Overview of Communities
The term ‘community’ operates on two levels in Kosovo.  On the one hand, it has the ordinary meaning of a group of people that shares something in common, for example, their ethnicity or religion.  With this meaning, ‘communities’ in Kosovo refer to all ethnic groups - regardless of whether they are in the numerical majority or minority.  However, the term ‘community’ is also used specifically to mean minority communities – ethnically non-Albanian communities including Serbs, Roma, Egyptians, Ashkali, Turks, Bosniaks, Gorani and Croats. 

In Kosovo, the practice of using the term ‘communities’ instead of ‘minorities’ is commonly understood.  For example, the Ministry of Communities and Returns (MCR) is mandated to promote and protect the rights or Communities and their members, including the right of return. The capitalised term ‘Communities’ is not defined anywhere in the body’s regulations.  However, in practice, the work of the MCR is based largely on the Framework Convention and the implementation of protections for minorities.  The MCR is therefore understood as the Ministry that has responsibility for the protection of minorities.  This meaning of the term ‘community’ as ‘minority’ is common currency in Kosovo. 

Communities of Kosovo
Kosovo hosts a complex mixture of ethnic groups: Albanians (some Catholics, as well as Muslims), Serbs, Roma/Ashkali/Egyptians, Bosniaks, Gorani, Turks, Croats, and Montenegrins.

A reliable census has not been conducted in Kosovo since 1981, so current estimates on Kosovo’s communities are based on international organisations findings. According the World Bank in 2007, Kosovo is currently 90% Albanian and 5% Serbian, with the remaining 5% coming from Kosovo’s other communities. According to the UNMIK Department for Local Administration in mid-2000, however, Serbs counted for 7% of the population, with other communities making up 5%, consisting mainly of Muslims/Bosniaks (1.9%), Romas (1.7%), and Turks (1%). While precise statistics are not available on the size of each community, there is a general consensus on the presence and ratio of each community. The position of each of Kosovo’s communities differs considerably and will be summarised in this section.

Kosovo Serbs
Kosovo Serbs made up around 10% of the population before 1999. They dominated urban centres and virtually monopolised employment in state institutions and state-owned industries. By 1999 the population had further declined relative to the Albanian population (down to an estimated 5% to 8% of the population). Following the flight of an estimated 200,000 Serbs and Roma after July 1999, 100,000 Serbs, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), were thought to remain in Kosovo. A third of them were living in the predominantly Serbian municipalities of Zvečane/Zveqan, Leposavić/Leposaviq and Zubin Potok or in the towns of Štrpce/Shtërpce and Mitrovica/ë North. These municipalities, with minority Albanian populations, are still largely administered by the Serbian government through parallel structures, which fund municipal and other services, including hospitals, schools and a parallel university in the divided town of Mitrovica/ë.

Beyond these municipalities, the largest concentration of the 65,000 Serbs remains in Gračanica/Graçanicë, with a population of around 4,000 domiciled Serbs and IDPs, as well as a significant Roma community. They are protected by KFOR and supported economically by Serbia. Elsewhere in Kosovo, Serbs live in mono-ethnic rural villages or under KFOR protection in majority Albanian urban areas.

Within the Serb community, political allegiances are divided between those, primarily in Mitrovica/ë and the northern municipalities, who maintain allegiance to Serbia and the Serbian government and supporters of the Povratak (Return) Coalition. The latter, until recently, have moved towards a political accommodation with the Albanian community, with 20 members in the Kosovo Assembly and a Ministerial post in the Provisional Institution of Self-Government (PISG).

Gorani
The Gorani are a Slav-speaking, Islam-practicing ethnic group, clustered in the southern part of the Dragash/Draga municipality, with smaller communities scattered in Prizren, Prishtinë/Priština, Fushë Kosovë/Kosovo Polje, Obiliq/Obilić, and Lipjan/Ljipljan. Overall, an estimated number of 11,000 reside in Kosovo, while the majority of the Gorani population resides abroad, in Serbia proper, FYR Macedonia and Albania. Gorani’s have traditionally been migrant workers, which makes it difficult to estimate their numbers with accuracy. Additionally, due to the fact that in pre-1999 census Gorani (together with Bosniaks and Torbesh) were generally categorised as "Muslim Slavs", it is difficult to gauge the exact size of the Gorani population and caution should be exercised as to the accuracy of any figure.
The Gorani language is similar to that spoken in the western part of FYR Macedonia and is different to other Slav dialects spoken in Kosovo, but understood by speakers of Serbian, Croatian and Bosniak. Gorani can be most properly identified as a dialect of the Macedonian language, although it varies considerably from standard literary Macedonian and even from village to village. The language has not been standardised and no descriptive scholarly work on the Goran idiom is available. This, together with never-ending fights between two political factions (one supporting the usage of Serbian and the other the usage of Bosniak) contributes to preventing the Gorani community from bringing forward a coherent demand over language rights.

Bosniaks
Bosniaks are seen as the successors to the old Muslim nationality group. In reality, these communities originate from a variety of regions, including modern-day Bosnia and Sandzak. Although some are dispersed within towns, most of them live in predominantly Muslim villages.

The language spoken by the Bosniaks, called Bosniak, is specific to them, but is so closely related to Serbian and Croatian as to be practically indistinguishable. Bosniak is understood by all Serbian and Croatian speakers and all Bosniak speakers understand Serbian and Croatian.

Roma
Throughout Kosovo, Roma continue to face same difficulties as other minorities and now often live alongside Serbs in enclaves like Gračanica/Graçanicë where they are marginalised by the Serb community. Roma also face institutional discrimination in access to basic social and economic rights and often survive on money from family members abroad or short-term manual work, small-scale agriculture and rubbish collection.

Ashkali
Regard themselves as a distinct ethnic group and since June 1999 have sought to distinguish themselves from the Roma, initially to avoid the collective retribution of ethnic Albanians against the Roma who were perceived as being ‘collaborators’ with the Serbian authorities. Being Albanian speakers and often living in areas populated by Albanians, many Ashkali fled or were expelled to Albania and Macedonia by Serbian police and paramilitaries during the NATO bombing campaign, while some Ashkali reportedly joined the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA/UCK).

The Egyptians
form a separate group who distinguish themselves from both the Roma and Ashkali. Mainly Albanian-speaking, the Egyptians are nominally Muslim, sedentary and urban. They have an estimated population in Kosovo of around 5,000, mainly in Gjakovë/ Djakovica and Peć/Pejë, often with a relatively high standard of living.

Turks
The Turkish community in Kosovo speak a local Turkish dialect. In 1999 there were sizable Turkish communities in Mitrovicë/Mitrovica and Prizren municipalities. Their political leaders generally retained a neutral position in Kosovo while claiming minority rights for education, employment and media.

Croats
Fewer than 3,000 ethnic Croats remained in Kosovo in early 1999. Of these some 400, mainly elderly Croats, around 40 of whom returned during 2001, still remain, primarily in Janjevo/Janjevë in the Lipjan/Ljipljan municipality, and in Letnica/Letnicë in Viti/Vitina municipality. Supported by relatives and the Croatian Catholic church, they face few security problems, although thefts targeting agricultural assets were reported in 2001.