Gjilan/Gnjilane Municipality

The municipality of Gjilan/Gnjilane is located in southeastern part of Kosovo. Historically it was a prosperous center with construction firms, heating equipment, batteries and agricultural manufacturers. The municipality contains 515 square kilometers of land area.
 The common population estimate of Gjilan/Gnjilane , is 130,000 with about 90,000 in the center and the balance distributed among 63 villages.  The population is predominately Albanian Kosovars. In addition there is a significant Serb population estimated at 10 -15% as well as small, but distinct Turkish and Roma communities.

Gjilan/Gnjilane is in the US Area of Responsibility and a satellite base, Camp Monteith, is located adjacent to the center. One of the Serbian Kosovar villages in Gjilan/Gnjilane, Partesh, has been selected for participation in the currently planned decentralization pilot. It is expected that Partesh and several nearby villages will form a new municipal entity and that in the early stages it will continue its ties to Gjilan/Gnjilane. As the pilot develops the assumption is that Partesh will gain increasing amounts of autonomy from Gjilan/Gnjilane. Just how much is to be determined during the pilot phase.

New Gjilan/Gnjilane based businesses have succeeded. DEA bottled water, Ekismor Rugs, and Didixhan speciality textiles are firms that are thriving.
While some new business are thriving unemployment remains quite high with no evidence that the levels of employment supported by the major Socially Owned Industries in a previous times will be attained.

The secondary school runs on three shifts, due in part to space limitations and migration of Albanian Kosovars ethnic people from the Presevo Valley in Serbia which is only a few Kilometers distant.

The Municipal Assembly of Gjilan/Gnjilane is comprised of 41 Members (23 LDK, 13 PDK, 2 AAK, 3 Serbian Kosovars).