Uroševac

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Ferizaj
Урошевац
Uroševac
Coat of Arms
[[Image:{{{image_coatofarms}}}\|center\|Coat of Arms ]]
Location in Kosovo

General Information
Mayor	Faik Grainca
Land area	720
Altitude	?
Population (2005)	143,842 [1]
Population density (2005)	201.3
Coordinates	42°38′N 21°17′E
Postal code:	70000
Area code	+381 290
Time zone	UTC+1
Website	Municipality of Ferizaj

Saint Uroš' Cathedral, June 1999

Uroševac (Albanian Ferizaj; Serbian Uroševac / Урошевац ; Turkish: Ferizoviç) is a town located in Kosovo (under UN administration, formally part of Serbia) some 40 km south of the regional capital Priština. It is the administrative centre of the Uroševac District.

1 History
2 Demographics
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

Uroševac was little more than a village until 1873, when the Belgrade-Thessaloniki railway was opened, passing through the town. It derives its Serbian name from the medieval Saint Uroš, who is commemorated by a cathedral in the town. Its Albanian name derives from a pre-1873 hotel owned by a local Kosovo Albanian named Feriz Shashivari; thus Serbs called the community Ferizovići ("Feriz's village") while Albanians called it Ferizaj. The Turkish name of the town still contains the family name Ferizoviç in Serbian version.

In 2003 the town had a total population of 39,800. In 1998, prior to the 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.

The town suffered some damage during the conflict, with some of its Albanian-populated neighborhoods being shelled and burned by the Yugoslav Army. Following the war, the town has seen serious intercommunal unrest which resulted in almost all of the 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.

[edit] Demographics

Year/Population	Albanian	%	Serb	%	Ashkali/Roma	%	Gorani/Bosniaks	%	Total
Ethnic Composition, Including IDPs
1991 census ^*	81,737	85.9	8,191	8.6	2,081	2.2			95,156
October 1999	92,267	95.1	26	0.0	4,700	4.8			96,967
Current est.	140,000	97.4	147	0.1	3,594	2.3	248	0.2	143,842
It is noted that the 1991 census was highly politicised and is thus regarded as unreliable. Ref: OSCE [2]