Đakovica
—  Municipality and city  —
Gjakovë / Đakovica / Ђаковица
Đakovica Location in Kosovo
Coordinates: 42°23′N 20°26′E / 42.383°N 20.433°E / 42.383; 20.433Coordinates: 42°23′N 20°26′E / 42.383°N 20.433°E / 42.383; 20.433
Country	Kosovo[a]
District	District of Đakovica
Government
• Mayor	Pal Lekaj
Area
• Municipality and city	586.91 km2 (226.61 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Municipality and city	94,158 (municipality)
• Density	160.5/km2 (416/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 (see names) 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 42°23′N 20°26′E / 42.39°N 20.43°E / 42.39; 20.43.

Names [edit]

Street in the Đakovica old town; the architecture reflects its Ottoman heritage.

The name Đakovica (Cyrillic: Ђаковица) is Serbian (pronounced [d͡ʑâkɔʋit͡sa]), distinguished by the -vica suffix, which means "little". Albanian names are Gjakova and Gjakovë. The modern Turkish name is Yakova but during the Ottoman Empire (when Turkish was written in a modified Arabic script), the name of the town in English was Jakova.^[2]

Etymology [edit]

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It is hard to tell which of the names influenced the other. 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;^{[3][4][verification needed]} or that it derives from the Albanian word for "blood" (gjak).^{[5][verification needed]} Around 1594 or 1595, Hadum Suleiman Aga Hadum Efendia-built mosque, which also bears the name of the donor-sponsors of the facility in town. Hadum Mosque, according to tradition, was built in property of Jakë Vula, an Albanian landlord, hence the name would become the city – Jakovë.^{[citation needed]} Furthermore, it is also plausible to conclude that the initial town name, Jakovë, may in fact represent an Albanian way of pronouncing the otherwise south Slavic (Serbian) genitive case 'Jakova', as in "(zemlja) Jakova", meaning "(the land) of Jakov", as is the case with many other place names in Kosovo, including the word Kosovë itself (the defintite article form being Kosova). which might easily have been one word within a full name - polje kosova (the field of blackbirds).^{[original research?]}

In the extensive Ottoman Empire list of the 1485, Yakova (the Turkish name) was mentioned as a village with 67 households and one rural priest. All personal names in this list are Serbian, except two who may have been of Albanian origin.^{[citation needed]}

Demographics [edit]

Before 2011, the city had 48,000 citizens with 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^{[clarification needed]} many Serbs were forced out of the area. As such, only five Serbs remain in Đakovica – in the monastery of Assumption of the Theotokos.^[6]

History [edit]

Balkan Wars [edit]

Đakovica suffered greatly from the Serbian and Montenegrin armies during the First Balkan War. 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."^[7] 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.^[8]

Kosovo War [edit]

View of the clock tower in the city

The town was badly affected by the Kosovo 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. 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 organisations, about 75% of the population was expelled 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] In 2011, several dozen corpses were 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]

Aftermath of Kosovo war [edit]

Most of the Albanian population returned following the end of the war. In 2001 free elections were held, with a majority won by LDK. Thousands of new stores were rebuilt. 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.

Geography and population [edit]

Terzijski Bridge on Erenik River near Đakovica.

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^{[citation needed]}), 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]

Đakovica is situated at the Southern end of The Dinaric Alps and is approx. 100 km (62 mi) inland from the Adriatic Sea.

Sport [edit]

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).

International relations [edit]

Twin towns – Sister cities [edit]

Đakovica is twinned with:

• Shkodër, Albania
• Jamestown, New York, United States
• Lodève, France ^[13]

Notable people from Đakovica or descending from Đakovan families [edit]

• Bardhyl Çaushi, dean of law of the University of Pristina
• Bekim Fehmiu - actor
• Atifete Jahjaga - President of Kosovo from 2011 onwards
• Ardian Kozniku - a former Croatian footballer
• Avni Mula - famous Albanian singer, composer and musician
• Ismet Peja - singer
• Aleksandar Tijanić - Serbian journalist and current national TV director

Gallery [edit]

• 

  The clock tower

• 

  View of the clock tower

• 

  View of old stone building

• 

  Hotel

• 

  Monument

• 

  League of Prizren in Đakovica

• 

  View of the city

Notes and references [edit]

Notes:

References:

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