Obilić


Obilić, or Obiliq or Kastriot, is a town and municipality located in the Pristina District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Obilić has 6,864 inhabitants, while the municipality has 21,549 inhabitants. The municipality includes the town of Obilić and 19 villages.
The municipality is located immediately north-west of Pristina on the main road to Mitrovica. It was created in 1989, prior to which it formed part of Pristina municipality.

Name

Prior to the Balkan Wars, the settlement was known as Globoderica.
Following the conflict, the settlement was incorporated into Serbia and renamed Obilić as part of the Serbianisation efforts of the early twentieth century when inhabited places within Kosovo were named after heroes from Serbian epic poetry. The placename Obilić refers to the Serbian national hero Miloš Obilić who killed the Ottoman Sultan Murad I at the Battle of Kosovo.
In Albanian, the town is known as Obiliq, while an alternative name was coined by the Albanological Institute, Kastriot, after Albanian national hero George Kastrioti Skanderbeg.

Economy

There are three coal mines operating on the territory of Obilić: Belaćevac, Miraš and Sibovc. These mines are of tremendous value for Kosovo's economy and energy sector, as more than 97% of Kosovo's annual electricity production comes from there, with coal being the main resource for the power plants. There are two power plants operating on the territory of Obilić which combined produce:
According to the 2011 census, the municipality had a population of 21,548 inhabitants. Based on the population estimates from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics in 2016, the municipality has 19,440 inhabitants.
The ethnic composition of the town of Obilić:
Ethnic group1961 census1981 census2011 census
Serbs1,7782,8280
Albanians1,4343,2896,627
Montenegrins2484660
Others772,349227
Total3,6468,7696,846

Ethnic groups

The majority of the municipality is formed of Kosovo Albanians, with minorities of Kosovo Serbs, Roma, Ashkali, Bosniaks and others.

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