237 Saša Milosavljević 1* , Jovo Medojević * , Aleksandar Valjarević ** * University of Priština in Kosovska Mitrovica, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Geogra- phy, Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbia ** University of Belgrade, Faculty of Geography, Belgrade, Serbia CHANGES IN THE ETHNIC STRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION OF AP KOSOVO AND METOHIJA SETTLEMENTS 1948-2022 Abstract: AP Kosovo and Metohija is a unique geographical area in Europe, during which the most complex demographic processes, caused by: political conflicts, the NATO bombing of 1999, and took place during the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st century: killing, ethnic cleansing, persecution and segregation of the population. Since June 1999, about 220,000 people were displaced from Kosovo and Metohija. Most of them were Serbs, followed by non-Albanian populations: Montenegrins, Gorans, Roma and Ashkali. The mass persecu- tion of the Serb and other non-Albanian populations has resulted in tremendous changes in the ethnic structure of the Province. Previously, heterogeneous settlements became ethnically homogeneous with a dominant Albanian population. With 93% of the total population Albani- ans is dominated, while other ethnic communities have a participation of 7%. Key words: ethnicity, settlements, population, enclaves, Kosovo and Metohija 1 sasa.milosavljevic@pr.ac.rs (corresponding author) ГЛАСНИК Српског географског друштва 103(1) 237-256 BULLETIN OF THE SERBIAN GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY 2023 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original scientific paper UDC 39:314(497.115),,1948/2022” https://doi.org/10.2298/GSGD2301237M Received: March 03, 2023 Corrected: March 20, 2023 Accepted: March 23, 2023