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Kosovo controversially claims independence from Serbia (Northern Kosovo is under partial pro-Serbian control). Map by Evan Centanni, based on these two blank maps by Nord-NordWest. License: CC BY-SA |
By Evan Centanni
Next Stop: Rio 2016
Disputed country Kosovo has
become the 205th member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), making it an official Olympic Nation and allowing it to field a team at the
2016 Olympics in Brazil. Its full acceptance came at an IOC meeting in Monaco on December 9, after being granted "
provisional recognition" in October.
Kosovo's admission process has been ongoing for five years, and the self-proclaimed country was denied the chance to participate in the London Olympics of 2012. However,
one Kosovan athlete attended the games with the team from Albania, a neighboring country with close cultural ties to Kosovo.
Disputed Status
Located in southeastern Europe, Kosovo controversially
declared independence from Serbia in 2008, while under the control of UN peacekeepers. Since then, it has been recognized as independent by
over half of the world's countries, including the US and most of the European Union. However, Russia, China and many other countries still consider it to be rightfully part of Serbia.