Kosovo vilayet

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ولايت قوصوه (Ottoman Turkish) Kosova Vilayeti (Turkish) Vilajeti i Kosovës (Albanian) Kosovski vilajet/Косовски вилајет (Serbian)
Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire
1877–1913
The Kosovo Vilayet in 1877–1912, area under Austrian-Hungarian occupation (Sandžak region) hashed
Capital	Priştine (1877–1888)[1] Üsküp (1888–1912)[2]
Population
• 1911[3]	1,602,949
History
• Established	1877
• Treaty of London	30 May 1913
Preceded by Succeeded by Prizren Vilayet Kingdom of Serbia Kingdom of Montenegro Independent Albania Tsardom of Bulgaria
Today part of	Kosovo Serbia North Macedonia Montenegro Albania

The Vilayet of Kosovo (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت قوصوه, Vilâyet-i Kosova;^[4] Turkish: Kosova Vilayeti; Albanian: Vilajeti i Kosovës; Serbian: Косовски вилајет, Kosovski vilajet) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkan Peninsula^[5] which included the modern-day territory of Kosovo and the north-western part of the Republic of North Macedonia. The areas today comprising Sandžak (Raška) region of Serbia and Montenegro, although de jure under Ottoman control, were de facto under Austro-Hungarian occupation from 1878 until 1909, as provided under Article 25 of the Treaty of Berlin.^[6] Üsküb (Skopje) functioned as the capital of the province and the midway point between Istanbul and its European provinces. Üsküb's population of 32,000 made it the largest city in the province, followed by Prizren, also numbering at 30,000.

The vilayet stood as a microcosm of Ottoman society; incorporated within its boundaries were diverse groups of peoples and religions: Albanians, Serbs, Bosniaks; Muslims and Christians, both Eastern Orthodox and Catholic. The province was renowned for its craftsmen and important cities such as İpek (today's Peja, Serbian: Peć), where distinct Ottoman architecture and public baths were erected, some of which can still be seen today. The birthplace of the Albanian national identity was first articulated in Prizren, by the League of Prizren members in 1878.

As a result, firstly of the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878, then of the modified Treaty of Berlin the same year which split the Ottoman Empire, Kosovo became the first line of defense for the Ottoman Empire, with large garrisons of Ottoman troops being stationed in the province. Before the First Balkan War in 1912, the province's shape and location denied Serbia and Montenegro a common land border. After the war, the major part of the vilayet was divided between Montenegro and Serbia. These borders were all ratified at the Treaty of London in 1913.^[7] The Ottoman Empire finally recognised the new borders following a peace deal with the Kingdom of Serbia on 14 March 1914.^{[citation needed]}