Islam in Kosovo: history and Muslim population data

History of Islam in Kosovo

Islam entered Kosovo when it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1389 under the reign of Sultan Murad ben Orhan (ruled from 1363 to 1389 and was the third king of the empire). It was then conquered by Serbs in 1912, following the declaration of independence of Albania from the Ottomans. As the Yugoslav Federation started disintegrating, Kosovars yearned for independence. Following ethnic cleansings by Orthodox Serbs, and international intervention, Kosovo was able to obtain its independence in 2008, and is now a majority Muslim country. Currently, the Republic of Kosovo has an area of 10,887 sq km

Based on ethnic census data, the Muslim population increased in number, but its percentage fluctuated due to migration of Orthodox Serbs to Kosovo. Accordingly, Muslims increased 0.33 million or 75.1% in 1921, to 0.38 million or 68.8% in 1931, to 0.51 million or 70.0% in 1948, to 0.54 million or 67.3% in 1953, to 0.68 million or 70.6% in 1961. However, the Muslims population continued to increase constantly since then in both number and percentage to 0.95 million or 76.8% in 1971, to 1.30 million or 81.9% in 1981, to 1.67 million or 85.5% in 1991, just before the breakup of Yugoslavia. By 2011, Muslims reached 1.66 million or 96.1% of the total population due to the migration of Serbs back to Serbia and higher birth rate by Muslims.

When inferring religious adherence from ethnicity in 1948, 1961 and onward, the following were assumed Muslims: Albanians, Turks, Gypsy (Roma) and Muslims by nationality or Bosniac. The numbers of these ethnicities recorded in each census is provided in Table 4.1.6b.

Thus, assuming that the percentage of Muslims will continue to increase by a tenth of a percentage point per decade; then the Muslim population is expected to reach 1.6 million or 97% by 2050 and 0.9 million or 97% by 2100.

Historical Muslim population dataset for Kosovo

The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.

For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.