Languages_of_Kosovo

Demographics of Kosovo

Demographics of Kosovo

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The Kosovo Agency of Statistics monitors various demographic features of the population of Kosovo, such as population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. Censuses, normally conducted at ten-year intervals, record the demographic characteristics of the population. According to the first census conducted after the 2008 declaration of independence in 2011, the permanent population of Kosovo had reached 1,810,366.[13]

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A 2011 demographic census shows that Albanians form the majority in Kosovo, with over 93% of the total population; significant minorities include Bosniaks (1.6%), Serbs (1.5%) and others. However, most Serbs boycotted the census and it therefore shows an inaccurate number of Serbs in Kosovo. After Albanians, Serbs form the largest ethnic community in Kosovo (6–7%).[7][8][9][10][11][12] A 2023 CIA estimate put Kosovo's population at 1,964,327.[12]

Kosovo has the youngest population in Europe. As of 2008, half of its roughly 2-million-strong population is under the age of 25, according to a recent report of the UN Development Programme, UNDP. According to the government data, it is estimated that more than 65 percent of the population are younger than 30.[14]

History

Population of Kosovo from 1921 to 2015

2011 census

The final results of the 2011 census recorded Kosovo (excluding North Kosovo) as having 1,739,825 inhabitants.[15] The European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) has called "for caution when referring to the 2011 census", due to the boycott by Serb-majority municipalities in North Kosovo and the large boycott by Serbs and Roma in southern Kosovo.[16] The recorded total population was below most previous estimates. The census enjoyed considerable technical assistance from international agencies and appears to have been endorsed by Eurostat; it was, however, the first full census since 1981, and not one of an uninterrupted series. The results show that there were no people temporarily resident in hotels or refugee camps at the time of the census;[17] that out of 312,711 conventional dwellings, 99,808 (over 30%) were unoccupied;[17] and that three municipalities designed[clarification needed] under the Ahtisaari Plan to have Serb majorities – Klokot, Novo Brdo, and Štrpce – in fact had ethnic Albanian majorities (although their municipal assemblies have Serb majorities).[17]

Vital statistics

Source: Kosovo Agency of Statistics[18][19][20]

Population estimates in the table below may be unreliable during the 1990s period. Besides, vital statistics do not fully include data from Serb-majority territories. Since 2011, in accordance with European statistical norms, live births and deaths record figures in Kosovo only (excluding foreign countries).

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Current vital statistics

[29][30][31][32]

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Marriages and divorces

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Administrative divisions

Kosovo is administratively subdivided into seven districts, and 38 municipalities. With the current estimation on population, Kosovo ranks as the 150th largest country in the world based on how populous it is.[33]

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Ethnic groups

The official results of the censuses in Kosovo after World War II are tabulated below. The figures for Albanians in the 1991 census were estimates only, since that census was boycotted by most Albanians. Similarly, the figures for Serbs in the 2011 census omit those in North Mitrovica, Leposavić, Zubin Potok and Zvečan (North Kosovo), while the number of Serbs and Romani in the rest of Kosovo is also deemed unreliable, due to the partial boycott.[16]

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Ethnic groups by municipality

The results of the 2011 census of ethnic groups in municipalities are tabulated below.[38]

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Ethnic composition of Kosovo in 2005 according to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

The 2000 Living Standard Measurement Survey by Statistical Office of Kosovo found an ethnic composition of the population as follows:

A more comprehensive (October 2002) estimate (for the 1.9 million inhabitants) for these years:

During the Kosovo War in 1999, around 700,000 ethnic Albanians,[39] over 100,000 ethnic Serbs and more than 40,000 Bosniaks were forced out of Kosovo to neighbouring Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Serbia. After the United Nations took over administration of Kosovo following the war, the vast majority of the Albanian refugees returned.[citation needed] The largest diaspora communities of Kosovo Albanians are in Switzerland and Austria accounting for some 200,000 individuals each, or for 20% of the population resident in Kosovo.

Many non-Albanians – chiefly Serbs and Romani – fled or were expelled, mostly to the rest of Serbia at the end of the war, with further refugee outflows occurring as the result of sporadic ethnic violence. As of 2002, the number of registered refugees was around 250,000.[40][41][42] The non-Albanian population in Kosovo is now about half of its pre-war total[citation needed]. The largest concentration of Serbs in the country is in the north, but many remain in Kosovo Serb enclaves surrounded by Albanian-populated areas.

Languages

Linguistic structure according to the 2011 census

As defined by the Constitution of Kosovo, Albanian and Serbian are official languages in Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, almost 95% of the citizens speak Albanian as their native language, followed by South Slavic languages and Turkish. Due to North Kosovo's boycott of the census, Bosnian came in as the second-largest language after Albanian. However, Serbian is in reality the second-most spoken language in Kosovo.

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Health

Harvard Medical School and NATO published a study on the impact of the conflict on Kosovo health system in 2014.[44] The data in the table below are from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics.

More information Structure of group of diseases according to ICD-10 recorded in PHC in 2010 ...

Migration

According to a 2015 report by Geoba.se, Kosovo's current net migration rate is at −3.72, ranking Kosovo 197th,[45] due to the ongoing political and economic crisis. The same source gives −0.71 for the 2023 estimate.

Religion

The country has no official religion. The constitution establishes Kosovo as a secular state that is neutral in matters of religious beliefs and where everyone is equal before the law and freedom to belief, conscience and religion is guaranteed.[46][47]

The 2011 Kosovo population census was largely boycotted by the Kosovo Serbs (who predominantly identify as Serbian Orthodox Christians), especially in North Kosovo,[48] leaving the Serb population underrepresented.[49] The results of the 2011 census gave the following religious affiliations for the population included in the census:[50]

Religious map of Kosovo in 2011 by settlements. The Serb-dominated gray area in the north (North Kosovo) is presumably majority Orthodox.
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Almost all Muslims in Kosovo are Sunni Muslim.[51]

The Serb population is largely Serbian Orthodox. The Catholic Albanian communities are mostly concentrated in Gjakova, Prizren, Klina and a few villages near Peć and Vitina (see laramans). Slavic-speaking Catholics usually call themselves Janjevci or Kosovan Croats. Slavic-speaking Muslims in the south of Kosovo are known as the Gorani people.

Internally displaced persons

According to the CIA, as of 2013, there were 17,300 internally displaced persons, most of whom are Serbs displaced during the Kosovo War.[52][citation needed]

See also


Notes and references

Notes

  1. Due to political issues, Kosovo Serbs have avoided participating in the population censuses conducted by the Republic of Kosovo. The 2011 census is therefore inaccurate to explain the real demographic spread in Kosovo. Kosovo Serbs form the second largest ethnic group in Kosovo, after Albanians. Estimates explains that Serbs hold 6-7% of the population.[7][8][9][10][11][12]
  2. Due to the boycott of the 2011 census by most municipalities in the Serb-inhabited north (see North Kosovo), the real number of the population of Leposavić, North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok and Zvečan is unknown. Estimates are taken according to a 2014 OSCE report.[34][35][36][37]
  1. "Europe :: Kosovo — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency". www.cia.gov. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  2. "Series 1: General Statistics: Kosovo in Figures (2015)" (PDF). Agjencia e Statistikave të Kosovës.
  3. Cocozelli, Fred (2016). Ramet, Sabrina (ed.). Ethnic Minorities and Politics in Post-Socialist Southeastern Europe. Cambridge University Press. p. 267. ISBN 978-1316982778.
  4. Judah, Tim (7 November 2019). "Kosovo's demographic destiny looks eerily familiar". Balkan Insight.
  5. "Kosovo Population 2019". 28 July 2019. Archived from the original on 28 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  6. Khakee, Anna; Florquin, Nicolas (1 June 2003). "Kosovo: Difficult Past, Unclear Future" (PDF). Kosovo and the Gun: A Baseline Assessment of Small Arms and Light Weapons in Kosovo. 10. Pristina, United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and Geneva, Switzerland: Small Arms Survey: 4–6. JSTOR resrep10739.9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2023. Kosovo—while still formally part of the so-called State Union of Serbia and Montenegro dominated by Serbia—has, since the war, been a United Nations protectorate under the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). [...] However, members of the Kosovo Serb minority of the territory (circa 6–7 per cent in 2000) have, for the most part, not been able to return to their homes. For security reasons, the remaining Kosovo Serb enclaves are, in part, isolated from the rest of Kosovo and protected by the multinational NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR).
  7. "Community Profile: Serb Community" (PDF). ECMI Kosovo. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  8. "Agjencia e Statistikave të Kosovës -". Esk.rks-gov.net. Archived from the original on 25 November 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  9. Kosovo's Birth Rate Falling but Still High at balkaninsight.com, 10-7-2008, retrieved 18-8-2018
  10. "Agjencia e Statistikave të Kosovës". Esk.rks-gov.net. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  11. "ECMI: Minority figures in Kosovo census to be used with reservations". Infoecmi.eu. Archived from the original on 28 May 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  12. "Agjencia e Statistikave të Kosovës -". esk.rks-gov.net. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  13. "Kosovo agency of statistics/Figures/Population". ask.rks-gov.net. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  14. "Kosovo Agency of Statistics". ask.rks-gov.net. Archived from the original on 28 September 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  15. "Demographic changes of the Kosovo population 1948–2006" (PDF). ask.rks-gov.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 August 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
  16. "Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Kosovo, 2019" (PDF). ask.rks-gov.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 August 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  17. "Birth Statistics in Kosovo, 2019". ask.rks-gov.net. 12 June 2020. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  18. "Death Statistics in Kosovo, 2019". ask.rks-gov.net. 25 June 2020. Archived from the original on 27 January 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  19. "Quarterly Bulletin". ask.rks-gov.net.
  20. "Monthly Bulletin". ask.rks-gov.net.
  21. "CIA- The World Factbook". Cia.gov. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  22. "OSCE Leposavic estimates". OSCE. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  23. "OSCE Mitrovica North estimate". OSCE. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  24. "OSCE Zubin Potok estimate". OSCE. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  25. "OSCE Zvecan estimates". OSCE. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  26. "People on Move,pg.20". Esk.rks-gov.net. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  27. "BBC News – World – Kosovo Albanians: Who's left?". News.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 22 December 2006. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  28. UNHCR: 2002 Annual Statistical Report: Serbia and Montenegro, p. 9
  29. "USCR: Country Information: Yugoslavia". 29 October 2004. Archived from the original on 29 October 2004. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  30. "Language in Kosovo". Kosovo Agency of Statistics. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015.
  31. "Health 2009". Esk.rks-gov.net. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
  32. "The World: Net Migrants per 1000 (2015)". GEOBA.se. Archived from the original on 29 August 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  33. Perritt, Henry H. Jr. (28 September 2009). The Road to Independence for Kosovo: A Chronicle of the Ahtisaari Plan. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139479431 via Google Books.
  34. Naamat, Talia; Porat, Dina; Osin, Nina (19 July 2012). Legislating for Equality: A Multinational Collection of Non-Discrimination Norms. Volume I: Europe. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 978-9004226128 via Google Books.
  35. Petrit Collaku (29 March 2011). "Kosovo Census to Start Without the North". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  36. Perparim Isufi (14 September 2017). "Kosovo Police Stop 'Illegal' Serb Census Attempts". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  37. "Kosovo Population and Housing Census 2011 – Final Results: Quality Report". unstats.un.org. United Nations Statistics Division. 2011. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
  38. "The influence of Sufi Islam in the Balkans". Euobserver.com. December 2010. Archived from the original on 10 October 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  39. 17,300 (primarily ethnic Serbs displaced during the 1998–1999 war fearing reprisals from the majority ethnic-Albanian population; a smaller number of ethnic Serbs, Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians fled their homes in 2004 as a result of violence) (2013 est.)

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