left) and the Rilindja Tower (right) are clearly visible in the left half of the picture. In the meantime, the cityscape has changed a lot.
Community structure
Climate
Pristina has a temperate continental climate with an average annual temperature of 10.4 °C and total annual precipitation of almost 600 mm. In July the average temperature is 20 °C, in January -0.6 °C.
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| Monthly average temperatures and precipitation for Pristina
Source: World Meteorological Organisation Climatological data are based on monthly averages from 1961 to 1990. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Population
Pristina is the most populous city in the country and has 145,149 inhabitants in the urban area according to the 2011 census. Of these, 141,307 (97.35%) identified themselves as Albanian, 2052 (1.41%) as Turkish, 597 (0.41%) as Roma, Ashkali or Balkan Egyptian, 366 (0.25%) as Bosniak, 204 (0.14%) as Goran and 92 (0.06%) as Serb. 281 persons belonged to other ethnic groups, 73 did not give any answer on ethnicity and no data is available from 177 in this regard.
The religion with the most followers is Islam. 140,786 people (96.99%) counted themselves as Muslims in 2011. The largest religious minority are the Catholics with 985 persons (0.68 %).
Of the population over 15 years of age, 51.25% are employed. Of these, 27.67% are unemployed.
| Population development | |||||||
| Census | 1948 | 1953 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2011 |
| Inhabitants | 19.631 | 24.081 | 38.593 | 69.514 | 108.083 | 155.499 | 145.149 |
Related articles
Author
AlegsaOnline.com Pristina (Prishtina) — capital city of Kosovo Leandro Alegsa
URL: https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/79264
Sources
- dictionary.reference.com : "Define Pristina"
- collinsdictionary.com : "Pristina"
- en.oxforddictionaries.com : "Priština"
- prishtinaonline.com : prishtinaonline.com
- esk.rks-gov.net : esk.rks-gov.net
- books.google.com : books.google.com/books?id=vx251bK988gC&lpg=PA428
- books.google.com : Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture
- books.google.com : Encyclopedia Of Ancient Greece
- kosovo.net : "Albanski pokreti 1908–1912."
- kosovo.net : Knjiga o Kosovu
- books.google.com : Historical Dictionary of Kosovo · archive.org · archive.org
- books.google.com : The three Yugoslavias: state-building and legitimation