Pristina

Pristina, also spelled Prishtina (Albanian: Prishtinë, IPA: [pɾiʃtinə]; Serbian: Приштина / Priština; Turkish: Priştine), is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the homonymous municipality and district.

Preliminary results of the 2011 census put the population of Pristina at 198,000. The city has a majority Albanian population, alongside other smaller communities. It is the administrative, educational, and cultural center of Kosovo. The city is home to the University of Pristina and is served by Pristina International Airport.

Name

The name of the city is derived from a Slavic form *Prišьčь, a possessive adjective from the personal name *Prišьkъ, (preserved in the Kajkavian surname Prišek, in the Old Polish personal name Parzyszek, and in the Polish surname Pryszczyk) and the derivational suffix -ina 'belonging to X and his kin'. The name is most likely a patronymic of the personal name *Prišь, preserved as a surname in Sorbian Priš, and Polish Przybysz - a hypocoristic of the Slavic personal name Pribyslavъ. A false etymology connects the name Priština with the Serbian word prišt (пришт), meaning 'ulcer' or 'tumour', referring to its 'boiling'. However, this explanation cannot be correct, as Slavic place names ending in -ina corresponding either or both to an adjective or the name of an inhabitant lacking this suffix are built from personal names or denote a person and never derive, in these conditions, from common nouns (SNOJ 2007: loc. cit.). The inhabitants of this city call themselves Prishtinali in local Gheg Albanian or Prištevci (Приштевци) in the local Serbian dialect.

Adrian Gaxha

Adrian Gaxha (born 13 February 1984) is an Albanian singer-songwriter and a producer from Macedonia.

Biography

Early life

Adrian Gaxha was born on 13 February 1984 in Skopje, Macedonia to an Albanian father and a Macedonian mother. Adrian Gaxha presents as an Albanian. He started playing the viola at an early age and also graduated from a Music High School. He is currently studying the English language in Skopje.

Career: 2001-2008

Gaxha started singing in 2001 in the Albanian festival of pop music Nota Fest. There, he won first prize, the first time a newcomer won both, the jury and the audience votes. Within a short time, Adrian became one of the most popular singers in Macedonia and Albania and other Albanian-speaking territories. Until today he has recorded four albums, three in the Albanian and one in Macedonian.

His performances usually include a lot of skillful dance choreography. He has also participated in festivals such as Videofest in Prishtina, Makfest in Štip, and has won the first prize at Ohrid Fest. In 2006, he finished second at the Macedonian national preselection for Eurovision, singing the song "Ljubov e" with Esma Redzepova.

Kosovo

Coordinates: 42°35′N 21°00′E / 42.583°N 21.000°E / 42.583; 21.000

Kosovo (/ˈkɒsəvoʊ, ˈkoʊ-/;Albanian: Kosova; Serbian Cyrillic: Косово) is a disputed territory and partially recognised state in Southeastern Europe that declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo. While Serbia recognises the Republic's governance of the territory, it still continues to claim it as its own Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.

Kosovo is landlocked in the central Balkan Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pristina. It is bordered by the Republic of Macedonia and Albania to the south, Montenegro to the west, and the uncontested territory of Serbia to the north and east. In antiquity, the Dardanian Kingdom, and later the Roman province of Dardania was located in the region. It was part of Serbia in the Middle Ages, and many consider the Battle of Kosovo of 1389 to be one of the defining moments in Serbian medieval history. After being part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th to the early 20th century, in the late 19th century Kosovo became the centre of the Albanian independence movement with the League of Prizren. As a result of the defeat in the First Balkan War (1912–13), the Ottoman Empire ceded the Vilayet of Kosovo to the Balkan League; the Kingdom of Serbia took its larger part, while the Kingdom of Montenegro annexed the western part before both countries became a part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I. After a period of Yugoslav unitarianism in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the post-World War II Yugoslav constitution established the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within the Yugoslav constituent republic of Serbia.