The status of Kosovo
Kosovo is a partially recognised state that declared independence in 2008 and is recognised by roughly half the world's countries. That is why it appears among the 250 entries here but not among the 193 UN member states: the two lists answer different questions, and neither one is simply "the countries of the world".
Recognition is a political fact rather than a geographic one, and it is not all-or-nothing — a state can hold a seat at some international bodies, issue its own passports and run its own currency while a portion of the world declines to recognise it. Judge the practical questions on their own evidence rather than on the UN membership list alone.
Not holding a UN seat is not the same as having no self-government, and the administrative details make that clear. Kosovo has 5 of the five markers of separate administration tracked on this page — its own currency, its own dialling code, its own internet domain, its own iso codes and a designated capital. In day-to-day terms it is run substantially as its own jurisdiction.
- Its own currencyEUR
- Its own dialling code+383
- Its own internet domain.xk
- Its own ISO codesxk / UNK
- A designated capitalPristina
Kosovo overview
Kosovo sits in Southeast Europe, part of Europe. It is a partially recognised state that declared independence in 2008 and is recognised by roughly half the world's countries. The long form of the name is Republic of Kosovo. The capital is Pristina.
Some 1.8 million people call it home, placing it 153rd of 250 by population — between North Macedonia above it and Bahrain below. Measured only against its own subregion, it is 9th of 9 in size and 8th in population.
Its territory runs to 10,908 km², which ranks it 168th of the 250 countries and territories in this dataset — just behind Jamaica and just ahead of the Gambia. Put next to a country most people can picture, it is almost exactly the same size as Jamaica.
Kosovo at a glance
- Capital
- Pristina
- Population
- 1,760,000
- Area
- 10,908 km²
- Region
- Southeast Europe, Europe
- Languages
- Albanian, Serbian
- Currency
- Euro (EUR)
- Calling code
- +383
- Internet TLD
- .xk
- People per km²
- 161
How Kosovo sits on the globe
Its reference point sits at 42.7° north and 21.2° east, which puts it in the northern hemisphere, roughly 4,750 km from the equator, in what geographers would call temperate latitudes.
Countries on the same parallel, far away in longitude, include Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
4 countries share a land border with it: Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The largest of them by area is Serbia, which is also the most populous. Together those neighbours hold about 11.4 million people.
Kosovo is landlocked. That is true of 45 of the 250 entries here, so all seaborne trade runs through a neighbour's ports. 2 of its neighbours, North Macedonia and Serbia, are landlocked too. You can see the full picture on the landlocked countries page.
Where Kosovo is on the map
The map below is centred on Kosovo at roughly 42.67°, 21.17°. Pan and zoom to see how it sits against its surroundings — the shape of a country's borders explains a surprising amount about its history.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
People, population and language
Density comes out at around 161 people per square kilometre, which makes it more crowded than the typical entry on this list. The median across all 250 entries here is about 90 per square kilometre.
People from Kosovo are called Kosovars.
Officially it is multilingual, listing Albanian and Serbian. Albanian, the first listed, is shared with 1 other entry worldwide.
Inside Europe it places 35th of 53 by population, and it accounts for 3.9% of everyone living in Southeast Europe.
Money and language in Kosovo
Kosovo does not have the Euro to itself. It is one of 38 entries on this site that use the currency, whose code is EUR, and the others include listed below. A shared currency usually points at something real — a monetary union, a currency board, a former colonial administration, or a small economy pegging itself to a large neighbour's money — and it means a price quoted in EUR travels further than you might expect.
Language reaches wider still. Serbian is listed for 3 entries here, Kosovo among them, so a visitor who speaks it can be understood across a large part of the map. Shared language tends to outlive the empires, trade routes and migrations that spread it, which is why the linguistic map and the political one rarely line up.
Also uses the Euro (EUR):
Also lists Albanian among its languages:
Also lists Serbian among its languages:
Countries bordering Kosovo
Kosovo shares a land border with 4 countries: Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Each one has its own guide here.
Kosovo within Southeast Europe
Zoom in from the world to Southeast Europe and Kosovo sits 8th of 9 by population and 9th by area. Its immediate company in that ordering is North Macedonia just above and Montenegro just below, which is a more honest comparison set than a global league table.
Romania is the largest of the group by population, and every entry in Southeast Europe has its own page here if you want to work through the whole neighbourhood rather than one country at a time.
Kosovo codes and abbreviations
Every country carries a small set of codes that quietly run the practical world — phone networks, web addresses, passports, luggage tags and dropdown menus. Here are Kosovo's, and what each one is actually for.
- Calling code+383
- Dial +383 after your international access code to reach a number in Kosovo.
- Internet domain.xk
- .xk is the country-code top-level domain, so a web address ending in it is registered to Kosovo.
- ISO two-letter codexk
- Used on vehicle plates, in currency pairs and in almost every dropdown list of countries.
- ISO three-letter codeUNK
- The form you will see on passports, at airports and in sports scoreboards.
- DemonymKosovar
- The correct word for a person from Kosovo, and for the adjective form.
Fun facts about Kosovo
- Within Southeast Europe it is the 9th largest of 9.
- It is landlocked, one of 45 entries here with no coastline of its own.
- It shares land borders with 4 countries: Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
- Population density works out at roughly 161 people per square kilometre.
- In land area it is almost exactly the same size as Jamaica.
- Its capital city is Pristina.
- People from Kosovo are known as Kosovars.
- It is 153rd of 250 by population, with about 1.8 million residents.
Kosovo — frequently asked questions
- What is the capital of Kosovo?
- The capital of Kosovo is Pristina.
- What is the population of Kosovo?
- Kosovo has a population of about 1.8 million, which makes it the 153rd most populous of the 250 countries and territories listed on this site. North Macedonia sits just above it and Bahrain just below.
- How big is Kosovo?
- Kosovo covers 10,908 km², ranking 168th of 250 by land area. That makes it almost exactly the same size as Jamaica.
- What currency does Kosovo use?
- Kosovo uses the Euro, written € (currency code EUR). It is shared with 37 other entries.
- Is Kosovo landlocked?
- Yes. Kosovo has no sea coast, which makes it one of 45 landlocked entries in this dataset. Everything it imports or exports by sea has to cross a neighbour's territory first, and that transit dependency is a well-documented drag on trade costs.
- Which countries border Kosovo?
- Kosovo borders 4 countries: Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Serbia is the largest of them by area.
- Is Kosovo a country?
- It depends on the rule you use, which is why the answer is worth spelling out. Kosovo is a partially recognised state that declared independence in 2008 and is recognised by roughly half the world's countries. It is not a dependency of another state, so lists of dependent territories leave it out, and it is not a UN member, so the familiar count of 193 leaves it out too. It appears here with its own flag, capital and statistics like every other entry.
- What language is spoken in Kosovo?
- Kosovo lists 2 official languages: Albanian and Serbian.
- Where is Kosovo located?
- Kosovo is in Southeast Europe, part of Europe. Its reference coordinates are 42.7° north and 21.2° east, roughly 4,750 km from the equator in temperate latitudes.
