Skenderaj ( sq-definite, Skënderaj or ''Skënderaji'') or Srbica ( sr-Cyrl, Србица) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

located in the Mitrovica District of

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 ...

. According to the 2011 census, the town of Skënderaj has 9,372 inhabitants, while the municipality has 50,858 inhabitants. It is the largest city in the

Drenica Drenica ( al, Drenicë, Drenica, ), also known as the Drenica Valley, is a hilly region in central Kosovo, covering roughly around of Kosovo's total area (6%). It consists of two municipalities, Drenas and Skenderaj, and several villages in Kli ...

geographical region of Kosovo.OSCE Municipal Profile, April 2008
/ref> It is mainly populated by ethnic Albanians. It is claimed to be the poorest city in Kosovo. It is the place where 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 ...

began in 1998, and to which the most damage was done.

Geography

The settlement is by the Klina river, in the Klina field (''Klinsko polje''). It is the main settlement of the

region. The Klina river belongs to the Metohija region, while the settlement morphologically and hydrologically gravitates towards the

region. The municipality covers an area of , including the town of Skenderaj and 51 villages.

History

The village of

Runik Runik (definite Albanian: ''Runiku'') is a village in the Skenderaj municipality of Kosovo. It is located in the Drenica region and has 1,585 inhabitants as of 2011. The village has a football club, KF Përparimi Runik. Runik is the site of an im ...

, northwest of Skenderaj, is one of the most prominent

Neolithic sites in Kosovo This is a description of Neolithic sites in Kosovo. The warm, humid climate of the Holocene which came soon after the ice melting of the last glacial period brought changes in nature which were reflected in humans, flora and fauna. This climatic s ...

to date, contains artefacts from the Starcevo and

Vinca culture ''Vinca'' (; Latin: ''vincire'' "to bind, fetter") is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, native to Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. The English name periwinkle is shared with the related genus ''Catharanthus'' (an ...

s. Research was conducted in about 35 private parcels in the Dardania neighborhood of Runik. Starcevo and Vinca pottery fragments dating to 6500-3500 BC have been found at the site. A significant find is a baked-clay ocarina in length, known as the Runik Ocarina, the oldest musical instrument found in Kosovo to date. The municipality cadastral area includes several settlements that existed during the Middle Ages, among which some exist still today, such as Liqinë, Polac, Banjë, and others. There are ruins of a church dating to the 14th century in southern Leqinë. The Church of St. Nicholas was built in 1436, in Banjë, as the endowment of Serbian magnate Rodop. The Devič monastery was built in Llausha near Skënderaj in the 15th century, dedicated to the local monk, St. Joanikije (d. 1430). The Church of St. John was built in the 16th century on the ruins of a 14th-century church, in Leqinë; the church is surrounded by an old and large Serbian graveyard with tombs dating to the 17th–19th centuries. A 16th-century church and cemetery is located in Runik. In the early 20th century Albanian resistance began with the

Kachak Kachaks ( sq, kaçak, sr, качаци / ''kačaci'') is a term used for the Albanian bandits active in the late 19th and early 20th century in northern Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo and Macedonia, and later as a term for the militias of Albania ...

movement led by Azem Bejta and his wife

Shote Galica Shote Galica (10 November 1895 – 1 July 1927), born as Qerime Radisheva, was a Kachak Albanian insurgent. She has been declared a People's Heroine of Albania. Biography She was born in Radisheve village of Drenica region in Kosovo which wa ...

, who fought against Bulgarian, Austro-Hungarian and Yugoslav forces. At the end of World War II in 1944, the leader of the Drenica Brigade

Shaban Polluzha Shaban Mustafë Kastrati (1871 – 21 February 1945), known as Shaban Polluzha, was a Kosovo Albanian military leader active in Drenica during World War II. He was a collaborationist, serving in the Royal Albanian gendarmerie and as a commander of ...

refused to lead his 12,000 men north and join the Partisans in order to pursue the retreating Germans, because Serbian Chetnik groups were attacking the Albanian population in Kosovo.

Economy

Skënderaj has historically been the poorest municipality in Kosovo, with little investment having been made since the time of the former Yugoslavia. It suffers from low economic activity and continuous high unemployment. Agriculture is the major local industry but the municipality has not fully developed existing arable land. Today, the local economy consists of small enterprises such as family-run shops and restaurants while two privatized factories, a brick and a flour mill, employ a few hundred people. The other major sector of employment is the municipality's civil service.

Sport

Skënderaj is home of the Kosovar Superliga football club

KF Drenica KF Drenica ( sq, Klubi Futbollistik Drenica), commonly known as Drenica is a professional football club based in Skënderaj, Kosovo. The club plays in the Football Superleague of Kosovo, which is the top tier of football in the country. Players C ...

, which plays their home games in the Bajram Aliu Stadium. Skënderaj is also home of the Kosovar Superliga volleyball club KV Skenderaj women's and KV Drenica men's.

Cultural heritage

Devič The Devič Monastery ( sr, Манастир Девич, Manastir Devič; sq, Manastiri i Deviçit) is a Serbian Orthodox abbey in Kosovo. It was built in 1434 and is dedicated to St Joanikije of Devič. Devič was declared Monument of Culture o ...

, Serbian Orthodox abbey

Demographics

According to the last official census done in 2011, the municipality of Skenderaj has 50,858 inhabitants.

Ethnic groups

The ethnic composition of the municipality:

Notable people

* Halil Xani, poet and writer, born in Skenderaj *

Adem Jashari Adem Jashari (born Fazli Jashari; 28 November 1955 – 7 March 1998) was one of the founders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), a Kosovo Albanian separatist militia which fought for the secession of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yu ...

, Kosovo Liberation Army leader, born in Prekaz * Hashim Thaçi, President of Kosovo (2016–present) * Hamëz Jashari, co-founder of Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA and brother of

* Hasan Prishtina, political leader of Albanian National Movement * Sylejman Selimi, comrade of Jashari *

, Kachak leader * Përparim Hetemaj, footballer * Mehmet Hetemaj, footballer * Ahmet Delia, activist of League of Prizren

References and Notes

Sources

* * *

External links

Municipality of Skenderaj

OSCE Profile of Skenderaj

SOK Kosovo and its population
{{Coord, 42, 44, 48, N, 20, 47, 19, E, type:city(50000)_region:RS-KM, display=title Skenderaj, Cities in Kosovo Municipalities of Kosovo Populated places in the District of Mitrovica Drenica