Country Kosovo Time zone CET (UTC+1) Car plates 02 Population 1,044 (1991) | District Kosovska Mitrovica Area code(s) +381 290 Elevation 700 m Municipality Skenderaj | |
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Baks is a settlement in the Skenderaj (Srbica) municipality in the disputed region of Kosovo. It lies 680–700 m over sea level. The village is exclusively inhabited by ethnic Albanians; in the 1991 census, it had 1044 inhabitants.
Contents
Map of Baks
Geography
It lies in the hilly region of Drenica, on the western slopes of Čičavica, six km southeast from Skenderaj.
History
There exist stone engravings from the village, of unknown age. The microtoponyms of Crkve and Crkveni (meaning "churches, ecclesiastical" in Serbian) do indicate that there was once a church in the village. According to Serbian writer Dimitrije Kalezić the village was formerly exclusively inhabited by ethnic Serbs.
The ethnic Albanian separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) had by 1997 such presence in Drenica that the Serbian government considered it the hotbed of "Albanian terrorism". The nearby village of Donje Prekaze was the home to KLA leader Adem Jashari, who was killed together with most of his family in the Attack on Prekaz. During the Kosovo War, in late March 1999, Serb military forces undertook an offensive throughout Skenderaj. Villages were shelled and inhabitants of several villages, including Baks, fled to Ćirez. Men from the village were captured by Serb police during operations in Glogovac and Skenderaj.
Economy
The village is primarily of livestock farming.