Istok


Istok or Istog or Burim is a town and municipality located in the Peć District of western Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Istok 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, meaning "well, water source" referring to the springs of the Istočka river, a tributary to the White Drin river. The name of the nearby village of Vrela, one of the largest settlements in the municipality, also means "springs", as does the newly proposed Albanian name of the town, Burimi.

History

The Ottoman defter of 1582 registered the Peć nahiyah as having 235 villages, of which Suho Grlo was located within modern Istok municipality. Suvo Grlo had three bigger mahala, whose inhabitants were Serbs. One of the neighbourhoods converted to Islam. There were several Orthodox priests in the village.

Demographics

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

Ethnic groups

The municipality of Istok has an ethnic Kosovo Albanian majority. Most of the Kosovo Serbs live in the village of Osojane.
Osojane is to the east of the city Istok; also part of the Serbs lives in northern part of the municipality.
The ethnic composition of the municipality:

Economy

After World War II, watermills on the river of Istok 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. It was later privatized as Motel "Trofta", meaning "trout" in 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.

Notable people