Kosovo

Kosovo ( /ˈkɒsəvoʊˌ ˈkoʊsəvoʊ/; Albanian: Kosovë, Kosova; Serbian: Косово or Косово и Метохија or Космет, Kosovo or Kosovo i Metohija or Kosmet) is a region in southeastern Europe. In antiquity, the Dardanian kingdom, and later Roman province of Dardania was located in the region. It was part of Serbia in the Middle Ages, during which time many important monasteries, some of which are now UNESCO World Heritage sites, were built. The Battle of Kosovo, in 1389, is regarded by Serbs as a defining moment in their history and identity. It was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century and would remain under Ottoman rule for the next five centuries. Kosovo was incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbia after the First Balkan War, and with the constitution of Yugoslavia, the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija was created (Serbian: Аутономна Покрајина Косово и Метохија, Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo i Metohija) within the Yugoslav republic of Serbia. Long-term severe ethnic tensions between Kosovo's Albanian and Serb populations have left Kosovo ethnically divided, resulting in inter-ethnic violence, including the Kosovo War of 1999. The Kosovo War ended with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia accepting that it would give up the exercise of its sovereignty pending a final status settlement. Under UNSCR 1244, governance passed to the United Nations in 1999. The partially recognised Republic of Kosovo (Albanian: Republika e Kosovës; Serbian: Република Косово, Republika Kosovo), declared itself an independent state in 2008, and has control over most of the territory, although North Kosovo, the largest Serb enclave, is largely under the control of institutions of the Republic of Serbia or parallel structures subsidised by Serbia. Serbia and a number of other countries do not recognise the secession of Kosovo and consider it a UN-governed entity within its sovereign territory.