Kosovars history, language, religion, and their numbers in the province of Kosovo have defined them as a separate nation with a right of self-determination and sovereignty. For a long time in history of Yugoslavia "Kosovo Albanians were refused, by dominated by Serbs Yugoslavia's government, their constitutional rights. Now, after peacefully waiting for some changes, they demand at least their recognition as republic quoting on "their homogeneity, their cultural distinctiveness, and the size of their population, which is no less than that of other communities considered as 'nations'" (Samary 122).

Currently the majority of the Kosovars are ethnic Albanians. Practically all are Muslim. They converted to Islam from C

In 1989, then-Serbian president Slodoban Milosevic, revoked Kosovo's autonomous status and in 1990, to cut Albanians claims "declared a state of emergency in the Kosovo Province, ended autonomy, and instituted direct rule from the Serbian capital of Belgrad" ("Albanians and Serbs"). Following, many Kosovars lost their jobs. Many schools, hospitals and ethnic, cultural centers were closed. To suppress ethnic soul in Kosovo in 1993 "the Serbs moved an army of 100,000 near the Serbian border, creating fear [of] a Bosnian-style ethnic cleansing campaign" (Albanians and Serbs"). Albanians leaders pursued different ways to achieve more freedom. The moderate ones were opting for staying in Yugoslavia federation for bigger independence in the future. Ibrahim Rugova - leader of KDA wanted free election in the region. He was very strong opponent of Serbia's government, which he says was "treating us like a colony. It acts like the European colonial lords in Africa...we are for Yugoslavia, if it is possible to find a democratic solution in the European spirit" (Cohen 124). Slobodan Milosevic using his superior military force has been pushing all the Albanians out of the borders of Kosovo to make room for Serbs later. Since the Serbs started campaign to eliminate the KLA, they drove hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians from their homes. Using terror, burning villages, mass killings and raping women the exodus of Muslims has been steadily increasing (Calabressi 30). They were finding rescue in neighboring countries - Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro. According to The Associated Press on the 05/03/99 more than 660,000 people have already left Kosovo since the air strikes began (Austin 1). The situation in Kosovo has reached the point of genocide. Now it is too late to forget what has happened. The scars are too deep, the hatred too strong. It will take more than this generation to heal the wounds of the last few years. It will take education of the peoples involved, learning to compromise and learning the value of human life. That is why the people of Kosovo cannot live in one country with the people of Serbia. That is why they need an independent Kosovo. The most admirable words in support of the Kosovar's independence were by winner in 1986 of the Nobel Peace Prize - Elie Wiesel: It would be inhuman to remain indifferent. It would be an insult to our memory, our principles, and our faith and to our humanity. Humanity is being violated in Kosovo. What we see now is so horrendous: a million or more people, men, women and children, innocent, who have done absolutely nothing to deserve their fate. Their homes are destroyed, their businesses abolished, their security taken away, families separated, innocent people killed, massacres, executions. (McGuire 1/sec.2)

atholicism and Orthodox Christianity during 500 years of Ottoman Empire rule. (Language 1) Islam has become a major role in the development of their culture and is a main element of their national individualism. Kosovo is a "spectacular region" with 2 million Albanian inhabitants (Pryce - Jones 24). Today Ethnic Albanians create 90% of the whole population of Kosovo. Serbs, Montenegrins, Muslim Slavs and Croats compose the other 10%, with the majority of Serbs among (Curtis 293). Before the end of World War II Serbs made up about half of the population of Kosovo. Most of them left the region for more prosperous parts of Yugoslavia. The structure of Kosovo's population was changed by the fast growth of the Albanians. The least developed region of Yugoslavia had its population "in demographic youth." Annual growth rates of Kosovo in 1986 was one of the highest in Europe (2.5%), unfortunately infant mortality rate, "a key indicator of population's social, economic, health care, a cultural levels," was highest among all Yugoslavia's republics (63.1 - compare to Vojvodina -12.0 infant deaths per thousand births) (Curtis 68-9).

As much as the mosaic of the Balkans is shown in

Some common words found in the essay are:
People Yugoslavia, II Serbs, Battle Kosovo, Elie Wiesel, Associated Press, Serbians Albanians, Kosovo's Albanians, War II, Judaism Protestantism, Serbs Serbs, ethnic albanians, slobodan milosevic, western powers, ethnic religious, slovenia croatia, 17 serbs, curtis 17, world war, serbs albanians, language 1, world war ii, st vitus day, curtis 17 serbs,
Approximate Word count = 2788
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)