Autonomous region (since 1974) in S Serbia,
Yugoslavia; capital Pristina; area 10,900 sq
km/4,207 sq mi; population (1986) 1,900,000
consisting of about 200,000 Serbs and about
1.7 million Albanians. Products include wine,
nickel, lead, and zinc. Since it is largely
inhabited by Albanians and bordering on
Albania, there are demands for unification
with that country, while in the late 1980s
Serbians were agitating for Kosovo to be
merged with the rest of Serbia. A state of
emergency was declared Feb 1990 after
fighting broke out between ethnic Albanians,
police, and the Slavic minority.