| Gjakove | |
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| — Municipality and city — | |
| Gjakovë / Đakovica / Ђаковица |
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Gjakove
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Kosovo[a] |
| District | District of Đakovica |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Pal Lekaj |
| Area | |
| • Municipality and city | 586.91 km2 (226.6 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Municipality and city | 94,158 (municipality) |
| • Density | 160.5/km2 (415.7/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 48,000 City |
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postal code | 50000 |
| Area code(s) | +381 390 |
| Car plates | 03 |
| Website | Municipality of Đakovica |
Đakovica or Gjakova (Albanian: Gjakova or Gjakovë, Albanian pronunciation: [ɟaˈkɔva] or [ɟaˈkɔvə]; Serbian: Ђаковица, Đakovica, pronounced [d͡ʑâkɔʋit͡sa]; Turkish: Yakova) is a city and municipality in western Kosovo[a]. It is also the administrative centre of the homonymous district. The municipality's population is estimated at 94,158(2011).[1] The city is located at .
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There are a number of theories concerning the name of the town: that it derives from the Serbian word đak (pupil) from earlier d(i)jak;[2][3] or that it derives from the Albanian word for "blood" (gjak).[4]
It is also plausible to conclude that the Albanian name for the town, 'Gjakova' may in fact represent an Albanized version of otherwise south slavic (Serbian) genitive case 'Jakova', as in "(zemlja) Jakova", meaning "(the land) of Jakov", Jakov being a landlord and vassal of Vuk Branković, Serbian medieval nobleman. The extensive Turkish list of the 1485. Đakovica was mentioned as a village with 67 households and rural priest. All personal names in this list are Serbian, except two who may have been of Albanian origin.
Before 2011, 48,000 citizens lived in the city and 94,158 in the municipality. According to OESC, Albanians made up 92% of the population, Serbs 1% and the other national minorities 7%. After 1999, for various reasons - primarily due to their ethnicity, the Serbs were forced out of the area. So today, down from several thousands, only 5 Serbs still live in Đakovica - in the monastery of Assumption of the Theotokos.[5]
Đakovica has been mentioned as a city that suffered greatly from the Serbian-Montenegrin army during the Balkan Wars. The New York Times reported in 1912, citing Austro-Hungarian sources, that people on the gallows hung on both sides of the road, and that the way to Đakovica became a "gallows alley."[6] In the region of Đakovica, Montenegrin police-military formation Royal Gendarmerie Corps (Kraljevski žandarmerijski kor), known as krilaši, committed much abuse and violence against the non-Christian population.[7]
In Đakovica, Serbian priests carried out violent conversion of Albanian Catholics to Serbian Orthodox faith.[8]
The town was badly affected by the war, suffering great physical destruction and large-scale human losses and human rights abuses.
Yugoslav units were stationed in and near the town in two barracks due to the risk of an attack by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) from across the border in Albania. The KLA were attacked on several occasions by NATO forces. In one incident, NATO aircraft misidentified a convoy of Albanian refugees and attacked it.
Actions on the ground had a devastating effect on the town. According to the ICTY, OSCE, and international human rights organizations, about 75% of the population was forcibly expelled from the town by Serbian police and paramilitaries as well as Yugoslav forces, while many civilians were killed in the process.[9][10] Large areas of the town were destroyed, chiefly through arson and looting but also in the course of localised fighting between government security forces and members of the KLA. The actions of the government forces in Đakovica formed a major part of the United Nations war crimes indictment of the then-President Slobodan Milošević. [1] The number of missing people from the municipality is among the highest in all of Kosovo, numbering over 300. In the course of the current year several dozen corpses have been identified and returned to their families, though the number is relatively small compared to the figures of those who are still missing. As a result, any reference to the return of the former Kosovo Serb population remains highly sensitive.[11]
Most of the Albanian population returned following the end of the war. In 2001 free democratic elections were held, with a majority won by LDK. Thousands of new stores were rebuilt and opened. Qarshia e Madhe is a good example where hundreds of stores were destroyed during the war; in 2001 as many were rebuilt as they had been before the war. New television and radio media were launched such as Radio Gjakova, Radio Pandora, Radio Amadeus, and TV Syri. Local businesses set up manufacturing enterprises such as the IMN brick factory was one of these. Businesses are now booming, with aid from foreign organizations, and their activities are based mainly on free market trade.
The municipality covers an area of 521 km2, including the town of Đakovica and 84 villages. As of October 2007, the population is estimated to be of approximately 158,000 people, out of which 100,000 (60%) live in the town and 58,000 (40%) reside in the surrounding villages. The Kosovo Albanians constitute about 95% of the population ), while some 7060 Muslims by nationality, Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians making up ca. 4.7% represent the main minority communities.[1]
According to OSCE estimations, before the Kosovo War of 1999 the municipality had a population of about 145,000, of which 93% were Kosovo Albanians and 7% non-majority communities, including some 3,000 Kosovo Serbs, who mostly lived in the main town.[12]
Dakovica is situated at the Southern end of The Dinaric Alps and is approx. inland from the Adriatic Sea.
Apart from being a culture and educative center of Kosovo, Đakovica is also known as a sports center. The best example of this is the fact of having 38 clubs, which compete in all leagues over Kosovo. Đakovica's most successful team is KF Vëllaznimi which has won 9 titles of Kosovar Superliga, and 4 Kosovo Cups. "Shani Nushi" is the city's sports hall, which has a capacity of 3500 seats, while Đakovica's City Stadium has a capacity of 6000 (2000 seats).
Notes:
| a. | ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognised by 86 UN member states. |
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