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Uroševac
Municipality and city
Uroševac/Ferizaj
Official seal of UroševacSeal
Country	Kosovo
District	District of Ferizaj
Government
• Mayor	Muharrem Sfarqa LDK
Area
• Municipality and city	345 km (133 sq mi)
Elevation	500 m (1,600 ft)
Population
• Municipality and city	108,690 (municipality)
• Density	315.4/km (817/sq mi)
• Metro	68.000 City
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	70000
Car plates	05
Website	Municipality of Ferizaj Template:Sq icon

Ferizaji (Template:Lang-sq), or Uroševac is a city and municipality in southern Kosovo, located some 38 kilometers (24 mi) south of the capital Pristina. Ferizaj is the third most populous city in Kosovo, after Pristina and Prizren. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous district. The central city postal codes include 70000, 70010, 70030 and 70040.

The municipality covers an area of 345 km (133 sq mi), including the city of Ferizaj and 45 villages. It is largely an agricultural plain. Its population is estimated at 108,690.

History

Ferizoviç was little more than a village until 1873, when the Belgrade-Thessaloniki railway was opened, passing through the town. Its Turkish name derives from a pre-1873 hotel owned by a local Kosovo Albanian named Feriz Shashivari; thus Serbs and Bosnians called the community Ferizovići ("Feriz's village") while Albanians called it Ferizaj. The town was known as Ferizovo in Bulgarian. It is still known informally as "Tasjan", from a Turkish form of the French word station, referring to its status as a main station on the railway line.

Balkan Wars

After the settlement had fallen to Serbia during the First Balkan War, the local Albanian population gave a determined resistance. According to some reports, the fight lasted three days. The Serbian commander then ordered the population back home and to surrender arms. When the survivors returned, between 300–400 people were executed. There then followed the destruction of Albanian-populated villages around Ferizaj. Before the official annexation to the Kingdom of Serbia, the name was changed to Uroševac, after Stefan Uroš V of Serbia.

Kosovo War

The city suffered some damage during the Kosovo War of 1999, with some of its Albanian-populated neighborhoods being shelled and burned by the Yugoslav Army. Following the war, the city has seen serious inter-communal unrest which resulted in almost all of the Serbians and rest of non-Albanian inhabitants being expelled or fleeing..

Camp Bondsteel, the main base of the United States Army detachment to the KFOR peacekeeping force in Kosovo, is located nearby.

Mosque and church

The mosque (Big Mosque of Mulla Veseli from 1891 Template:Lang-sq) and the church St. Uroš Orthodox Cathedral located in the centre of Ferizaj are considered as a symbol of religious tolerance between Albanian Muslims and Serbian Orthodox. The mosque was destroyed during World War II, but then rebuilt. During the Kosovo war in 1999 neither was destroyed. In March 2004 during unrest in Kosovo, the church was attacked. Because the mosque and the church are in the same place, many people like to make photos as a unique phenomenon.

Economy

The US company "Brown & Root," assisting in constructing the Camp Bondsteel, is a major employer in the municipality with 1,500 people locally employed. Most of the 22 socially-owned enterprises have been privatized. According to statistical information from the Ministry of Trade and Industry, there are more than 4,500 private small and medium-sized businesses registered in the municipality while the municipal registry counts 3,463 active local businesses. The municipal figures of local active companies show that 11% are production oriented, 43% provide services, and 46% of businesses are trade-oriented.

Education

There are 30 primary schools in the municipality and 22,771 students. Six secondary schools include gymnasium and professional schools (technical, medical, music, agricultural and economics) with 7,054 students in total. The school attendance of the Ashkali, Roma and Gorani children is lower than the Kosovo Albanians. There is also one kindergarten with a total of 270 children registered. The Municipal Department of Education and Science has more than 1,680 professional and support staff, including 10 minority communities representatives. Ferizaj has two public libraries, where student also have internet access. Membership prices are very symbolic.

Sport

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Three football clubs are situated in Ferizaj: FK Ferizaj, KF Vullnetari i UÇK-së and KF Vizioni. Ferizaj is center for sports except for handball, where it has one teams in the top league: KH Kastrioti.

Media

There are 3 TV stations and 4 radio stations licensed and operational in Ferizaj. All the local media are privately owned: RTV TEMA, TV Liria, RTV Festina, Radio Ferizaj and Radio Furtuna.

Demographics

There is no correct information on the exact figure on the municipality's population, as the last census took place in 1991. However, as of 2011 municipal authorities estimate the population to 108,690. The majority, roughly 100,000 residents, are Kosovo Albanian. The other groups are as follows: Ashkali (3500 residents), Roma (200 residents), Gorani (150 residents), Bosniak (60 residents), and other communities (40 residents), including Turks.

The city had a population of about 70,000 people in the 1990s but this has grown substantially as a result of Albanian migration from the countryside and from parts of southern Serbia.

In 1998, before the 1999 Kosovo War, the population was recorded as 57,421, of whom 82.1% were Albanian, 9.4% Serb, and the remainder from various other national communities. In 2003 the town had a total population of 139,800.

Notable people

• Arsim Abazi, footballer
• Lucjan Avgustini, prelate
• Genc Iseni, footballer
• Shefqet Pllana, ethnographer
• Ljuba Tadić, actor
• Čika Mišo, shoeshiner in Sarajevo

Gallery

See also

• Kosovo Serb enclaves
• Pine of Tsar Dušan

Notes and references

Notes:

1. ^ Template:Kosovo-note

References

1. ^ OSCE Template:PDF, October 2007. Retrieved on 10 March 2008.
2. Списък на населените места в Македония, Моравско и Одринско. Издаден от Министерството на вътрешните работи и народното здраве, София, 1917 г., стр. 82
3. ^ Robert Elsie. "Ferizaj", Historical Dictionary of Kosova, p. 58. Scarecrow Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8108-5309-4 Cite error: The named reference "elsie" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
4. ^ Leo Freundlich: Albania's Golgotha
5. Leo Trotsky: Behind the Curtains of the Balkan Wars
6. http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/39189.htm
7. OSCE Template:PDF, October 2007. Retrieved on 10 March 2008.
   Source: Acting Director, Municipal Department of Education and Science.

External links

• Ferizaj
• LuRexSoft
• RTV TEMA
• Ferizajnet

v t e Municipalities of Kosovo
District of Ferizaj	Ferizaj Hani i Elezit Kaçanik Shtime Štrpce
District of Gjakova	Deçan Gjakova Junik Rahovec
District of Gjilan	Gjilan Kamenica Klokot Parteš Ranilug Viti
District of Mitrovica	Leposavić Mitrovica North Mitrovica Skenderaj Vushtrri Zubin Potok Zvečan
District of Peja	Peja Istog Klina
District of Pristina	Drenas Kosovo Polje Gračanica Obiliq Lipjan Novo Brdo Podujevë Pristina
District of Prizren	Dragash Malisheva Mamusha Prizren Suva Reka

Template:Largest cities of Kosovo

• Populated places in Kosovo
• Municipalities of Kosovo