Bosniaks are a Slavic Muslim ethnic group living in

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 ...

, numbering 27,553 according to the 2011 census. Because this census was boycotted by most

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 com ...

, leaving the Serb population underrepresented, Bosniaks were recorded as being the second-largest ethnic group in Kosovo, after the

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 ...

. The vast majority of Bosniaks are adherents of Sunni Islam.

Demographics

The 2011 census states the number of Bosniaks in Kosovo are 27,553, with around 21,000 of them living in the municipalities of Prizren and

Dragaš Dragash or Sharr ( sq-definite, Dragashi or ''Sharri'') or Dragaš ( sr-cyr, Драгаш), is a town and municipality located in the Prizren District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Dragash has 1,098 inhabitants, while the ...

. Bosniaks make up 1.6% of the whole population.

History

Persons with the attribute ''"Boşnak"'' or ''"from Bosnia"'' are seldom mentioned among 15th century Ottoman defters. The overwhelming majority of Bosniaks in Kosovo settled in the 18th, 19th and 20th century during the Ottoman era, mostly after the Congress of Berlin, but also after its fall during the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second World Wars World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. They consist of Slavic-speaking Muslims who largely originate from

Sandžak Sandžak (; sh, / , ; sq, Sanxhaku; ota, سنجاق, Sancak), also known as Sanjak, is a historical geo-political region in Serbia and Montenegro. The name Sandžak derives from the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, a former Ottoman administrative dis ...

, but also from Montenegro ( Plav and

Gusinje Gusinje ( cyrl, Гусиње, ; sq, Gucia) is a small town in north-eastern Montenegro. According to the 2011 census, the town has a population of 1,673 and is the administrative center of Gusinje Municipality. Name Two alternative etymologies ...

in particular), Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia. The majority of them settled in Peja,

Istok Istog or Istok ( sq-definite, Istog, Istogu, sr, Исток, ''Istok'') or Burim is a town and municipality located in the District of Peja of western Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the city of Istog has 5,115 inhabitants, while the munici ...

, Prizren and Mitrovica. Another group includes Slavic Muslims who already resided in Southern Kosovo in the areas around Prizren, Gora and Zupa. The ethnonym "Bosniak" in Kosovo is used by several distinct Slavic Muslim groups which came to form the Bosniaks of Kosovo. It was adopted by these groups as a collective identifier largely after 1999. Some Slavic-speaking Muslims identify interchangeably or exclusively as Gorani.

Politics

There are several Bosniak political parties in Kosovo and the oldest one is

Bosniak Party of Democratic Action of Kosovo This article lists political parties in Kosovo. Kosovo has a multi-party system with numerous political parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. ...

(''Bošnjačka stranka demokratske akcije Kosova'').

Current Status

Following the end of 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 wa ...

, Bosniaks faced ongoing discrimination by Albanians who associated them with Serbs. Between 1999 and 2001, 80 Bosniaks went missing, were killed or injured. Bosniaks encounter high unemployment and poor education in Kosovo due to a lack of schools conducting studies in the Bosnian language. The return of Bosniaks who escaped Kosovo during the Kosovo War has been a slow process. Many are instead opting to sell their homes to leave for

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

and

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

.UNHC
Update on the Kosovo Roma, Ashkaelia, Egyptian, Serb, Bosniak, Gorani and Albanian communities in a minority situation
Unhcr.org, Retrieved 2012-09-12

Notable people

Duda Balje Duda Balje (born 16 October 1977) is a Kosovar Bosniak politician. A member of the Vakat Coalition, she served as a member of the Kosovan Assembly from 2001 to 2017. She chaired the Commission on Human Rights, Gender Equality, Missing Persons an ...

, politician *

Emilija Redžepi Emilija Redžepi ( sq, Emilija Rexhepi) is a Kosovan Bosniak politician, and is a member of the New Democratic Party who sits in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo. Career Emilija Redžepi is a Bosniak in Kosovo. She has been critical of ...

, politician *

Adrijana Hodžić Adrijana Hodžić (, ; born 1975) is a Kosovar politician of Bosniak ethnicity who is currently serving as the Deputy Mayor of North Mitrovica since 10 December 2020. Prior to this she served as the Minister of Administration and Local Governmen ...

, politician

References

{{Kosovo-stub Ethnic groups in Kosovo Muslim communities in Europe Bosniak diaspora