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Kosovo
was
originally part of the Bulgarian Empire in the 800's CE. It was
conquered by the Byzantine Empire in 1018 then became part of the
Serbian Empire in 1180. In 1455, the Ottoman Turks conquered the area
and Kosovo not only became part of the Ottoman Empire, but many of it's
inhabitants were converted to Islam. Furthermore, a number of Ethnic
Albanians moved into the area in the 1600's as a number of Orthodox
Serbians moved north. The region remained under Ottoman control until
the Balkan War of 1912, when it reverted back to Serbian control. At
the end of World War I, the whole region became part of the new nation
of Yugoslavia. Kosovo was then considered part of Serbia, even though
many of it's inhabitants wanted to be united with Albania. After years
of fighting and arguing with Yugoslav authorities, Kosovo finally was
made an Autonomous province in 1974. In the early 1990's, five of the
main republic's declared independence and Yugoslavia broke up after a
bitter war. In 1998, ethnic Albanians in Kosovo declared independence
and the Kosovo war began. One of the main results of the war was ethnic
cleansing of a number of Muslim Albanians which eventually brought NATO
into the war. After NATO's bombing of Serbia, the Serbs withdrew from
Kosovo. After years of strife, the Kosovo Parliament officially
declared independence in 2008. Currently, most of the worlds nations
recognize Kosovo's independence, but Serbia and Russia do not. |
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The road to Pristinia and Pristina (Prishtine) 2012
Pristinia and the road to Pec (Peje) 2012
City of Pec (Peje) 2012
