Gjilan (Albanian definite form: Gjilani) is the third most populous city in Kosovo and it serves as both a municipality and the administrative center of the Gjilan District. According to the 2024 census, the municipality of Gjilan has a population of 82,901 with the majority residing in the city.
The city is located in the east of Kosovo, in the region of Anamorava, and is well connected with the capital city of Kosovo, Pristina, as well as other surrounding cities such as Ferizaj, Kamenica, Preševo and Bujanovac.
The etymology of Gjilan is disputed. Albanian sources claim that the town (initially a village) obtained its name from Bahti Beg Gjinolli of Gjinaj clan that ruled the region of Vushtrri (Llap and Drenica), and populated this area in the 18th century (around 1750). However, there is no definite evidence to support this claim and in fact no one can confirm who the first real inhabitants were or when they first settled. On the other hand, Serbian sources claim that the origin of the city's name comes from the Serbian word "gnjio" (rotten).
In 1342, a place called Morava was visited by Serbian King Stefan Dušan (later Emperor, r. 1331–1355). A fort was built nearby in the 14th century. Gornja Morava ("Upper Morava") was known simply as Morava under Ottoman rule, and it extended west of the Upper Žegra–Budriga–Cernica line, thus Gjilan stayed in the oblast (province) of Topanica, whose provincial seat was Novo Brdo.
In the 1455 Ottoman defter of the District of Branković, in Gjilan were 41 Christian households registered. After the conquest of Kosovo by the Ottoman Empire, Islam was introduced to the region.
Haji Kalfa (first half of the 17th century) mentions Morava being 17 days from Constantinople. Gornja Morava and Izmornik were organized into the Sanjak of Viçitrina up until the 18th century. Gjilan became a kadiluk around 1780, and 20–25 years later a large village.
The exact year of establishment of Gjilan to this day is not exactly determined. In the 17th century, Evlia Çelebija mentions Gjilan, but named Morava, as a cadillac within the Sanjak of Viçitrina. There is a tradition in the people that Gjilan as a settlement was formed around 1750, and as an urban center – in 1772. Gjilan as a town developed in addition to the extinction of Novo Brdo, which in the Middle Ages was one of the cities and the largest commercial, economic and mining centers in the Balkans. The feudal family "Gjinaj" in the second half of the nineteenth century transferred their headquarters from Novo Brdo and built their own houses in the place where Gjilani is now located.
In 1985, Gjilan was the site of an incident involving a Serbian farmer who had a glass bottle shatter inside his rectum, before going to the local police and blaming two Kosovar Albanians. The incident served to increase and inflame ethnic tensions throughout Yugoslavia, namely between Serbs and Albanians.
In 1999, Camp Monteith was established outside the city as a base of operations for KFOR during Operation Joint Guardian, on the site of a destroyed Serbian military base which was handed over to the Kosovo Protection Corps in 2007 after the U.S. Military downsized their number of troops. Gjilan has also served as the regional headquarters of the UNMIK International Police task force from 1999.
On April 24, 2002, a 5.7 magnitude earthquake was recorded in the municipality of Gjilan, killing one person.
In 2020, the cities of Gjilan and Kumanovo, North Macedonia came closer through a new border point which was built in the village of Stançiq.
Gjilan is located in the southeastern part of Kosovo, the region of Anamorava. Its geographic position makes it possible to make good connections with other centers of Kosovo and the region. Around the town of Gjilan lies the Hill of Martyrs (Popovica), Gllama, Dheu i Bardhë, the area of Malisheva (Gjilan), Zabeli of Sahit Agës and Bregu i Thatë. There are three small rivers, Mirusha, Banja and Stanishori, which join and flow to Binačka Morava, west of the Uglara village.
Gjilan is 46 km (29 mi) from Pristina, 27 km (17 mi) from Kamenica, 25 km (16 mi) from Novo Brdo and 22 km (14 mi) from Vitia. The municipalities of the region are bordered in the southeast by Preševo (33 km (21 mi)) and Kumanovo (53 km (33 mi)), and in the east by Bujanovac (40 km (25 mi)).
The Gjilan area is defined by the Morava River, which collects all the small rivers, with an average monthly flow rate of 6.7 cubic meters/second. In the southeast it is surrounded by the mountains of Karadak.
Gjilan has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa) as of the Köppen climate classification with an average annual temperature of 10.9 °C (51.6 °F). The warmest month in Gjilan is August with an average temperature of 22.1 °C (71.8 °F), while the coldest month is January with an average temperature of −0.5 °C (31.1 °F).
As of 2018 there were 4,100 registered private businesses in the municipality employing some 6,900 people.
Prior to 1999, Gjilan was an important industrial centre in Kosovo. Still in operation are the radiator factory and tobacco factory, which has been recently privatized. The new city business incubator, supported by the European Agency for Reconstruction, was inaugurated in the summer of 2007.
According to the most recent census in 2024, Gjilan is home to 82,901 residents, making it the fourth biggest city in Kosovo.
The population of Gjilan has always been mixed, but with a predominant majority of Albanians in both periods during Turkish and Serbian-Yugoslav rule.
According to the 2011 census, the municipality of Gjilan had 90,178 inhabitants. The population consisted of 87,814 Albanians (97.38%), 978 Turks (1.08%), 624 Serbs (0.69%), 121 (0.13%) Bosniaks, and 541 (0.60%) from smaller groups, including Roma, Ashkali, Gorani and Egyptians. In the city live 54,239 inhabitants, while in rural areas – 35,939. Division of population by gender: male – 45,354, female – 44,824.
Albanian, Serbian and Turkish are all official languages in the municipality.
Education in Gjilan includes pre-school, primary and secondary education, and a public university (Kadri Zeka). As of 2018, there were 12,370 students in 29 primary schools, of which 12,023 were ethnic Albanians and 347 members of ethnic minorities (Serbs, Roma and Turks). There were nine secondary schools with 5,650 students of which 5,449 were Albanians and the rest minority groups.
Flaka e Janarit is a cultural event that starts on 11th of January in Gjilan with a symbolic opening of the flame, to keep up with various cultural activities to 31st of January of each year. It gathers thousands of artists and art lovers from all the Albanian lands, who for three consecutive weeks transform the city into a cultural metropolis. The nation's martyrs are honored through values of art by this event, which began before the 10th anniversary of the assassination of writer, activist and patriot Jusuf Gërvalla, along with Kadri Zeka and Bardhosh Gërvalla. It was exactly the tenth anniversary without these three martyrs of freedom and from coincidence of these murders in a same date on 11 January, this event got this name "Flaka e Janarit".
There are 41 mosques in Gjilan.
Gjilan is home to the basketball club KB Drita, the football clubs SC Gjilani and FC Drita, and the volleyball club KV Drita. It also has the KF Bashkimi Gjilan football club which competes in the Third League.
Gjilan hosts the biggest derby in Kosovo, the Kosovo Derby, between FC Drita and SC Gjilani. Both of the clubs are from the city, which draw thousands of viewers inside the Gjilan City Stadium.
Gjilan is linked to its surrounding settlements mainly by a network of roads. It is connected to the capital of Kosovo, Pristina, via the national road N25.2.
A highway that connects Gjilan with Pristina is being built, as well as connecting with the city of Kamenica. The highway which is 47 kilometers long, is expected to be completed at the end of 2024 or early 2025.
- Idriz Seferi (b.1847), Albanian patriot
- Mulla Idriz Gjilani (b.1901), Albanian patriot
- Zoran Antić (b. 1975), Serbian footballer
- Faton Bislimi (b. 1983), Kosovan author
- Nijazi Ramadani (b. 1964), Kosovan poetry writer
- Albert Bunjaku (b. 1983), Kosovan footballer
- Daut Dauti (b. 1960) Kosovan author
- Dragan Dimić, Serbian footballer
- Bajram Haliti (b. 1955), Romani writer
- Shpëtim Hasani (b. 1982), Kosovan footballer
- Lutfi Haziri (b. 1969), Kosovan politician
- Genta Ismajli (b. 1985), Kosovan singer
- Aljmir Murati (b. 1985), Swiss footballer
- Zenun Pajaziti (b. 1966), Kosovan politician
- Xherdan Shaqiri (b. 1991), Swiss footballer
- Jahi Jahiu, (b. 1959), Kosovan artist
- Mira Stupica (b. 1923), Serbian actress
- Goran Svilanović (b. 1963), Serbian politician
- Faton Toski (b. 1987), Kosovan footballer
- Agim Ramadani (b. 1963), KLA commander
- Abdullah Tahiri (b. 1956), KLA commander
- Antun Marković (b. 1992), Croatian footballer
- Lirim Hajrullahu (b. 1990), Canadian CFL kicker
- Đorđe Martinović (b. 1929), farmer
Twin towns – sister cities
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