page_title: Cultural heritage of Kosovo
section_title: Folklore
hierarchical_section_title: Cultural heritage of Kosovo / Intangible culture / Folklore
caption_attribution_description: English: The Serbian National Folk Dance Ensemble Kolo presents Dances from Gnjilane. Hamilton, Canada - 2011. Choreographer Dejan Milosavljevic
context_page_description: Kosovo is a partially recognized state and disputed territory located in the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The majority of Kosovars are ethnically Albanian or Serb. Kosovo has an expansive cultural heritage, including monuments, clothing items, museums, and traditional food.
context_section_description: The Ottoman Empire left behind their religion, their language, and their people in Kosovo(dating back to the 14th century). All three mark important facts of the Kosovar culture today. Kosovo has 2 official languages, Albanian and Serbian. Although they have strong Turkish roots in their folkloric music, the mass are not fluent in Turkish, it is only the elders in secular groups and municipalities that speak Turkish. According to the Kosovo Ministry of Education, each student must master and demonstrate their mother tongue during primary and secondary schooling in whichever language they choose (although most students take up the Albanian mother tongue). In addition the first foreign language that every student must demonstrate proficiency, is English. The influence of the Ottomans had a spill-over effect of cultural and religious identity which resulted in the construction of many religious monuments and artifacts in Kosovo. Over 90% of Kosovar-Albanians are of Islamic religion primarily due to the occupation of the Ottoman Empire. Aside from Turkish-religious-structural influences, the current Kosovar culture was also influenced by other ethnic minorities within the region constituting, but not limited to: Roma, Serb, Bosnian, Ashkali, Gorani, etc. Thus, instruments like the Kemenche and traditional dances such as Hora from the Turkish culture become a symbol of Kosovar ethnic identity. Similarly, the instrument knows as the Cifteli, is also a widely used instrument in Kosovo with origins from the Turkish culture that dates back to the early Ottoman Empire.  Likewise, the Serbians adopted music known as "tallava", a fast-paced folk music type, which has had a great influence in the recent years in Kosovo culture.
  Folklore and Oral tradition have been present throughout the history of Kosovo, where these two elements played a crucial role in communicating important information, history and events among communities and generations. A low literacy rate and dynamics of life style in rural areas limited the ability to document important developments in written formats. Consequently, communities transmitted important national events and collective memories to younger generations through oral traditions, including legends, songs, proverbs and stories.
caption: Serbian traditional dance (kolo) from Gnjilane
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