North Mitrovica, sr-Cyrl, Ceвepнa Митровица; sq, Mitrovica e Veriut or ''Mitrovicë Veriore'' or North Kosovska Mitrovica,, sr-Cyrl, Северна Косовска Митровица is a town and municipality located in

Mitrovica District Mitrovica District ( sq, Rajoni i Mitrovicës, sr-cyrl, Косовскомитровачки округ, ''Kosovskomitrovački okrug'') is one of the unified seven districts of Kosovo. Its administrative center and the largest city is Mitrov ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

. As of 2015, it has a population of 29,460 inhabitants. It covers an area of . North Mitrovica is a part of

North Kosovo North Kosovo ( sr, Северно Косово, Severno Kosovo; sq, Kosova Veriore), also known as the Ibar Kolašin ( sr, Ибарски Колашин, Ibarski Kolašin; sq, Koloshini i Ibrit or ''Kollashini i Ibrit''; earlier ''Old Kolašin ...

, a region with an

ethnic Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

majority that functions largely autonomously from the remainder of

ethnic Albanian The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbi ...

-majority Kosovo. The municipality was established in 2013 after

North Kosovo crisis The North Kosovo crisis may refer to: * North Kosovo crisis (2011–2013) Clashes between the Republic of Kosovo and ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo began on 25 July 2011 when the Kosovo Police crossed into the Serb-controlled municipalities ...

, previously being the settlement of the city of Mitrovica, divided by the

Ibar river The Ibar ( sr-cyrl, Ибар, ), also known as the Ibër and Ibri ( sq, Ibër, Ibri), is a river that flows through eastern Montenegro, northern Kosovo and central Serbia, with a total length of . The river begins in the Hajla mountain, in Roža ...

. Following the 2013 Brussels Agreement, the municipality is planned to be the administrative center of the

Community of Serb Municipalities The Community of Serb Municipalities ( sr, / ), or Association of Serb Municipalities ( sq, Asociacioni i Komunave Serbe, AKS), is a planned self-governing association of municipalities with a Serb majority population in Kosovo. The proposal f ...

Name

The northern part of Mitrovica (; formerly "Kosovska Mitrovica") was commonly referred to as "North(ern) Kosovska Mitrovica" (/''Severna Kosovska Mitrovica''), however, as of late, the northern part is referred to as simply ''North Mitrovica'' (; sr, Северна Митровица/''Severna Mitrovica'').

History

The city was officially part of Mitrovica, until its official separation in 2013. The separation came as a result of the

, following

Kosovo's declaration of independence The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence, which proclaimed the Republic of Kosovo to be a state independent from Serbia, was adopted at a meeting held on 17 February 2008 by 109 out of the 120 members of the Assembly of Kosovo, including the P ...

from Serbia in February 2008. The municipality was recognized by the

Government of Kosovo sr, Влада Косова / Vlada Kosova , border = , image = , caption = , date = , polity = Kosovo , address = Government Building, Pristina , leader_title = Prime Min ...

in 2013 before the Kosovo local elections. Monument in Kosovska Mitrovica

The city served as the ''de facto'' capital of the

region which refused to work with the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. Therefore, local Serbs formed the Assembly of Community of Municipalities, supported only by

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. However, with the signing of the 2013 Brussels Agreement after the

, between the governments of

and

, Serbia officially dropped its support for the assembly, agreeing to create a new

, an association of municipalities with Serb majority in Kosovo. Its assembly will have no legislative authority and the judicial authorities will be integrated and operate within the Kosovo legal framework.

Administration

The Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica has 19 deputies, one of whom is the speaker. There are currently 17 active councilors.

Demographics

According to the 2011 estimations by the

Government of Kosovo sr, Влада Косова / Vlada Kosova , border = , image = , caption = , date = , polity = Kosovo , address = Government Building, Pristina , leader_title = Prime Min ...

, North Mitrovica has 3,393 households and 12,326 inhabitants. In 2015, according to a report by

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...

, the population of North Mitrovica Municipality stands at 29,460 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

The majority of North Mitrovica municipality is composed of

Kosovo Serbs Kosovo Serbs are one of the ethnic groups of Kosovo. There are around 100,000 Kosovo Serbs as of 2014 and about half of them live in North Kosovo. Other Serb communities live in southern Kosovo. After Albanians, they form the largest ethnic comm ...

with more than 22,530 inhabitants (76.4%). Also, 4,900 (16.6%)

Kosovo Albanians The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

and 2,000 others live in the municipality. The ethnic composition of the municipality of North Mitrovica, including IDPs:

Culture and education

North Mitrovica currently represents the most important political, cultural, educational and health centres for Serbs in Kosovo. It is the largest urban area in Kosovo where Serbs form the ethnic majority. The University of Priština is located in the area, having relocated from

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

to Mitrovica during the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

. In 2013, after November elections in Kosovo, North Mitrovica officially became a separate municipality.

Sport

The

FK Trepča Fudbalski klub Trepča ( sr-cyr, Фудбалски клуб Трепча), commonly known as Trepča, is a Serbian football club based in North Mitrovica, in North Kosovo.Kurirbr>PROVUKLI SE: Šćepović sprečio bruku protiv Trepče (serbian)/ ...

Sever and Rudar Kosovska Mitrovica are football clubs that are located in this part of the city. Currently FK Trepca plays in Serbian fourth-tier

Morava Zone League Morava Zone League (Serbian language, Serbian: Зонска лига Морава / Zonska liga Morava) was one of the Serbian Zone League divisions, the fourth tier of the Serbian football league system. It was run by the Football Association of ...

while FK Rudar Kosovska Mitrovica plays in the fifth-tier

Football First League of North Kosovo The League of North Kosovo (/Лига Северног Косова) is the top football regional league in North Kosovo, ranked fifth in the Serbian league system. The league is formed primarily of Serbian football clubs that come from four of ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina *

Kraljevo Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar, in the geographical region of Šumadija, between the mountains of K ...

, Serbia

Gallery

File:Church in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo.jpg, ''Church in North Mitrovica'' File:House_in_North_Mitrovica.jpg, ''Residential building in North Mitrovica'' File:Kosovska Mitrovica Monument2.JPG, ''Kosovska Mitrovica Monument'' File:Mitrovica Bridge 003.jpg, ''Bridge dividing South and North Mitrovica'' File:Trepça's factory.JPG, ''

Trepča Mines The Trepča Mines ( al, Miniera e Trepçës, sr, Рудник Трепча / ''Rudnik Trepča'') is a large industrial complex in Kosovo, located northeast of Mitrovica. The mine is located on the southern slopes of the Kopaonik mountain, bet ...

factory''

Annotations

References

External links

Official Website
{{coord, 42.894406, N, 20.866095, E, scale:100000_source:ruwiki, display=title Cities in Kosovo Serb communities in Kosovo Mitrovica, Kosovo 2013 establishments in Kosovo