33 Countries of Origin’ Profiles

14 ETHNICITY Justin Dodge Today most of the people living in Kosovo a re ethnic Albanians, although just a couple decades ago, in the late 1900s, the population was much more diverse. The Albanians are a unique ethnic group with few close relatives; they are one of the oldest ethnic groups in all of Europe a nd are considered quite distinct ethnically. The past diversity in the country can still be seen in much smaller numbers as most of the people living in Kosovo that aren't ethnic Albanian remain from this time. These small groups of people include Serbs, Montenegrins, and others. During the Kosovo War in 1999, over 700,000 ethnic Albanians,[18] around 100,000 ethnic Serbs and more than 40,000 Bosniaks were forced out of Kosovo to neighbouring Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Serbia. After the United Nations took over administration of Kosovo following the war, the vast majority of the Albanian refugees returned.[citation needed] The largest diaspora communities of Kosovo Albanians are in Germany and Switzerland accounting for some 200,000 individuals each, or for 20% of the population resident in Kosovo. Many non-Albanians – chiefly Serbs and Romani – fled or were expelled, mostly to the rest of Serbia at the end of the war, with further refugee outflows occurring as the result of sporadic ethnic violence. The number of registered refugees is around 250,000.[19][unreliable source?][20][21] The non-Albanian population in Kosovo is now about half of its pre- war total[citation needed]. The largest concentration of Serbs in the province is in the north, but many remain in Kosovo Serb enclaves surrounded by Albanian-populated areas.