Natural resources are abundant in Kosovo. Kosovo is mainly rich in lignite and mineral resources such as: coal, zinc, lead, silver and chromium, but also with productive agricultural land. Kosovo is also rich in forests, rivers, mountains and soil; Kosovo is especially rich in coal, being aligned among European countries as the third with the largest coal reserves. Kosovo possesses around 14,700 billion tons of lignite in reserves, which aligns Kosovo as the country with the fifth largest lignite reserves in the world.
Natural resources through history Natural resources in Kosovo were once the "backbone of industry". However, output is currently low due to insufficient investments in equipment. Among these natural resources that were previously important in the Kosovo economy were minerals and metals such as: lignite, aluminum, chrome, magnesium, nickel, lead, zinc, and several different construction materials. Kosovo was historically a mining district for the former Yugoslavia. The industrial complex Trepça in Mitrovica "was the largest mining operation in the former Yugoslavia". During the time of Yugoslavia, Kosovo possessed 50% of all of Yugoslavia's nickel reserves, 36% of lignite, 48% of lead and zinc reserves, 47% of the magnesium reserves, and 32.4% of kaolinite reserves. During this time, mining was Kosovo's growth engine; however, the sector faced a decline from the 1990s. Even prior to Yugoslavia, the region's natural resources were explored and extracted. During the reign of King Milutin (mid 14th century) the mine in Novo Brdo was considered the richest mine with silver in the Balkans, while the other two mines in Kosovo after Artana were Trepça and Janjevo. During the mid 14th and 15th century, Artana was the heart of the local economy, it was known as the city of silver and gold. Due its enormous importance, it was also highly protected and was the last city to fall in the hands of the Ottomans during the invasion in the 15th century. Data from 1931 to 1998 show that total production by the industrial complex Trepça during this time was: Lead: 2,066,000 tons Zinc: 1,371,000 tons Silver: 2,569 tons Bismuth: 4,115 tons Cadmium (1968–1987) 1,655 tons. From 1922 up to 2004, cumulative exploitation of lignite reserves amounted to 265Mt. However, from September 2005 to the latest data in 2007, Trepça only produced lead, zinc and copper at an average of 5,000 tons per month. Some published research claims that Trepça still has potential for production of 999,000 tons of lead, 670,000 tons of zinc, and 2,200 tons of silver. Although mining of Kosovo's most noted mineral resources such as lead, zinc and silver was an important part of its economy prior to 1999, active mining of lead, zinc and silver mines was halted at the start of the Kosovo conflict. Although these mines present a good opportunity for investment, their privatization has been difficult due to ownership issues.
Total natural resource rents in 2010, as calculated by the World Bank were 1.52% of GDP. Agriculture has also been an important sector of the economy in Kosovo due to its richness in agricultural land. It used to constitute 25% of the total output in Kosovo. However, today, the use of agriculture land is fairly low in Kosovo. 53% of the total land in Kosovo is considered to be arable land. The average farm is around 1.4 hectares.
Land Since it is the surface upon which most economic activities occur, land is one of the most important natural resources contributing towards economic development. Kosovo has a total surface area of 10,877 square kilometers which is classified as: 53 to 54.23% agricultural land, 40.92% forest land and 4.85% infertile land. Kosovo possesses a wide variety of soils. It is assessed that 15% of the soil in Kosovo is high quality soil, followed by 29% of medium quality, so 56% of all soil is poor quality soil, while the high and medium quality make up 44% of the soil in Kosovo. The high and medium quality soil is composed 11% by humus soil, 8.4% grey carbonate land, 7.8% alluvial soil, and other dark and serpentine soils. The poor quality soil is composed of diluvial lands, swamps, acidic grey soils and other infertile soils, and it mainly lies on hilly areas and mountains.
Agricultural land The main economic activity in Kosovo is agriculture due to its underdevelopment. 54.23% of the land in Kosovo is qualified to be agricultural land, or 342,400 hectares of its area. However, the formal agricultural sector employs only 3.9% of the people in the workforce. Out of the 54.23% of land which is agricultural land, 15% of it is considered to be agricultural land of good quality, 29% of medium quality agricultural land and the remaining 56% is of poorer quality land.
Forest land Forests have a great importance in Kosovo and they are one of the greatest natural resources of Kosovo. They encompass 40.92% of the total land area in Kosovo. Forests in Kosovo are of high importance because they are rich in biodiversity. Kosovo has a total of 464,800 hectares of forests, and another 28,200 hectares of forest land.
Flora Kosovo possess one of the richest flora in the Balkans, although it encompasses only 2.3% of the area in the Balkans. The most important in these regards are the mountains Albanian Alps and the Sharr Mountains. Up to now, approximately 2,500 species of flora have been identified in Kosovo. This high plant diversity in Kosovo represents a valuable natural resource, especially considering its low surface area. However, even with these rich resources, the flora in Kosovo has not been used to the benefit of the economy, not even in the past.
Wood Wood is used in Kosovo as the main source of heating. Studies reveal that households in Kosovo consume 7.58 m3 of wood each during one year, or a total consumption of 1.525 million m3 per year.
Water Kosovo can secure around of water per year from its underground water and river flows.
Kosovo possesses relatively low reserves of water as compared to its needs. The per capita water per year in Kosovo is estimated to be at 1,600 m3/s. The average annual water flow in Kosovo is calculated to be approximately 3.8 billion or 121.2 m3/s. Total accumulated volume of water in current accumulation points is 569.69 million m3. Apart from having insufficient water resources to meet its people's and economy's needs, Kosovo is also characterized by an unequal distribution of water across its surface. Hydropower is only modestly used, due to its low potential. Water resources are mostly located in the western part, as opposed to the East and South East which have smaller reserves but larger needs for water.
There is lack of research regarding groundwater reserves in Kosovo. Groundwater reserves in Kosovo are mainly located in different formations of rocks. Although these reserves have a high importance for drinking water needs as well as agriculture and industry, they are mainly used through private wells. In the area of the White Drin river basin there are several groundwater accumulations, which have a total area of 998 km2, usable volume of 271 million m3 and an estimated total capacity of 511 million m3.
Lakes In Kosovo, there are only few natural lakes. Among its artificial lakes are: Radoniq, Gazivoda, Batllava, Përlepnicë and Badovc, which have the following characteristics:
Gazivoda Lake: Area of basin: Average water flow: 13.5 m3/s Total volume of accumulation: 390 m3
Lake Batllava: Area of basin: Average water flow: 1.06 m3/s Total volume of accumulation: 30 m3
Badovc Lake: Area of basin: Average water flow: 1.05 m3/s Total volume of accumulation: 26.4 m3
Radoniq Lake: Area of basin: Average water flow: 0.16 m3/s Total volume of accumulation: 113 m3
Rivers From the rivers in Kosovo: 50.7% belong to (flow to) the Black Sea, these are: Ibar, Morava e Binçës and Sitnica together with its branches Llapi and Drenica; 43.5% to the Adriatic Sea, these are: White Drin and its branches in Deçani, Peje, Prizren, Erenik, Klina, Topluha Plava and Mirusha Waterfalls; and 5.8% to the Aegean Sea, these are: Lepenci river and its branch Nerodimka. The rivers in Kosovo have irregular flows during the year, but they typically have high flows in the Winter season and early Spring. The four main rivers in Kosovo are: White Drin, Lepenci, Morava and Iber. The river White Drin is the longest river in Kosovo with a length of . Below are the length and surface area of the main rivers in Kosovo:
+ Table 1: Length in kilometers of main rivers in Kosovo Name Length in km inside the territory of Kosovo Surface m2 White Drin 122 4.622 Sitnica 90 2.873 Peja river 62 424.9 Morava 60 1.552 Lepenci 53 679.0 Erenik 51 510.3 Iber 42 1.155 Prizren river 31 262.6
+ Table 2: Water accumulation basins, basin areas (S), water flowing quantity (Q, q, and annual flowing) and discharge place No. Basin S [km2] Q [m3/s] q [l/s/km2] Annual flowing [million m3] Flowing direction 1 White Drin 4649 61.0 14.6 2.200 Adriatic Sea 2 Iber 4009 32.6 8.13 771 Black Sea 3 Morava 1564 6.1 4.35 330 Black Sea 4 Lepenci 0.685 8.7 12.7 307 Aegean Sea
+ Table 3: The maximum, minimum, and average values of annual flows (Q-m3/s) of hydrometric stations according to river basins NR. BASIN STATION RIVER Qmin Qmes Qmax 1 WHITE DRIN Berkovo Istok 0.48 3.75 1.86 2 WHITE DRIN Drelaj Bistrica e Pejes 0.32 4.20 83.50 3 WHITE DRIN Grykë Bistrica e Pejes 0.46 5.95 194 4 WHITE DRIN Klina Klina 000 1.49 49.20 5 WHITE DRIN Mirusha Mirusha 0.02 1.21 23.30 6 WHITE DRIN Deçan Bistrica e Deçanit 0.60 4.28 58.00 7 WHITE DRIN Rakovina White Drin 0.80 24.64 358 8 WHITE DRIN Gjakova Erenik 0.06 12.33 542 9 WHITE DRIN Piranë Topluha 0.04 3.47 55.40 10 WHITE DRIN Gjonaj White Drin 0.10 48.8 1118 11 WHITE DRIN Prizren Bistrica e Prizrenit 0.03 4.47 424 12 IBER Glogovac Drenica 0.02 1.52 32.80 13 IBER Lluzhan Llapi 0.90 5.01 63.80 14 IBER Nedakovc Sitnica 0.50 13.62 328 15 IBER Milloshevë Llapi 0.00 4.48 82.70 16 IBER Prelez Iber 0.80 13.39 452.80 17 IBER Leposavić Iber 0.50 30.85 667 18 MORAVA BINQËS Konçul Morava 0.03 9.21 1012 19 MORAVA BINQËS Domarovc Lumi Kriva 0.2 2.6 30.8 20 MORAVA BINQËS Vitina Morava 0.05 1.06 18.70 21 LEPENCI Kaçanik Nerodimja 0.15 4.17 17.50 22 LEPENCI Đeneral Janković Lepenci 0.10 10.49 184
Thermal and mineral water Kosovo also enjoys rich reserves of thermal and mineral water. Although little attention has been given to these resources, the data collected thus far shows that there are around 30 sources of thermal and mineral water in Kosovo. The main sources of such waters are: "Banja e Pejës", "Banjska" and "Banja e Kllokotit", for which there are also more data since they also operate as "healing thermal baths". Although these sources of water are suitable also for thermal power generation, they are mainly used for healing and recreational purposes. The range of the temperature of these sources of water is between 17 and 540C and the mineralization degree ranges from 2 to 5 g/L. These thermal and mineral water sources in Kosovo have in their composition also hydrocarbons, sulfates, magnesium and calcium. The following table present the physical-chemical characteristics of some thermo-minerals sources in Kosovo: