note - the Government of Kosovo has announced that the current Mitrovice (Mitrovica) municipality is to be split into Mitrovice (Mitrovica) North and Mitrovice (Mitrovica) South

Independence:
17 February 2008 (from Serbia)

National holiday:
Independence Day, 17 February (2008)

Constitution:
adopted by the Kosovo Assembly 9 April 2008; effective 15 June 2008

Legal system:
evolving legal system; mixture of applicable Kosovo law, UNMIK laws and regulations, and applicable laws of the Former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia that were in effect in Kosovo as of 22 March 1989

International law organization participation:
has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; non-party state to the ICCt

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Atifete JAHJAGA (since 7 April 2011);
head of government: Prime Minister Hashim THACI (since 9 January 2008)
cabinet: ministers; elected by the Kosovo Assembly
elections: the president is elected for a five-year term by the Kosovo Assembly; election last held on 7 April 2011; note - the prime minister elected by the Kosovo Assembly
election results: Atifete JAHJAGA elected in one round (JAHJAGA 80, Suzana NOVOBERDALIU 10); Hashim THACI elected prime minister by the Assembly

Legislative branch:
unicameral national Assembly (120 seats; 100 seats directly elected, 10 seats guaranteed for ethnic Serbs, 10 seats guaranteed for other ethnic minorities; members to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held on 12 December 2010 with runoff elections in a few municipalities in January 2011 (next expected to be held in 2015)
election results: percent of vote by party - PDK 30.1%, LDK 23.9%, Vetevendosje 12.4%, AAK 10.6%, smaller party coalition 7.1%, SLS 7.1%, JSL 3.5%, KDTP 2.7%, VAKAT 1.8%, and BSDAK 0.9%; seats by party - PDK 34, LDK 27, Vetevendosje 14, AAK 12, smaller party coalition 8, SLS 8, JSL 4, KDTP 3, VAKAT 2, BSDAK 1

Judicial branch:
Supreme Court; Appellate Court; basic courts; Constitutional Court
note: the Law on Courts, which went into effect on 1 January 2011, provided for a reorganization of the court system; the Kosovo Constitution dictates that the Supreme Court of Kosovo is the highest judicial authority, and provides for a Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) that proposes to the president candidates for appointment or reappointment as judges and prosecutors; the KJC is also responsible for decisions on the promotion and transfer of judges and disciplinary proceedings against judges; at least 15 percent of Supreme Court and district court judges shall be from non-majority communities

Political parties and leaders:
Albanian Christian Democratic Party of Kosovo or PShDK [Marjan DEMAJ]; Alliance for a New Kosovo or AKR [Behgjet PACOLLI]; Alliance for the Future of Kosovo or AAK [Ramush HARADINAJ]; Alliance of Independent Social Democrats of Kosovo and Metohija or SDSKIM [Ljubisa ZIVIC]; Bosniak Vakat Coalition or DSV [Sadik IDRIZI]; Citizens' Initiative of Gora or GIG [Murselj HALJILJI]; Democratic Action Party or SDA [Numan BALIC]; Democratic League of Dardania or LDD [Nexhat DACI]; Democratic League of Kosovo or LDK [Isa MUSTAFA]; Democratic Party of Ashkali of Kosovo or PDAK [Berat QERIMI]; Democratic Party of Bosniaks [Dzezair MURATI]; Democratic Party of Kosovo or PDK [Hashim THACI]; Independent Liberal Party or SLS [Slobadan PETROVIC]; Kosovo Democratic Turkish Party of KDTP [Mahir YAGCILAR]; Movement for Self-Determination (Vetevendosje) [Albin KURTI]; New Democratic Initiative of Kosovo or IRDK [Xhevdet NEZIRAJ]; New Democratic Party or ND [Predrag JOVIC]; New Spirit or FER [Shpend AHMETI]; Serb National Party or SNS [Mihailo SCEPANOVIC]; Serbian Democratic Party of Kosovo and Metohija or SDS KiM [Slavisa PETKOVIC]; Serbian Kosovo and Metohija Party or SKMS [Dragisa MIRIC]; Serbian National Council of Northern Kosovo and Metohija or SNV [Milan IVANOVIC]; Social Democratic Party of Kosovo or PSDK [Agim CEKU]; Socialist Party of Kosovo or PSK [Emrush XHEMAJLI]; United Roma Party of Kosovo or PREBK [Ilaz KADOLLI]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedom (human rights); Organization for Democracy, Anti-Corruption and Dignity Rise! [Avni ZOGIANI]; Serb National Council (SNV); The Speak Up Movement [Ramadan ILAZI]

International organization participation:
IBRD, IDA, IFC, IMF, ITUC, MIGA

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Avni SPAHIU
chancery: 1101 30th Street NW, Suites 330/340, Washington, DC 20007
telephone: 202-380-3581
FAX: 202-380-3628
consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Christopher William DELL
embassy: Arberia/Dragodan, Nazim Hikmet 30, Pristina, Kosovo
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [381] 38 59 59 3000
FAX: [381] 38 549 890

Flag description:
centered on a dark blue field is the geographical shape of Kosovo in a gold color surmounted by six white, five-pointed stars arrayed in a slight arc; each star represents one of the major ethnic groups of Kosovo: Albanians, Serbs, Turks, Gorani, Roma, and Bosniaks

National anthem:
name: "Europe"

NOTE: 1) The information regarding Kosovo on this page is re-published from the 2012 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Kosovo Government 2012 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Kosovo Government 2012 should be addressed to the CIA.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may habe the following issues:
  a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
  b) The CIA sometimes assignes counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order

---

• Main Index
• 2012 Index
• Country Ranks
• Definitions
• Kosovo Index 2012
• Kosovo Main Index
• Introduction
• Geography
•   Maps
• People
  Religion
• Government
  Gov. Leaders
  Flags

• Economy
• Communications
• Transportation
  Airport Codes
• Military
• Transnational Issues
• Photos
• Advertise Here
• Feedback

---

This page was last modified 07-Mar-12