Leposavić, or Leposaviq or Albanik, is a town and the northernmost municipality in the Mitrovica District in Kosovo. As of 2015, it has an estimated population of 18,600 inhabitants. The municipality covers an area of which makes it the fifth largest in Kosovo, and consists of the town and 72 villages. It is a part of North Kosovo, a region with an ethnic Serb majority that functions largely autonomously from the remainder of ethnic Albanian-majority Kosovo. After the 2013 Brussels Agreement, the municipality is expected to become part of the Community of Serb Municipalities.
History
The Sočanica Monastery was founded in the 13th century by King Stefan Milutin. Many of the settlements were mentioned in the Studenica charters of King Stefan Dečanski. From 1877 to 1913 Leposavić was part of Kosovo vilayet.
After the First Balkan War, Kosovo was internationally recognised as a part of Serbia and northern Metohija as a part of Montenegro at the Treaty of London in May 1913. In 1918, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later named Yugoslavia was established by the merging of the Western South Slavic states. Between 1929 and 1941, the region was administratively part of the Zeta Banovina. Lešak, Belo Brdo, Vračevo, Berberište were incorporated into the Leposavić municipality in 1953. In the mid–1950s, the Assembly of PR Serbia decided that the Leposavić municipality be ceded to Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija, after requests by the Kosovo leadership. It had up until then been part of the Kraljevo srez, of which the population was wholly Serb. After this, the number of Serbs drastically fell. In 1959, Leposavić was incorporated into the province.
Although historically known as Leposavić in Serbian and Leposaviq in Albanian and being an area of Serbian settlement, the town has been referred to as Albanik on some maps produced by KFOR since Kosovo's declaration of independence. Albanik is preferred over Leposaviq in Kosovar governmental documents translated into English.
Settlements
Aside from the town of Leposavić, the municipality includes the following villages:
According to the 2011 estimations by the Government of Kosovo, Leposavić has 4,193 households and 13,773 inhabitants. In 2015 report by OSCE, the population of Leposavić municipality stands at 18,600 inhabitants. Municipality of Leposavić includes town and 72 villages.
Ethnic groups
The majority of Leposavić municipality is composed ofKosovo Serbs with around 18,000 inhabitants, while 350 Bosniaks and 270 Kosovo Albanians live in the municipality. Kosovo Albanians live in the three southern villages of Košutovo, Šaljska Bistrica, and Ceranje. The ethnic composition of the municipality of Leposavić, including IDPs:
Almost all industrial facilities are closed or work with reduced capacity. The unemployment rate is also high, and it has been considerably increased due to the closing down of most of the Trepča conglomerate facilities. The municipality is rich in natural, infrastructure and management, but current circumstances blocked all the potentials. The municipality adopted the Development Agenda 2006 – 2009, in cooperation with UNOPS and with the support of UNMIK and the Italian Government, which foresees improvement in the local economy. Given the current difficult situation,however, there is not much hope the Agenda will be properly implemented. The municipality, led by a very proactive CEO, pays noteworthy efforts toward identifying and initiating projects ideas. There are three lead and zinc mines operating on the territory of Leposavić: Belo Brdo, Crepulje and Crnac.
