Viti, Kosovo

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Viti | native_name = {{unbulleted list |item_style=font-size:81%; | ''Viti'' or {{native name|sq|Vitia}}<br />''Vitina'' or {{native name|sr|Витина}} }} | other_name = | settlement_type = Town and municipality | image_skyline = {{multiple image | border = infobox | perrow = 1/2 |total_width = 300 |caption_align = center |image1 = Vitia.JPG |caption1 = Morava River |image2 = Gjykata - panoramio.jpg |caption2 = Street scene |image3 = Kisha Shen Jozefi 1965 Stubell e Eperme Viti.jpg |caption3 = Saint Joseph's Church }} | imagesize = | image_caption = | image_flag = Flag of Vitina.png | flag_size = | image_seal = | seal_size = | image_shield = | shield_size = | image_blank_emblem = Stema e Komunës Viti.svg | blank_emblem_type = Emblem | blank_emblem_size = | image_map = Komuna e Vitisë në Hartën e Kosovës.svg | mapframe = yes | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Kosovo | subdivision_type1 = District | subdivision_name1 = Gjilan | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | government_footnotes = | government_type = | leader_title = Mayor | leader_party = | leader_name = Sokol Haliti | established_title = | established_date = | unit_pref = metric | area_footnotes = | population_as_of = 2024 | population_footnotes = <ref name="Census2024">{{Cite web |year=2025 |title=ASK Data - Regjistrimi popullsisë |url=https://askdata.rks-gov.net/pxweb/sq/ASKdata/ |access-date=19 June 2025 |publisher=Agjencia e Statistikave të Kosovës (ASK)}}</ref> | population_blank1_title = Ethnicity | population_blank1 = {{ubl|99.3% Albanian|0.7% Other}} | population_note = | timezone = CET | utc_offset = +1 | timezone_DST = CEST | utc_offset_DST = +2 | coordinates = {{coord|42|18|N|21|23|E|region:XK|display=inline}} | elevation_footnotes =  | elevation_m = 499 | elevation_ft = | postal_code_type = Postal code | postal_code = 61000 | area_code = +383 38 | website = {{url|http://kk.rks-gov.net/viti}} | area_total_km2 = 269.69 | total_type = Municipality | registration_plate_type = Vehicle registration | registration_plate = 06 | population_total = 35566 | population_urban = 4924 | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = {{langx|sq|link=no|Vitias (m), Vitiase (f)}} | area_rank = 23rd in Kosovo }} '''Viti''' ({{lang-sq-definite|Vitia}}) or '''Vitina''' ({{lang-sr-Cyrl|Витина}}) is a town and municipality located in the District of Gjilan in Kosovo. As of 2024, the town of Viti has 5,780 inhabitants, while the municipality has 35,566 inhabitants.<ref name="Census2024"/>

== Etymology ==

The toponym Vitina is of Serbian origin and is derived from the personal name Vita or Vit, which comes from the Slavic root vitъ, meaning “lively,” “vital,” or “energetic.” The suffix -ina is a common Slavic toponymic ending indicating possession or association with a person or feature. The name therefore originally denoted “the settlement belonging to Vita” or “Vita’s place.”

An alternative interpretation links the root to Saint Vitus (Sveti Vid), a saint widely venerated in medieval Slavic regions, suggesting that the name may have originated from land associated with a church, estate, or community dedicated to him.

The Albanian form Viti represents a shortened phonological adaptation of the Slavic name Vitina, reflecting later linguistic usage rather than a separate Albanian lexical origin.

== History ==

=== Ancient times === [[File:Arkeologji - Periudha Romake - Kllokot.JPG|left|thumb|Dea Dardanica, a sculpture of an ancient deity]] In the Vërban archaeological site, the statue of Dea Dardanica was found.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berisha |first=Milot |title=Archaeological Guide of Kosovo |url=https://www.mkrs-ks.org/repository/docs/drafti_i_guides_-anglisht_final.pdf |access-date=13 July 2025 |publisher=Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Archaeological Institute of Kosovo |publication-place=Pristina |publication-date=2012}}</ref> The sculpture is thought that represents an ancient deity of the Dardani, an Illyrian people, it is considered a masterpiece of the Dardanian art.

===Ottoman period=== The municipality has several settlements historically inhabited by the Laramans, crypto-Catholics.

===Kosovo War and aftermath=== During the Kosovo War 16 KLA soldiers, as well as 5 Serb soldiers and policemen were killed in Viti.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=List of killed, missing and disappeared 1998-2000 |url=http://www.hlc-rdc.org/db/kkp_en/index.html}}</ref> The entire fighting happened in 1999 and in the southern part of the municipality, near the Karadak Mountains, in villages such as Lubishtë, Gjylekare, Mogillë, Smirë, Kabash and Dëbëlldeh.<ref name=":0" /> [[File:USArmyVitinaKosovo2000.jpg|thumb|left|A protest in Viti, monitored by KFOR troops, January 2000.]] During and after the Kosovo War 76 civilians were killed, 38 Albanians and 38 Serbs.<ref name=":0" /> thumb|Military checkpoint in Viti, July 1999.|left Following the 1999 Kosovo War, it was the home of A Company, 2/505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, the first KFOR troops to begin stabilization efforts in the municipality. After the initial unit left, Viti was the site of a subsequent international scandal when a Staff Sgt. Frank J. Ronghi, from A company, 3/504 Parachute Infantry Regiment raped and killed a local girl. The subsequent investigation uncovered serious training and leadership deficiencies in the 3/504 Parachute Infantry Regiment, and catalysed a tremendous change in the training of units deploying for peacekeeping operations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cohen |first=Roger |date=2000-08-02 |title=U.S. Sergeant Gets Life in Murder of Kosovo Girl, 11 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/02/world/us-sergeant-gets-life-in-murder-of-kosovo-girl-11.html |access-date=2023-04-04 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The Church of the Holy Mother of God, Podgorce was looted during the conflict.

During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the Orthodox cemetery in Viti and the village of Dobreš were hit by missiles.<ref>{{cite book|title=Civilian Deaths in the NATO Air Campaign|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hWGFAAAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Human Rights Watch|page=59}}</ref>

In August 2003, explosive devices planted in Klokot destroyed five Serb houses, with several injuries, including two American KFOR soldiers.<ref>{{cite book|title=Serbian Studies|volume=18|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m5EsAQAAIAAJ|year=2004|publisher=North American Society for Serbian Studies|page=315}}</ref>

Serbian Orthodox cemeteries have been destroyed in Viti, among other towns, and in 2004 during unrest, nuns of the Binča monastery were physically attacked, by ethnic Albanians.<ref name="Jović2007">{{cite book|author=Savo B. Jović|title=Ethnic Cleansing and Cultural Genocide on Kosovo and Metohija: Testimony to the Suffering of the Serbian Orthodox Church and Serbian People from 1945 to 2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vAoWAQAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=Holy Synod of Bishops of The Serbian Orthodox Church|isbn=978-86-7758-017-9|pages=113, 157}}</ref>

=== Insurgency in the Preševo Valley === During the Insurgency in the Preševo Valley, the UÇPMB mostly recruited fighters from the Karadak region of Kosovo, specifically in the town of Vitia. In February 2001, many towns and villages in the region were covered with posters that instructed Albanians between the ages of 18 and 48 to join their fellow Albanians in the UÇPMB. These posters were supposedly issued by the previously disbanded KLA.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Neumann |first=Friedrich |title=Wag the Dog: The Mobilization and Demobilization of the Kosovo Liberation Army |url=https://www.bicc.de/uploads/tx_bicctools/brief20.pdf |access-date=2 March 2023}}</ref>

=== Insurgency in Macedonia === Amidst the Insurgency in Macedonia, approximately 300 NLA fighters from the Vitia municipality, mostly recruited in Dëbëlldeh and Mjakë, participated in several battles against Macedonian security forces in Tanuševci.<ref>{{Cite web |title=List of terrorists and members of organized criminal organizations in Kosovo and Metohija |url=http://sorryserbia.com/wp/whitepaper2.htm |access-date=2023-03-07 |website=sorryserbia.com}}</ref> The NLA also used Dëbëlldeh and Mjakë as strongholds, where they would store Arms.<ref>{{Cite news |last=RATHFELDER |first=ERICH |date=2001-03-10 |title=Über die Grenze und in die Berge |language=de |pages=4 |work=Die Tageszeitung: taz |url=https://taz.de/!1183419/ |access-date=2022-07-31 |issn=0931-9085}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Rathfelder |first=Erich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZQA8CgAAQBAJ&dq=Debelde+kosovo&pg=PT260 |title=Kosovo: Geschichte eines Konflikts |date=2012-10-22 |publisher=Suhrkamp Verlag |isbn=978-3-518-79620-7 |language=de}}</ref>

===Contemporary=== The village of Kllokot, formerly part of the municipality of Viti, was established as a separate municipality on 8 January 2010. This change was implemented in accordance with the Ahtisaari Plan for the decentralization of Kosovo, which proposed the creation of a new municipality with a Serbian majority within the territory Viti municipality.

In 2013 in response to a KLA monument being removed by Serbian authorities in Preševo, a Kosovo Albanian crowd in Viti demolished a Yugoslav-era memorial for anti-fascist Partisans that were killed during the Second World War.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ristic|first1=Marija|last2=Peci|first2=Edona|title=UN Seeks Calm After Serbia Monument Protest|url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/un-calls-for-calm-in-south-serbia/1460/32|access-date=6 September 2016|publisher=Balkaninsight|date=22 January 2013}}</ref>

== Geography == The municipality and the town of Viti is located in the southeastern Kosovo. The town is located around {{Convert|20|km|abbr=on}} away from both Ferizaj and Gjilan. Viti and the southern part of the municipality lie on the foothills of the Karadak Mountains.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Warrander |first1=Gail |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uSaH1bKAb8QC&dq=karadak+mountains+vitina&pg=PA251 |title=Kosovo: The Bradt Travel Guide |last2=Knaus |first2=Verena |date=2010 |publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |isbn=978-1-84162-331-3 |language=en}}</ref> == Municipality == thumb|The municipality of Viti and its settlements|left {{div col|colwidth=15em}} * Ballancë * Beguncë * Binça * Budrikë e Epërme * Buzovik * Çifllak * Dëbëlldeh * Devajë * Drobesh * Gërmovë * Gjylekar * Goden i Madh * Gushicë * Kabash * Letnicë * Lubishtë * Mjak * Novosellë * Podgorc * Pozharan * Radivojc * Ramjan * Ramnishtë * Remnik * Sadovinë e Çerkezëve * Sadovinë e Jerlive * Shasharë * Sllatinë e Epërme * Sllatinë e Poshtme * Smirë * Stubëll e Epërme * Stubëll e Poshtme * Tërpezë * Tërstenik * Vërban * Vërnakollë * Vërnez * Zhiti {{div col end}}

== Demographics == According to the last census of 2024 by the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, the town of Viti has a 5,780 inhabitants while the municipality has 35,566 inhabitants.<ref name="Census20243">{{Cite web |year=2025 |title=ASK Data - Regjistrimi popullsisë |url=https://askdata.rks-gov.net/pxweb/sq/ASKdata/ |access-date=19 June 2025 |publisher=Agjencia e Statistikave të Kosovës (ASK)}}</ref> {{Historical populations | type = | percentages = pagr |1961|33642 |1971|39780 |1981|47839 |1991|57290 |2011|46987 |2024|35566 | source = Kosovo Agency of Statistics<ref name="Census2024">{{Cite web |year=2025 |title=ASK Data - Regjistrimi popullsisë |url=https://askdata.rks-gov.net/pxweb/sq/ASKdata/ |access-date=19 June 2025 |publisher=Agjencia e Statistikave të Kosovës (ASK)}}</ref> }}

=== Ethnicity and language === The municipality is homogeneously Albanian where 99.3% of the population identifies as ethnic Albanian. The dialect of the Albanian language spoken by the inhabitants is Gheg.<ref name="Census20243" />

=== Religion === In terms of religious affiliation, 95% of the population identified as Sunni Muslim. Roman Catholics constituted 3.6% of the population, while 0.4% identified as Orthodox Christian. An additional 0.4% reported adherence to other religions. A small proportion, 0.1%, declared no religious affiliation, and 0.5% refused to answer.

== Notable people == * Bastien Toma, footballer * Betim Halimi, footballer * Imri Demelezi, from Sllatinë e Poshtme, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development<ref>{{Cite web |title=Imri Demelezi - Deputy Ministers |url=https://www.mbpzhr-ks.net/en/deputy-ministers/imri-demelezi-796 |website=Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development |access-date=2023-09-13}}</ref> * Jonuz Zejnullahu, from Skifteraj, Imam and commander of the KLA. * Liridon Krasniqi, footballer * Marko Sopi, from Binač, Catholic prelate. * Milaim Rama, footballer * Muharrem Sahiti, from Budrikë, football coach. * Njazi Azemi, from Mogillë, commander of the KLA and LAPMB. * Rashit Mustafa, from Lubishtë, commander of the KLA. * Salih Salihu, Deputy in Kosovan Parliament * Shemsi Beqiri, from Viti, Kickboxing World Champion. * Sinan Hasani, from Pozheran, President of Yugoslavia * Urata Rama, sports shooter * Visar Ymeri, politician. == See also == *Municipalities of Kosovo *Cities and towns in Kosovo *Populated places in Kosovo

== References == {{Reflist}}

== External links == {{Commons category|Vitia}} * [http://kk.rks-gov.net/viti Municipality of Viti]

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Category:Viti, Kosovo Category:Municipalities of Kosovo Category:Cities in Kosovo