The Vilayet of Kosovo (Ottoman Turkish: ولايت قوصوه, Vilâyet-i Kosova;[4] Turkish: Kosova Vilayeti; Albanian: Vilajeti i Kosovës; Serbian: Косовски вилајет, Kosovski vilajet); Косовски вилает (Macedonian) was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkan Peninsula[5] which included the modern-day territory of Kosovo and the north-western part of the Republic of North Macedonia.

The vilayet stood as a microcosm of Ottoman society; incorporated within its boundaries were diverse groups of peoples and religions: Albanians, Serbs, Bosniaks; Muslims and Christians, both Eastern Orthodox and Catholic.

The province was renowned for its craftsmen and important cities such as İpek, where distinct Ottoman architecture and public baths were erected, some of which can still be seen today.

Before the First Balkan War in 1912, the province's shape and location denied Serbia and Montenegro a common land border.

[7] The Ottoman Empire finally recognised the new borders following a peace deal with the Kingdom of Serbia on 14 March 1914.

][8] Üsküp was the administrative capital of the vilayet and other important towns included Priştine (10,000 inhabitants), İpek, Mitroviçe and Prizren.

The rebels received secret aid from the Serbian government, though the uprising only lasted four months, until its suppression by the Ottomans.

[9] Ottoman rule among the highlanders was minimal to non-existent and government officials would ally themselves with local power holders to exert any form of authority.

[9] Kosovar Albanian Malësors settled disputes among themselves through their mountain law and Ottoman officials disapproved of the autonomy they exercised.

[19] In the 1880s from an Albanian point of view the sanjaks of İpek, Prizren, Priştine, Üsküp and Yenipazar within Kosovo vilayet belonged to the region of Gegënia.

[17] Circassian refugees who came from Russia were resettled by Ottoman authorities within Kosovo vilayet in 1864, numbering some 6,000 people by the 1890s and provided the state when needed with auxiliary troops.

[17] In the northern half of Kosovo vilayet Orthodox Serbs were the largest Christian group and formed a majority within the eastern areas.