North Kosovo
North Kosovo (Serbian: Северно Косово / Severno Kosovo, Albanian: Kosova Veriore), also known as the Ibar Kolašin (Serbian: Ибарски Колашин / Ibarski Kolašin, Albanian: Koloshini i Ibrit or Kollashini i Ibrit), earlier Old Kolašin, (Serbian: Стари Колашин / Stari Kolašin, Albanian: Koloshini i Vjetër or Kollashini i Vjetër) and colloquially known as the North (Serbian: Север / Sever, Albanian: Veriu), is a region in the northern part of Kosovo, generally understood as a group of four municipalities with ethnic Kosovo Serbs majority: North Mitrovica, Leposavić, Zvečan, and Zubin Potok. Until 2013, the region operated independently of Kosovo’s government structures, with Serbia-backed and financed so-called parallel institutions, as Serbs in North Kosovo refused to acknowledge and recognize the independence of Kosovo, declared in 2008.