Kosovo

Kosovo is located in the heart of South East Europe. Kosovo is situated between the 42° and 44° parallels of northern hemisphere and between the 20° and 22° meridians. Positioned in the centre of the Balkan Peninsula, it presents an important junction of the Median and Southern Europe, and the Adriatic and Black Sea. Kosovo's area is 10,908 km2 and is populated by over 2 million people.

The main axis of the junction of northern and southern Balkan regions is comprised of the Ibër, Sitnica and Lepenc river valleys. This axis divides several roundabout valleys: near Mitrovica along the Ibër river passes the Adriatic highway which connects the Montenegrin coast, near Besiana (Podujeva) town; the Llapi and Toplica roads connect Kosovo with the Serbian city of Nish and with the interior part of Balkan Peninsula; nearby is the city of Prishtina and the Drenica valley which connects Drini i Bardhë (White Drini) with the shortest way to the Albanian coast. In the city of Ferizaj, the Morava e Binçës pathway is divided, which is then connected to the main river axes of the Morava and Vardar Rivers. Kosovo borders Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, and Macedonia. It has a population of over two million people, predominantly ethnic Albanians, with smaller minorities of Serbs, Turks, Bosniacs and other ethnic groups. Prishtina is the capital and largest city.

The largest cities are Prishtina (500,000+), Prizren (165,000+) Peja (154,000+) and Mitrovica (168.000+) Five other towns have populations in excess of 97,000.

The climate in Kosovo is continental, with warm summers and cold and snowy winters.

There are two main plains in Kosovo; Dukagjini (west) Plain of Kosovo occupies the eastern part.

Much of Kosovo's terrain is rugged. The Sharr Mountains are located in the south and south-east, bordering Macedonia. This is one of the region's most popular tourist and skiing resorts, with Brezovica and Prevalla as the main tourist centres. Kosovo's mountainous area, including the highest peak Gjeravica, at 2656 m above sea level, is located in the south-west, bordering Albania and Montenegro.

The Kopaonik mountain is located in the north. The central region of Drenica, Carraleva and the eastern part of Kosovo, known as Golak, are mainly hilly areas.

There are several notable rivers and lakes in Kosovo. The main rivers are the White Drin, running towards the Adriatic Sea, with the Erenik among its tributaries), the Sitnica, the Morava in the Golak area, and Ibar in the north. The main lakes are Gazivoda (380 million m³) in the north-western part, Radonic (113 million m³) in the south-west part, Batlava (40 million m³) and Badovac (26 million m³) in the north-east part

Events
Rock për Rock - contains rock and metal music Polifest - contains all kinds of genres (usually hip hop, commercial pop, unusually rock and never metal) Showfest - contains all kinds of genres (usually hip hop, commercial pop, unusually rock and never metal) Videofest - contains all kinds of genres Kush Këndon Lutet Dy Herë - contains christian music North City Jazz & Blues festival, an international music festival held annually in Zvečan (Albanian: Zveçani), near Mitrovica.

There are 3 National TV: RTK (Radio Television of Kosova), KTV (Kohavision) and RTV21 (TV21) All 3 channels can be viewed also on Satellite EutelsatW2

Travel Tips
To come to Kosova you need to have a passport (you do not need a visa)

Entry Points

Air: Prishtina International Airport is located 15 km southwest of Prishtina.

Ground ways:

From Albania: Vërmica, Morina and Qafë Prushi

From Macedonia: Hani i Elezit and Glloboçica (near Tetovo)

From Montenegro: Gryka e Çakorit (Kulla) and Zhlebi

From Serbia: Merdare, Dheu i Bardhë, Muqibaba, Jarinje, Gazivoda

Before you pass border gate, make sure your passport is stamped or you can request a Border Visit Card. In case you've missed both options, you might be consider a 'illegal visitor' by police authorities. To avoid such unpleasant situations, visit alien police, border police or nearest police station.

Flash Info
- Currency: Euro (€) EURO - Area Total 10,887 km² - Density 220/km² 500/sq mi - Population 2.2 Milion - Time zone (UTC+1)

Ethnic groups (2007) 92% Albanians 5.3% Serbs 2.7% others (bosnian, turks, roma)

Official Languages: Albanian, Serbian and English

Religions: Muslim, Orthodox, Christian, Other

Mobile Operator VALA (MC, 212 01) IPKO (SI Mobitel)

President: FATMIR SEJDIU (LDK) Primeminister: HASHIM THACI (PDK)

International Presence UN, NATO-KFOR, OSCE, EU

Practical

 * Mobile Roaming availability:

- Vala, 212 01 --> as in monaco

- IPKO, Mobitel --> as in slovenia


 * Emergency Call [mob]--> 112 nearest police station (free)

Landline (free) --> 92 Police, 93 Fire Department, 94 Medical Assistance. This call service is available for free at every phone booth of PTK (Telecom Kosova)

Bank ATM's available: ProCredit, Raiffeisen, NLB ...

Other: Western Union, MoneyGram, Fedex, TNT,

Bus Ticket from: SKOPJE to PRISHTINA = 5 € (daily train available)

PRISHTINA - PODGRORICA = 15 €

PRISHTINA - TIRANA = 20 €

PRISHTINA - SARAJEVO= 25 €

PRISHTINA - THESALONIKI = 35 €

PRISHTINA - ZURICH = 70 €+

PRISHTINA - MILANO = 100 €

PRISHTINA - STUTGART / FRANKFURT = 110 €

Direct flights from Airport Prishtina european cities: Budapest*, Berlin, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Koln, London, Ljubljana*, Milano, Munchen, Rome, Stutgart*, Tirana*, Zürich*, Vienna*, New York (seasonal)

*daily flights

national airline: Kosova Airlines www.flyksa.com

Embassies / Diplomatic
ALBANIA St. M.Ulqinaku - Qyteza Pejton tel: 038 548 368

AUSTRIA St. Ahmet Krasniqi no.22 Arbëria 1 tel: 038 549 284

BELGIUM St. Taslixhe I 23 A tel:038 518 838

BULGARIA n/a

CHINA n/a

CROATIA St. Fehmi Agani no.68-B-1/A tel: 038 243 399 FINLAND St. Eduard Liri Arbëri tel: 038 549 741

FRANCE St. Ismail Qemajli no.67 Arbëri tel: 038 549 612

GERMANY St. Azem Jashanica no.17 Arbëri tel: 038 254 600

GREECE St. Ismail Qemajli no.68 Arbëri tel: 038 243 013

HUNGARY n/a

ITALY St. Azem Jashanica no.5 Arbëri tel: 038 549 715

JAPAN Grand Hotel no.348 tel: 038 249 433

LUXEMBURG St. Metush Krasniqi no.14 Arbëri tel: 038 226 787

MACEDONIA (FYROM) St.Arberia n/a

MALAYSIA St. M.Ulqinaku no.12 Q.Pejton tel: 038 243 467

NETHERLANDS St. Ekrem Rexha no. 17 Arbëri tel: 038 224 610

NORWAY Fidanishte n.o Arbëri tel: 038 248 203

RUSSIA n/a

SAUDI ARABIA n/a

SWEEDEN St. Ekrem Rexha no. 6 Arbëri tel: 038 245 795

SLOVAK REPUBLIC n/a

SWITZERLAND St. Adrian Krasniqi no.11 tel: 038 248 088

TURKEY Ulpiana no.22 tel: 038 550 100

GREAT BRITAIN St. Ismajl Qemajli Arbëri 1 tel: 038 249 559

USA St. Nazim Hikmet no.30 Arbëri tel: 038 549 516

Visit Kosova
http://www.visitkosova.org/ -- This link is broken.

Join Kosovo Group™on--CS/Europe

Open Streetmap Kosova
We are working on making streetmaps of kosovo. you can help out! http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=8608&post=3510507

CS
http://www.couchsurfing.com/group.html?gid=8608

isin: Balkans csgroup:8608 Kosovo hitch:Kosovo

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