View source for Istog

{{Infobox settlement
<!--See the Table at Infobox settlement for all fields and descriptions of usage-->
<!-- Basic info  ---------------->| name               = Istog
| native_name      = Istok
| settlement_type    = [[List of cities and towns in Kosovo|Town]] and [[Municipalities of Kosovo|municipality]]
| image_skyline      = {{multiple image
  | border                   = infobox
  | perrow            = 1/2/2/2/2
  | total_width       = 250
  | image1 = Istog City.png
  | image2 = Istogu.jpg
  | image3 = Xhamija e vjeter e Istogut.JPG
  | footer = From the top, Panorama of Istog, Street scene, Xhamia e Vjetër
}}
| imagesize          = 
| image_caption      = 
| flag_size          = 
| image_flag         = Flag of Istog.png
| image_seal         = 
| seal_size          = 
| image_shield       = File:Stema e Komunës Istog.svg
| shield_size        = 
| image_blank_emblem = 
| blank_emblem_type  = 
| blank_emblem_size  = 
| pushpin_map        = Kosovo#Europe
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = [[Kosovo]]
| subdivision_type1  = [[Districts of Kosovo|District]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[District of Peja|Peja]]
| subdivision_type2  = 
| subdivision_name2  = <!-- Politics ----------------->
| government_footnotes = 
| government_type    = 
| leader_party       = [[Democratic League of Kosovo|LDK]]
| leader_title       = Mayor
| leader_name        = [[Ilir Ferati]] <ref>{{Cite web |title=Rezultatet e Zgjedhjeve për Kryetar Komune 2025 |url=https://kqz-ks.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/6.MAY_Rezultatet_per_Kryetar_te_Komunave.pdf |publisher=[[Central Election Commission (Kosovo)|Central Election Commission]] |language=sq |publication-date=3 November 2025}}</ref> 
| established_title  = 
| established_date   = <!-- Area    --------------------->
| area_magnitude     = 
| unit_pref          = 
| area_footnotes     = <!-- Population   ----------------------->
| population_total   = 33066
| population_as_of   = 2024
| population_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web |title=Population and housing census in Kosovo preliminary results - July 2024|url=https://askapi.rks-gov.net/Custom/1d268e37-5934-4bd5-bbd1-34a9965cff92.pdf|access-date=2 August 2024}}</ref>
| timezone           = [[Central European Time|CET]]
| utc_offset         = +1
| timezone_DST       = [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]]
| utc_offset_DST     = +2
| coordinates        = {{coord|42|47|N|20|29|E|region:RS-KM|display=inline}}
| elevation_footnotes = <!--for references: use tags-->
| elevation_m        = 480
| elevation_ft       = <!-- Area/postal codes & others -------->
| postal_code_type   = Postal code <!-- enter ZIP code, Postcode, Post code, Postal code... -->
| postal_code        = 31000
| area_code          = +383
| registration_plate_type = [[Vehicle registration plates of Kosovo|Vehicle registration]]
| registration_plate = 03
| website            = {{URL|http://kk.rks-gov.net/istog}}
| footnotes          = 
| total_type         = Municipality
| area_total_km2     = 454.36
| area_rank          = [[Municipalities of Kosovo#List of municipalities|7th in Kosovo]]
}}

'''Istog''' or '''Burim''' ({{lang-sq-definite|Istogu}} or ''Burimi''),<ref name="Elsie2010">{{cite book|author=Robert Elsie|title=Historical Dictionary of Kosovo|year=2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|page=297}}</ref> or '''Istok''' ({{lang-sr-Cyrl|Исток}}), is a [[List of cities in Kosovo|town]] and [[Municipalities of Kosovo|municipality]] located in the [[district of Peja]], [[Kosovo]]. According to the 2011 census, the city of Istog has 5,115 inhabitants, while the municipality has 39,289 inhabitants. Based on the population estimates from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics in 2016, the municipality has 39,982 inhabitants.

== Name ==
The name of the town comes from the version of the Serbian word ''istok'' (variant ''istek''), meaning "well, water source" referring to the springs of the Istočka river ({{lang|sr|Istočka reka}}, literally "spring river"), a tributary to the [[White Drin]] river.<ref>{{cite book | title = Enciklopedijski geografski leksikon Jugoslavije | page = 87 | date = 1990 | author = Jovan Đ. Marković | publisher = Svjetlost | location = Sarajevo | isbn = 86-01-02651-6}}</ref> The name of the nearby village of Vrela, one of the largest settlements in the municipality, also means "springs".

==History==
[[File:Istog at night.jpg|thumb|Istog at night]]
The Ottoman ''[[defter]]'' (tax registry; census) of 1582 registered the [[Peja|Ipek]] [[nahiyah]] as having 235 villages, of which Suho Grlo (Suvo Grlo) was located within modern Istog municipality. Suvo Grlo had three bigger ''[[mahala]]'' (neighbourhoods). One of the neighbourhoods included Muslim converts. There were several Orthodox priests in the village.<ref name=Vasic-1990>{{Citation |last=Vasić |first=Milan |author-link=Milan Vasić |title=Stanovništvo slovenskog porijekla u Albaniji : zbornik radova sa međunarodnog naučnog skupa održanog u Cetinju 21, 22. i 23. juna 1990|year=1991 |language=sh |oclc=29549273 |chapter=Etnički odnosi u jugoslovensko-albanskom graničnom području prema popisnom defteru sandžaka Skadar iz 1582/83. godine |chapter-url=http://www.rastko.rs/rastko-al/zbornik1990/mvasic-defteri_l.php }}</ref>{{verify source|date=December 2021}}

During [[World War II]], a total of 140 Serbs were killed in 1941 and 1942 in the district of Istog and another 95 were killed in 1943 and 1944 by Albanian paramilitaries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Antonijević |first1=Nenad |title=Албански злочини над Србима на Косову и Метохији у Другом светском рату, документа |date=2009 |publisher=Muzej žrtava genocida |isbn=9788690632992 |pages=40, 44 |url=http://www.muzejgenocida.rs/images/izdanja/Antonijevic,%20Nenad,%20Albanski%20zlocini.pdf}}</ref> The areas in and around Istog saw much resistance against the [[Yugoslav Partisans]] by [[Albanians]] in 1945. In Lipa, near Istog, Bajram Grobi and 9 others were surrounded by a partisan battalion - they sustained 3 losses, including Bajram himself. In August, Sali Kama and Bik Pazari resisted the partisans in Bjeshka, near Istog. In March, Berlac Rogani and 7 other men were surrounded at a mountain in Binak, near Istog, by a battalion of partisans numbering 650 Serbs and Montenegrins; after 36 hours of fighting, Rogani and his men killed 28 partisans and wounded 12 others. Rogani and his men managed to break the encirclement and all 8 fighters managed to survive despite their injuries. On the 10th of September, in Liçeva and Lesnika (also near Istog), 32 Albanians battled against 1,300 well-armed Montenegrins for 6 hours in an event known as the ''Battle of the 32 Heroes''. Only 4 of the Albanians managed to survive despite being wounded. The commanders of the Albanian side were Shaban Sadiku, Adem Shala and Alush Smajli, with Smajli being the only one to survive with grave injuries,{{what|reason=did the others die or were they uninjured|date=March 2025}} and the Montenegrins were from the Boka Kotorska brigade.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Elsie |first1=Robert |last2=Destani |first2=Bejtullah D. |title=Kosovo, a documentary history : from the Balkan wars to World War II |date=2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |location=London |isbn=9781838600037 |pages=417–418 |edition=1st |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/au/kosovo-a-documentary-history-9781838600037/}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The source is a letter from the Balli Kombëtar asking for assistance against the partisans taken at face value.|date=January 2025}}

==Demographics==
{{Historical populations
|title=Municipal historical population
| percentages = pagr
|1948|25292 |1953|28555 |1961|33779 |1971|41009 |1981|50104 |1991|57261 |2011|39289 |2016<br>{{small|est.}}|39604
|source = [http://pop-stat.mashke.org/kosovo-division.htm Division of Kosovo]
}}
{{Historical populations
|title=Urban historical population
| percentages = pagr
|1948|2074 |1953|2111 |1961|2657 |1971|3467 |1981|4478 |1991|6384 |2011|5115
|source = [http://pop-stat.mashke.org/kosovo-cities.htm Cities of Kosovo]
}}

According to the last official census done in 2011, the municipality of Istog has 39,289 inhabitants.

===Ethnic groups===
The municipality of Istog has an ethnic Kosovo Albanian majority. Most of the Kosovo Serbs live in the village of Osojane.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.blic.rs/vesti/politika/ivanovic-uspesan-povratak-srba-u-osojane/kq598zl|title=Ivanović: Uspešan povratak Srba u Osojane|last=Tanjug|date=12 July 2012|website=Blic.rs|language=sr}}</ref>
Osojane is to the east of the town of Istog; also part of the Serbs lives in northern part of the municipality.

The ethnic composition of the municipality:
{|border="2" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="3" rules="all" width="60%" style="clear:all; margin:5px 0 0em 0em; border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; border-collapse:collapse; font-size:85%; empty-cells:show"
|colspan="14" align=center style="background:#778899; color:white"|'''Ethnic Composition, Including IDPs'''
|- bgcolor="#FFEBCD"
!Year/Population
!Albanians
!&nbsp;%
!Serbs
!&nbsp;%
!Montenegrins
!&nbsp;%
!Bosniaks
!&nbsp;%
!Roma/Ashkali
!&nbsp;%
!Total
|- bgcolor="#fffaf0"
|1961||19,067|| 56.45 ||9,097|| 26.91|| 3,804|| 11.25|| 881|| 2.6|| 16|| ||33,799
|- bgcolor="#f5f5f5"
|1971||27,371|| 66.74 ||8,944|| 21.81|| 2,420|| 5.90|| 1,876||4.57|| 243||0.59||41,009
|- bgcolor="#fffaf0"
|1981||35,972|| 71.79 ||7,736|| 15.44|| 1,856|| 3.70|| 3,545|| 7.08|| 747|| 1.49||50,104
|- bgcolor="#f5f5f5"
|1991||43,910|| 76.68 ||5,968|| 10.42|| 1,302|| 2.27|| 4,070|| 7.11|| 1,346|| 2.35|| 57,261
|- bgcolor="#fffaf0"
|1998||51,000|| 80.1 || 7,270 || 11.4 || ||||     ||     ||     ||    ||    
|- bgcolor="#f5f5f5"
|2006||41,000 || 92 || 540  || 1.2 || |||| 1,330 || 2.9 || 1,740 || 3.9  ||   44,610
|- bgcolor="#f5f5f5"
|2011||36,154 || 92.02 || 317 || 1.89 || |||||1,142|| 2.91 ||151|| 0.38 || 39,289
|-
|colspan="14" align=center style="background:#dcdcdc;"|<small>Ref: Yugoslav Population Censuses for data through 1991, and [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] estimates for data in 1998 and 2006, 2011 estimate</small>
|}

== Economy ==
After [[World War II]], watermills on the river of Istog were nationalized and a new [[fish plant]] was built to operate as a socially owned enterprise. The company's name under Yugoslavia was "Ribnjak", meaning "piscatory" or "fishery" in [[Serbian language|Serbian]]. It was later privatized as Motel "Trofta", meaning "trout" in [[Albanian language|Albanian]] - the type of fish it has and is still producing, selling, and distributing. The company employs around 70 people. The company acts as a hotel and restaurant, often hosting traditional weddings. The hotel provides hotel rooms as well as small bungalows by the river except Trofta Istog has the "burim" itself which everyone can go and visit the source of water and for sightseeing and the burim has the restaurants "Freskia" and "Morea" that are known for their food and the view of Istog.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

== Notable people ==

* [[Fadil Ferati]], Mayor of Istog from 1999 to 2010
* [[Fatmire Bajramaj]], footballer
* [[Mergim Brahimi]], footballer
* [[Besim Kabashi]], kickboxer
* [[Abdul Qader Arnaout]], [[Islamic scholar]]
* [[Azdren Llullaku]], footballer
* [[Ibrahim Rugova]], former [[President of Kosovo]]
* [[Adnan Januzaj]], footballer
* [[Mërgim Mavraj]], footballer
* [[Donis Avdiaj]], footballer
* [[Selman Kadria]], local hero known for the assassination of a Serbian military commander

== See also ==
* [[District of Peja]]
* [[Bosniaks in Kosovo]]
* [[KF Istogu]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Istok|Istog}}
*[http://kk.rks-gov.net/istog/ Municipality website] {{in lang|sq}}
*[https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/kosovo-archaeology/ Regional Archaeology in the Peja and Istog Districts of Kosova], archaeological project in the Istog region (University of Michigan)

{{Kosovo municipalities}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|42|47|N|20|29|E|display=title|region:RS_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki}}

[[Category:Istog| ]]
[[Category:Municipalities of Kosovo]]
[[Category:Cities in Kosovo]]
[[Category:Populated places in Peja District]]