is a city and municipality in western Kosovo It is also the administrative centre of the homonymous district The municipalitys population is estimated at  OSCE  October  Retrieved on  March  The city is located at   Named after one of the large landowners of the area Jak Vula  Jakova  Gjakova or that it derives from the Albanian word for blood gjakMalcolm Noel KosovoA Short History Harper Perennial  ISBN      Geography and population  The municipality covers an area of  km including the town of akovica and  villages As of October  the population is estimated to be of approximately  people out of which   live in the town and   reside in the surrounding villages The Kosovo Albanians constitute ca  of the population  citizens from Gjakova and  Kosovo Villagers while some  Bosniaks Roma Ashkali and Egyptians making up ca  represent the main minority communities  According to OSCE estimations before the Kosovo War of  the municipality had a population of about  of which   were Kosovo Albanians and  nonmajority communities including some  Kosovo Serbs who mostly lived in the main townOSCE  November  Retrieved on  November   History  Gjakova in the Kosovo War  The town was extremely badly affected by the war suffering great physical destruction and largescale human losses and rights abuses   Actions on the ground had a devastating effect on the town According to the ICTY OSCE and international human rights organisations about  of the population was forcibly expelled from the town by Serbian police and paramilitaries as well as Yugoslav forces with many civilians being killed in the process  Large areas of the town were destroyed chiefly through arson and looting but also in the course of localised fighting between government security forces and members of the KLA The actions of the government forces in Gjakova formed a major part of the United Nations war crimes indictment of the thenPresident Slobodan Miloevi   During the Kosovo war this municipality was heavily affected and many atrocities were committed against the local Albanian population The number of missing people from this municipality is among the highest in all Kosovo numbering over  In the course of the current year several dozens of corpses have been identified and returned to their families though it still remain a relatively small number compared to the figures of those who are still missing As a result any reference to the return of the former Kosovo Serb population remains highly sensitive   Most of the Albanians population returned following the end of the war Albanians and other communities such as Egyptians and Roma were successful in building a free market system and new democratic institutions  In  free democratic elections were held with a majority won by LDK  Thousands of new stores were rebuilt and opened Qarshia e Madhe is a good example where hundreds of stores were destroyed during the war in  as many were rebuilt as there had been before the war New media were launched such as Radio Gjakova Radio Pandora Radio Amadeus and TV Syri Local businesses set up manufacturing enterprises  The IMN brick factory was one of these undertaken to satisfy the urgent needs of the population Businesses are now booming with aid from foreign organizations and their activities are based mainly on free market trade   Sport