Kosovo

Kosovo
Country
Continent:	Europe
Capital:	Pristina
National Language:	Albanian, Serbian (primary languages)
Government:	Unitary parliamentary constitutional republic
Status in OTL:	Active

The Republic of Kosovo (Albanian: Republika e Kosovës; Serbian: Република Косово), is a partially recognized state and disputed territory in Southeastern Europe.

Defined in an area of 10,887 square kilometres (4,203 sq mi), Kosovo is landlocked in the center of the Balkans and bordered by the uncontested territory of Serbia to the north and east, North Macedonia to the southeast, Albania to the southwest and Montenegro to the west. It possesses varied and diverse landscapes for its size by climate along with geology and hydrology. Most of central Kosovo is dominated by the vast plains and fields of Metohija and Kosovo. The Albanian Alps and Šar Mountains rise in the southwest and southeast respectively.

Inhabited since the Paleothic, the area which is now Kosovo was annexed in in 168 BC by the Roman Republic. In the Middle Ages, it was conquered by the Byzantine, Bulgarian, and Serbian Empires. The Battle of Kosovo of 1389 is considered to be one of the defining moments in Serbian medieval history. Kosovo was part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th to the early 20th century. In the 1910s, the Ottomans lost Kosovo to Serbia and Montenegro. Both countries joined Yugoslavia after World War I. Tensions between Kosovo's Albanian and Serb communities simmered through the 20th century and occasionally erupted into major violence, culminating in the Kosovo War of 1998-1999. On 17 February 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia. It has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 100 United Nations, although Serbia has still only grudgingly and partially acknowledged the state's autonomy.

Kosovo in Alpha and Omega

Kosovo had long been fought over by Albanian and Serbian peoples. In the 21st century, after God began to intervene directly in human affairs, Kosovo finally began to see something like peace, although no one could be sure how long this state of affairs would last.