Podujevo

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Подујево
Podujevo
Podujevë
Podujeva
(*Besiana*)
Location in Kosovo

General Information
Mayor
Land area
Altitude
Population (2006)	48,526
Population density (2006)	?
Coordinates	42.91° N 21.19° ECoordinates: 42.91° N 21.19° E
Postal code:	?
Area code	+381 38
Time zone	UTC+1
Website	KK Podujevë

Podujevo (Serbian: Подујево or Podujevo ; Albanian: Podujevë, Podujeva or Besiana) is a town and municipality in north-eastern Kosovo, a Serbian province under UN administration.

Podujevo is situated in a strategic position due to a regional motorway and railroad linking surrounding regions. Although there is no official data, the total population of the municipality is estimated at 130,000. Podujevo town population is estimated at 35,000.

1 Name
2 Recent history
3 Demographics
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Name

The Albanian name of the town, Besiana, derives from the word besa, and ana, meaning "region".^{[citation needed]} Historically, people from region are know to resist foreign occupiers, and are known to keep their word, hence Besiana.^{[citation needed]} The founding member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Zahir Pajaziti, was from the Podujevo region.

[edit] Recent history

On March 28, 1999 occurred the Podujevo massacre, in which 14 Kosovo Albanian women and children were murdered in a back garden in Podujevo by Serbian paramilitary from the notorious interior ministry unit the Scorpions. Five children were the sole survivors of the atrocity and four years later went to the Belgrade district court to testify against Sasa Cvjetan, a Serbian paramilitary. The court in Belgrade sentenced Sasa Cvjetan to 20 years in jail for his part in the killing of 7 women and 7 children.

This town is also known for its cattle trade and for its battlefields during the last Kosovo war in 1999. It has over 70 villages. Podujevo/Besiana is not one of the major cities of Kosovo but has a good potential to invite tourists from around Kosovo and other foreign places for its beautiful mountains and Lake Batllava.

[edit] Demographics

Year/Population	Albanians	%	Serbs	%	Ashkali/Roma	%	Total
Ethnic Composition, Including IDPs
1991	89,290	98.1	1,521	1.3	223	0.2	91,011
January 1999	App. 120,000	98	App. 1,600	1	App. 1,200	1	App. 122,000
Current figure	App. 130,200	99.1	27		1,067	0.8	App. 131,300
Source: 1999 census data, Municipality. It is noted that the 1991 census was highly politicised and is thus unreliable. Ref: OSCE [1]