Istok

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This article is about a town Istok. For other uses, see Istok (disambiguation).

Istog
Burimi
Исток
Istok
Location in Kosovo

General Information
Mayor	?
Land area	?
Altitude	?
Population (1991)	57,261 (municipality)
Population density	?
Coordinates	?
Postal code:	?
Area code	?
Time zone	UTC+1
Website	?

Istok (Serbian: Исток or Istok; Albanian: Istog or Burimi) is a town in western Kosovo, a Serbian province under UN administration. It is the administrative capital of the municipality of Istok, which includes the town and the surrounding villages.

1 Name
2 Economy
3 Demographics
4 Some notable features
5 See also
6 External links
7 References

[edit] Name

The name of the town comes from the archaic version of Serbian word istok (modern version istek), meaning "well, water source" referring to the springs of the Istočka river, a tributary to the White Drin river. ^[1] The name of the nearby village of Vrela, one of the largest settlements in the municipality, also means "springs", as does the newly proposed Albanian name of the town, Burimi, ("well" in Albanian).

[edit] Economy

After WWII, watermills on the river of Istok were nationalized and a new fish plant was built to operate as a Socially-owned Enterprise. The company's name during socialism was "Ribnjak" (in Serbian) meaning "Piscatory or Fishery", and when it was privatized as Motel "Trofta" (in Albanian) meaning "Trout", or the type of fish it has been and is still producing, selling, and distributing. The company currently employs around 70 workers.

[edit] Demographics

According to the 1991 census, the population of the municipality numbered 57,261, including 76.68% Albanians, 12.70% Serbs and Montenegrins, 7.11% Muslims by nationality, etc.

Although there is no official data, the total population of the municipality is estimated at 65,000.

[edit] Some notable features

Istok is the home to the strongest wind in the Western Balkans flowing from North to South;

One of the largest prison in Europe is located 4-5km to the east of Istok (Dubrava Prison);

Former President of Kosovo, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, was born in the municipality of Istok (in the village of Crnce);

The father of the famous Turkish-Albanian poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy was born in the municipality of Istok (in the village of Shushica);

Agnesa Vuthaj, who was crowned Miss Kosovo 2003, Miss Albania 2004, and represented Albania in Miss World 2005 hosted in the city of Sanya in China, was born in Istok on 8 February 1986.