Drenica
Drenica (, ), also known as the Drenica Valley, is a hilly region in central Kosovo, covering roughly around of Kosovo's total area (6%). It consists of two municipalities, Drenas and Skenderaj, and several villages in Klina, Zubin Potok, Mitrovica and Vučitrn. It is located west of the capital, Pristina. According to the 2011 Census, the population of the region is 109,389, excluding the surrounding villages. Albanians form the absolute majority of the region. Etymology. The etymology of the name is disputed. Explanations can be found in both Albanian and Serbian. It might derive from Albanian "dre" meaning deer or  from Serbian: дрен/"dren" meaning cornel. Geography. Drenica is located in the center of what is today Kosovo, in the western part of the region itself of Kosovo. It is sometimes regarded as a region in its own right. Drenica is divided into Upper Drenica, also called Red Drenica and Lower Drenica, also called Pasha's Drenica. The highest mountains in the region are Mount Caraleva (1,177m) and Mount Çiçavica (1,091m). History. Middle Ages. Between 1246 and 1255, Stefan Uroš I had reported Albanian toponyms in the Drenica valley. A chrisobull of the Serbian Tsar Stefan Dušan that was  given to the Monastery of Saint Mihail and Gavril in Prizren between the years of 1348-1353 states the presence of Albanians in the Plains of Dukagjin, the vicinity of Prizren and in the villages of Drenica. Draškovina was the name of a medieval Serbian "župa" (county) that included parts of Dukagjini and northern Drenica. The area of Kosovo, including Drenica, was part of Vuk Branković's territory during the fall of the Serbian Empire. Drenica was first mentioned as a "župa" at the end of the Middle Ages. It was mentioned in 1413, when Đurađ Branković, his mother Mara , and brothers Đurađ and Lazar, endowed the village of Dobroševce to the Monastery of Saint Paul of Mount Athos. Despot Đurađ Branković (1427–1456) founded the Devič monastery in the region. Other than Devič, in this region there were many other Serbian orthodox monasteries, so Drenica was often called "second Serbian Holy Mountain". During the Ottoman period, the monastery of Devič was protected by local Albanian Muslims on who's territory Devič was situated on. Ottoman Times. During the Albanian Uprising of 1912, freedom fighters from Drenica, under the command of Zejnullah Bey, occupied Vushtrri. Modern history. The Drenica Uprising of  1945, in which the Albanians of Drenica resisted Yugoslav control after the Yugoslav partisans committed many atrocities against the locals, began on 22 January and ended on 18th February. This began when 75 well-known Drenica Albanians were killed by having their heads bashed in by sledgehammers, and were then thrown into a large ditch - the whole Drenica region, at this time numbering around 35,000 inhabitants, rose in revolt as a result of these actions in a bid for freedom. The Drenica uprising was sustained by over 6,000 men. The Drenica region was surrounded by 12-15 partisan brigades, which  comprised 36,000-50,000 Serbs, Montenegrins, Bulgarians and Albanians. The fighting lasted for 28 days, and 430 Drenica fighters were subsequently killed or wounded. Over 150 homes were looted or burnt down, and around 6,000 inhabitants of Drenica, Vushtrri and Mitrovica were deprived of food and all of their belongings. Partisan casualties numbered to 2,550 dead, 6,000 wounded and 850 prisoners captured. On the 18th of February, on the final day of fighting, the main commanders of the uprising fell in battle - they were Shaban Polluzha, Miftar Bajraktari, Mehmet Gradica and Gani Llaushi. Due to the death of these important commanders , and the lack of ammunition, the Drenica uprising crumbled. The villages surrounding the towns of Drenas and Skenderaj were the birthplace of the ethnic Albanian separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and a stronghold of Albanian nationalism. Drenica was a KLA stronghold throughout and prior to the Kosovo War, and saw many armed conflicts against the security forces of FR Yugoslavia. It was also a safe place for refugees coming from other parts of Kosovo. In 1998, Serb police and military launched a campaign in Drenica that terrorised the local population and culminated with the Attack on Prekaz against the Jashari  family. Serb forces killed 80 Albanians, of which 25 were women and children, and former Serbian president Milan Milutinović commended the massacre. The Yugoslav army and paramilitary units used the Feronikel plant near Drenas as a base for operations during the war. Before the war, the factory produced nickel and ore. After the Albanian workers were laid off or expelled, it was also used as a barracks and a fire base, in which cannons and rockets were fired against KLA positions. The plant was bombed by NATO forces on April 29, 1999, causing an unknown number of casualties and extensive  damage. Culture. The gradual development of animistic and pagan beliefs in certain stages of ancient Balkanic culture would result in the formation of mountain cults - particularly forest cults - which survived in Albanian culture as evidence of past pagan Balkanic beliefs. The forms in which it survived include the holding of a "kuvend" (meaning ‘convention’ in the Albanian Kanun) - which functioned as a regulated form of parliament in Albanian society - in certain places like "Lisi i Kullës" (tree of the Kulla) and "Murrizi" (Hawthorn) in Obri of Drenica, and "Gjashtë Lisat" (six trees) in Likoshan of Drenica. There are several Thaçi  tribal families in the Drenica region.