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Kosovo declared independence on Sunday. This independence has not been recognized by many other countries or organizations but Bush has acknowledged their independence and the UK is pushing for EU recognition. Independence is opposed by Serbia, Russia, and China among others.

Kosovo was formerly an autonomous province of Serbia and before that was the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo in Yugoslavia. Kosovo, despite being no longer mostly Serbian in ethnic makeup, is seen as an important historic part of Serbia. And before that it was at various times part of several different countries and empires most notably the Ottoman Empire.

We'll see how long this lasts but for now it is the newest country in the world.

Kosovo facts:
Capital - Pristina
Population - 2.2 million
Area - 4,203 sq mi (that's a little smaller than Connecticut)
Official Languages - Albanian, Serbian
Ethnicity - 92% Albanian, 5% Serb
Religions - Muslim, Serbian Orthodox, Roman Catholic

The new flag of Kosovo:

The crowds in Pristina also waved Albanian and U.S. flags. In Belgrade, they threw rocks at the U.S. embassy.

I had to undertake some quick research yesterday to determine whether I could legitimately add Kosovo to my "Countries Visited" list.

The trip in question was a overnight rail journey between Belgrade and Thessaloniki (Greece), via Skopje, Macedonia in 1978. Of course, this was all just Yugoslavia back then.

After a lot of digging through Serbian timetables, I can definitively state that my train veered around Kosovo, though it was close.

Alas, I have not set foot in Kosavar soil.

andrewjackson wrote:Kosovo declared independence on Sunday. This independence has not been recognized by many other countries or organizations but Bush has acknowledged their independence and the UK is pushing for EU recognition. Independence is opposed by Serbia, Russia, and China among others.

Kosovo was formerly an autonomous province of Serbia and before that was the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo in Yugoslavia. Kosovo, despite being no longer mostly Serbian in ethnic makeup, is seen as an important historic part of Serbia. And before that it was at various times part of several different countries and empires most notably the Ottoman Empire.

We'll see how long this lasts but for now it is the newest country in the world.

Kosovo facts:
Capital - Pristina
Population - 2.2 million
Area - 4,203 sq mi (that's a little smaller than Connecticut)
Official Languages - Albanian, Serbian
Ethnicity - 92% Albanian, 5% Serb
Religions - Muslim, Serbian Orthodox, Roman Catholic

As some of you may remember I went to Kosovo a few years ago as part of a church mission trip. We stayed in Skopje, Macedonia, for most of the time, but did spend time in Rahovec, a small town about 20 miles from Pristina. The people with whom we met were very much in favor of independence but afraid of what it might mean - not just that the Serbians would reject the whole idea, but that after independence what Serbs still lived in the area would be subjected to harrassment and mistreatment from the majority.