Janjevci

The Janjevci ( German: Janjever ) are a regional Croatian minority in Kosovo. It took its name from the city of Janjeva / Janjevo near Pristina, in which most of the remaining Kosovo Janjevci live today.

They are descended from traders and miners from Dubrovnik and Bosnia and Herzegovina, who settled during the 14th century in Kosovo. Their Catholic faith and their Croatian identity they have received through centuries.

The first written mention of Pope Benedict XI. dating from 1303, is Janjevo is mentioned as the center of the Catholic community of St. Nicholas.

Since 1991, first due to the unrest in Kosovo Serb migrated because of the increased pressure and from 1998 through most of them, mainly to Croatia. Most Janjevci fled to Zagreb.

Before 1991 there were approximately 8,000 Janjevci in Kosovo, including about 4,500 in Janjevo itself, in 1998 there were 1,800. Today there are still about 350 Janjevo itself

The residents of Letnica emigrated in 1992. They were mostly located in those parts of Croatia from which has fled to the end of the war, the Serb population of Croatia.