Careers, Jobs and Education Resources for: Kosovo

Economic Overview

Over the past few years kosovo's economy has shown significant progress in transitioning to a market-based system, but it is still highly dependent on the international community and the diaspora for financial and technical assistance. remittances from the diaspora - located mainly in germany and switzerland - account for about 30% of gdp. kosovo's citizens are the poorest in europe with an average annual per capita income of only $1800 - about one-third the level of neighboring albania. unemployment - at more than 40% of the population - is a severe problem that encourages outward migration. most of kosovo's population lives in rural towns outside of the capital, pristina. inefficient, near-subsistence farming is common - the result of small plots, limited mechanization, and lack of technical expertise. economic growth is largely driven by the private sector - mostly small-scale retail businesses. with international assistance, kosovo has been able to privatize 50% of its state-owned enterprises (soes) by number, and over 90% of soes by value. minerals and metals - including lignite, lead, zinc, nickel, chrome, aluminum, magnesium, and a wide variety of construction materials - once formed the backbone of industry, but output has declined because investment has been insufficient to replace ageing eastern bloc equipment. technical and financial problems in the power sector also impedes industrial development. the us has worked with the world bank to prepare a commercial tender for the development of new power generating and mining capacity. the official currency of kosovo is the euro, but the serbian dinar is also used in the serb enclaves. kosovo's tie to the euro has helped keep inflation low. kosovo has maintained a budget surplus as a result of efficient tax collection and inefficient budget execution. while maintaining ultimate oversight, unmik continues to work with the eu and with kosovo's government to accelerate economic growth, lower unemployment, and attract foreign investment. in order to help integrate kosovo into regional economic structures, unmik signed (on behalf of kosovo) its accession to the central europe free trade area (cefta) in 2006. in february 2008, unmik also represented kosovo at the newly established regional cooperation council (rcc).

Government Type

Republic

Population

2,126,708 (2007 est.)

Location

Southeast europe, between serbia and macedonia

Area

Total: 10,887 sq km land: 10,887 sq km water: 0 sq km

Slightly larger than delaware

Country Aliases

Conventional long form: republic of kosovo conventional short form: kosovo local long form: republika e kosoves (republika kosova) local short form: kosova (kosovo) former: kosovo and metohija autonomous province

Capital

Name: pristina (prishtine) geographic coordinates: 42 40 n, 21 10 e time difference: utc+1 (6 hours ahead of washington, dc during standard time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last sunday in march; ends last sunday in october

International Disputes

Serbia with several other states protest the us and other states' recognition of kosovo's declaring itself as a sovereign and independent state in february 2008; ethnic serbian municipalities along kosovo's northern border challenge final status of kosovo-serbia boundary; several thousand nato-led kfor peacekeepers under unmik authority continue to keep the peace within kosovo between the ethnic albanian majority and the serb minority in kosovo; kosovo and macedonia completed demarcation of their boundary in september 2008