Gjilan

Gjilan or Gnjilane (Гњилане) is the sixth most populous city in Kosovo and it serves as both a municipality and the administrative center of the Gjilan District. The municipality has a population of 90,178 with approximately 54,239 inhabitants residing in the urban area.

It is located in the east of Kosovo, in the region of Anamorava, and is well connected with the capital city of Kosovo, Pristina, as well as other surrounding cities such as Ferizaj, Kamenica, Preševo and Bujanovac.

Name
The etymology of Gjilan is disputed. Albanian sources claim that the town (initially a village) obtained its name from Bahti Beg Gjinolli of Gjinaj clan that ruled the region of Vushtrri (Llap and Drenica), and populated this area in the 18th century (around 1750). However, there is no definite evidence to support this claim and in fact no one can confirm who the first real inhabitants were or when they first settled. On the other hand, Serbian sources claim that the origin of the city's name comes from the Serbian word "gnjio" (rotten).

History


In 1342, a place called Morava was visited by Serbian King Stefan Dušan (later Emperor, r. 1331–1355). A fort was built nearby in the 14th century. Gornja Morava ("Upper Morava") was known simply as Morava under Ottoman rule, and it extended west of the Upper Žegra–Budriga–Cernica line, thus Gjilan stayed in the oblast (province) of Topanica, whose provincial seat was Novo Brdo. In the 1455 defter (Ottoman tax registry), Gjilan was inhabited by Serbs, and the priest Božidar served the town. There were 41 households. Haji Kalfa (first half of the 17th century) mentions Morava being 17 days from Constantinople. Gornja Morava and Izmornik were organized into the Sanjak of Viçitrina up until the 18th century. Gjilan became a kadiluk around 1780, and 20–25 years later a large village.

The exact year of establishment of Gjilan to this day is not exactly determined. In the 17th century, Evlia Çelebija mentions Gjilan, but named Morava, as a cadillac within the Sanjak of Viçitrina. There is a tradition in the people that Gjilan as a settlement was formed around 1750, and as an urban center – in 1772. Gjilan as a town developed in addition to the extinction of Novo Brdo, which in the Middle Ages was one of the cities and the largest commercial, economic and mining centers in the Balkans. The feudal family "Gjinaj" in the second half of the nineteenth century transferred their headquarters from Novo Brdo and built their own houses in the place where Gjilani is now located.

Modern history
In 1999, Camp Monteith was established outside the city as a base of operations for KFOR during Operation Joint Guardian, on the site of a destroyed Serbian military base which was handed over to the Kosovo Protection Corps in 2007 after the U.S. Military downsized their number of troops. Gjilan has also served as the regional headquarters of the UNMIK International Police task force from 1999.

On April 24, 2002, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake was recorded in the municipality of Gjilan, killing one person.

In 2020, the cities of Gjilan and Kumanovo, North Macedonia came closer through a new border point which was built in the village of Stançiq.

Geography
Gjilan is located in the southeastern part of Kosovo, the region of Anamorava. Its geographic position makes it possible to make good connections with other centers of Kosovo and the region. Around the town of Gjilan lies the Hill of Martyrs (Popovica), Gllama, Dheu i Bardhë, the area of Malisheva (Gjilan), Zabeli of Sahit Agës and Bregu i Thatë. There are three small rivers, Mirusha, Banja and Stanishori, which join and flow to Binačka Morava, west of the Uglara village.

Gjilan is 46 km from Pristina, 27 km from Kamenica, 22 km from Vitia, and 25 km from Novo Brdo. The municipalities of the region are bordered in the southeast by Preševo (33 km) and Kumanovo (53 km), and in the east by Bujanovac (40 km).

The Gjilan area is defined by the Morava River, which collects all the small rivers, with an average monthly flow rate of 6.7 cubic meters/second. In the southeast it is surrounded by the mountains of Karadak.

Climate
Gjilan has a Humid subtropical climate (Cfa) as of the Köppen climate classification with an average annual temperature of 10.9 C. The warmest month in Gjilan is August with an average temperature of 22.1 C, while the coldest month is January with an average temperature of -0.5 C.

Economy
As of 2018 there were 4,100 registered private businesses in the municipality employing some 6,900 people.

Prior to 1999, Gjilan was an important industrial centre in Kosovo. Still in operation are the radiator factory and tobacco factory, which has been recently privatized. The new city business incubator, supported by the European Agency for Reconstruction, was inaugurated in the summer of 2007.

Education
Education in Gjilan includes pre-school, primary and secondary education, and a public university (Kadri Zeka). As of 2018, there were 12,370 students in 29 primary schools, of which 12,023 were ethnic Albanians and 347 members of ethnic minorities (Serbs, Roma and Turks). There were nine secondary schools with 5,650 students of which 5,449 were Albanians and the rest minority groups.

Transport
A highway that connects the city of Gjilan with Pristina is being built, as well as connecting with the city of Kamenica. The highway which is 47 kilometers long, is expected to be completed at the end of 2024 or early 2025.

Demography


The population of Gjilan has always been mixed, but with a predominant majority of Albanians in both periods during Turkish and Serbian-Yugoslav rule. According to the 2011 census, the Municipality of Gjilan has 90,178 inhabitants. Albanians – 87,814, Serbs – 624, Turks – 978, Bosniaks – 121, Roma – 361, Ashkali – 15, Gorani – 69, Egyptians – 1, others – 95. They preferred not to respond – 35 people. In the city live 54,239 inhabitants, while in rural areas – 35,939. Division of population by gender: male – 45,354, female – 44,824. Based on the population estimates from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics in 2016, the municipality has 81,447 inhabitants.

The vast majority of the population is Albanian, followed by Serbs, and a small number of minorities. There are among others, 978 Turks or 1% of the municipal population. The recorded number of Serbs has decreased due to partial census boycott and the creation of the Serb-majority municipality of Parteš.

The ethnic composition of the municipality:

Albanian, Serbian and Turkish are all official languages in the municipality.

Flaka e Janarit
Flaka e Janarit is a cultural event that starts on January 11 in Gjilan with a symbolic opening of the flame, to keep up with various cultural activities to 31 January of each year. It gathers thousands of artists and art lovers from all the Albanian territories, who for three consecutive weeks transform the city into a cultural metropolis. The nation's martyrs are honored through values of art by this event, which began before the 10th anniversary of the assassination of writer, activist and patriot Jusuf Gërvalla, along with Kadri Zeka and Bardhosh Gërvalla. It was exactly the tenth anniversary without these three martyrs of freedom and from coincidence of these murders in a same date on 11 January, this event got this name "Flaka e Janarit".

There are 41 mosques in Gjilan.

Sports
Gjilan is home to the basketball club KB Drita, the football clubs SC Gjilani and FC Drita, and the volleyball club KV Drita. It also has the KF Bashkimi Gjilan football club which competes in the Third League. Gjilan hosts the biggest derby in Kosovo, the Kosovo Derby, between FC Drita and SC Gjilani. Both of the clubs are from the city, which draw thousands of viewers inside the Gjilan City Stadium.

Notable people

 * Idriz Seferi (b.1847), Albanian patriot
 * Mulla Idriz Gjilani (b.1901), Albanian patriot
 * Zoran Antić (b. 1975), Serbian footballer
 * Faton Bislimi (b. 1983), Kosovan author
 * Nijazi Ramadani (b. 1964), Kosovan poetry writer
 * Albert Bunjaku (b. 1983), Kosovan footballer
 * Daut Dauti (b. 1960) Kosovan author
 * Dragan Dimić, Serbian footballer
 * Bajram Haliti (b. 1955), Romani writer
 * Shpëtim Hasani (b. 1982), Kosovan footballer
 * Lutfi Haziri (b. 1969), Kosovan politician
 * Genta Ismajli (b. 1985), Kosovan singer
 * Aljmir Murati (b. 1985), Swiss footballer
 * Zenun Pajaziti (b. 1966), Kosovan politician
 * Xherdan Shaqiri (b. 1991), Swiss footballer
 * Jahi Jahiu, (b. 1959), Kosovan artist
 * Mira Stupica (b. 1923), Serbian actress
 * Goran Svilanović (b. 1963), Serbian politician
 * Faton Toski (b. 1987), Kosovan footballer
 * Agim Ramadani (b. 1963), KLA commander
 * Abdullah Tahiri (b. 1956), KLA commander
 * Antun Marković (b. 1992), Croatian footballer
 * Lirim Hajrullahu (b. 1990), Canadian CFL kicker
 * Đorđe Martinović (b. 1929), farmer

Twin towns – sister cities
Gjilan is twinned with:
 * 🇲🇰 Kumanovo, North Macedonia
 * 🇹🇷 Nazilli, Turkey
 * 🇦🇱 Sarandë, Albania
 * 🇺🇸 Sioux City, United States
 * 🇹🇷 Yıldırım, Turkey