Kosovo (Albanian: Kosova, Kosovë; Serbian: Косово и Метохија; Kosovo i Metohija) is a disputed territory in the Balkans. The landlocked territory was a part of the lands of Thraco-Illyrian tribes, then of the Roman, Byzantine, Bulgarian, Serbian, and Ottoman empires. In the 20th century it was part of the Kingdom of Serbia and its successor state Yugoslavia. Following the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War, the territory came under the interim administration of the United Nations (UNMIK).

In February 2008, the Assembly of Kosovo declared Kosovo's independence as the Republic of Kosovo (Albanian: Republika e Kosovës). As of June 2008, its independence is recognised by 43 countries, including the USA, France and the United Kingdom, and opposed by others, including the People's Republic of China, India, Russia and the Republic of Serbia, which continues to claim sovereignty over Kosovo (as the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, Serbiann: Аутономна Покрајина Косово и Метохија, Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo i Metohija).

Kosovo borders Albania to the west, Central Serbia to the north and east, the Republic of Macedonia to the south, and Montenegro Pristina (also Prishtina, Priština), while other cities include Peć (Peja), Prizren, and Mitrovicaa.