Opolje

Opolje or Opoja (Serbian: Опоље, Opština Opolje) is northern region of the municipality of Dragaš in the southern most part of Kosovo^[a] with Gora being the southern one.

Opolje comprises 19 villages with a population of 30.000 (including Dragaš). Its population is almost exclusively of Albanian ethnicity, whereas the population of Gora is Gorani. Only the town of Dragaš has a mixed ethnicity.

Originally Opolje and Gora were separate municipalities, but they got merged into the municipality of Dragaš by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). Serbia has not officially recognized this act.^[a]. Opolje is part of the District of Prizren.

Notes and references

Notes:

a.	^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognised by 85 UN member states.

References:

Further Reading

• Robert Elsie: Historical Dictionary of Kosova. Scrarecrow Press 2004, ISBN 9780810853096, p. 132 (restricted online copy at Google Books)
• Janet Susan Reineck: The Past as Refuge: Gender, Migration and Ideology among Kosovo Albanians (pdf) - Dissertation, University of California (Berkley) 1991
• Municipality of Dragaš - 2008 publication of the Local Government and Reform Initiative (LGI) describing the region and development plans for it.

Coordinates: 42°03′38″N 20°38′25″E / 42.06056°N 20.64028°E / 42.06056; 20.64028