Photos from Our World

People of Kosovo

Kosovo has a mixed population, the result of the turbulent history of the country. As a result of the many centuries as part of the Ottoman Empire the overwhelming majority of the population is ethnic Shqipëtar or Albanian, speaking the northern Gheg dialect and of the Muslim faith. Especially around Prizreni are Turkish speaking people, left over from Ottoman days.

The Romani or Roma people are an ethnic group of Europe tracing their origins to medieval India. They have their own language, with different dialects depending on where they live. Linguistic and genetic evidence indicates the Romanies originated from the Indian subcontinent, emigrating from India towards the northwest no earlier than the 11th century. The Romani are generally believed to have originated in central India, possibly in the modern Indian state of Rajasthan, migrating to northwest India (the Punjab region) around 250 B.C. Traditionally nomadic but now mainly settled, they have endured discrimination and prejudice over the centuries. Yet they have contributed immensely to the culture of the Balkans; without them the music would never be the same. They are often referred to as "Gypsies", a term originating from the Greek word Αιγύπτοι (Aigyptoi), in the erroneous belief that the Romanies originated in Egypt, and were exiled as punishment for allegedly harboring the infant Jesus.

The Ashkali are an Albanian speaking ethnic minority of Kosovo and Albania, usually considered Albanized Roma, but some people call themselves "Egyptians" (Albanian: Egjiptian) claiming they came from Egypt, supposedly via immigration through Palestine. This seems unlikely and may derive from the same mistaken belief that "Gypsies" came from Egypt. In Kosovo, the Ashkali appeared to be aligned with Albanians before the Kosovo War. However, there are reports of mass expulsion of Ashkali along with Roma from Kosovo after the war. Many Ashkali refugees have now settled in Central Serbia and Vojvodina. In Serbia and Montenegro, they are known by other names like Black Montenegrins and Romano-Palestinians.

	Three Shqipëtar men	Two Shqipëtar men	Elderly man	Pumping water
	Shqipëtar man	Man on cart	Old man of Prishtina	Roma women
	Roma couple	Shqipëtar man of Peja	Shqipëtar family	Turkish singer

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