This is seen by Selami Pulaha as an indication that during the 15th century (as supported by Ottoman defters), the lands between Junik and Gjakova were inhabited by a dominant ethnic Albanian majority.

The public buildings were situated on a broad plain and included two richly adorned congregational mosques, several prayer-houses, some inns with leaden roofs, a delightful bath-house (hamam), and about 300 shops like nightingale-nests.

Under the leadership of Mic Sokoli and Binak Alia, the tribes of Krasniqi, Gashi, Bytyçi and Nikaj-Mertur organized a resistance near Bujan.

Shemsi Pasha and the Ottomans were then ordered to estimate the livestock possessions and to enforce heavy taxes upon the local Albanians in response to the uprising, and the hostilities were accompanied by the forcible collection of taxes from the local population and the destruction of entire villages in the Gjakova region by Ottoman forces; Upon arriving to Botusha, Shemsi Pasha, with five battalions and numerous artillery pieces, began bombarding the houses.

2,000 Albanian tribesmen would eventually gather to fight the Turks, and the Ottoman government sent 18 more battalions accompanied by artillery to quell this new uprising; Shkup's Vali, Shakir Pasha, also went to Gjakova.

A series of ensuing battles followed in the Gjakova region, resulting in the deaths of more than 900 Ottoman soldiers as well as 2 bimbashis and a dozen officers, whereas the Albanians suffered only 170 dead or wounded.

"[25] In the region of Gjakova, the Montenegrin military police formed the Royal Gendarmerie Corps (Kraljevski žandarmerijski kor), known as krilaši, which committed much abuse and violence against the non-Orthodox Christian population.

[26] The mass hanging of Albanian civilians in 1914 by the Serbo-Montenegrin army and the killing of Catholic priest Luigj Palaj were some of the most reported wartime events which took place in Gjakova.

The History Institute in Pristina reported that Montenegro converted over 1,700 Albanian Catholics to the Serbian Orthodox faith in the Gjakova region in March 1913.

[29] Albert von Mensdorff-Pouilly-Dietrichstein told Edward Grey in a 10 March 1912 interview that Serbian soldiers behaved in a "barbarous way" toward Muslim and Catholic Albanians in Gjakova.

[30] During World War II, when Kosovo was made a part of Greater Albania under Italian rule and later under German control, Serbs were persecuted by Albanian paramilitaries.

The first protest against the Yugoslav police which involved the unfurling of the banned Albanian national flag was held in Gjakova on May Day, 1956.

In the rural locality of Meja, just 4 km outside Gjakova's city center, the mass killing of at least 377 Albanian males between the ages of 16 and 60 took place on April 27, 1999, by the Serbian police.

According to the ICTY, OSCE, and international human rights organisations, about 75% of the population was expelled by Serbian police and paramilitaries as well as Yugoslav forces, while many civilians were killed in the process.

[36][37] Large areas of the city were destroyed, chiefly through arson and looting but also in the course of localised fighting between government security forces and members of the KLA.

The actions of the government forces in Gjakova formed a major part of the United Nations war crimes indictment of the then-President Slobodan Milošević.

[38] Yugoslav units were stationed in and near the city in two barracks due to the risk of an attack by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) from across the border in Albania.

The Romani neighbourhood of Gjakova (Brekoc) was targeted and parts of it burnt down in mid-1999, about 600 Roma were moved to a refugee camp outside the town and as a result of political violence 15 were reportedly killed or missing by August 1999.

[40] In 2004, the last five remaining Serbs were expelled from Gjakova with the local Serbian Orthodox Church being destroyed by ethnic Albanians during rioting as part of the March unrest in Kosovo.

The ethnic groups include Albanians (87,672), Balkan Egyptians (5,117), Roma (738), Ashkali (613), and smaller numbers of Bosniaks (73), Serbs (17), Turks (16), Gorani (13) and others.

The minority of Gjakova's religious population that is not Muslim practices Christianity in the form of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.

The situation further during NATO's intervention as a result of the destructive actions of multiple military and police forces, which have stood and operated in the economic enterprise facilities.

Although unemployment is high, there is a gradual increase of employment over the years according to data from the Kosovo Ministry of Work and Social Wellbeing.

[51] The capital investments in the municipality of Gjakova are mainly focused on the regulation of roads including the rehabilitation, pavement and partially their lighting.

[52] Dominated by small family businesses, retail stores, cafeterias and providers of basic services, the private sector of Gjakova remains weak.

The Hadum Mosque, built in the 16th century, lies by the bazaar, and includes a highly decorated graveyard, where the city notables were buried.

The great Tekke ("Teqja e Madhe"), built by the end of the 16th century by Shejh Suleyman Axhiza Baba, a Sufi mystic from Shkodra.

In 1931, Padre Lorenc Mazrreku built in the same place the church that exists today, which was renovated few times, adding to it the guestrooms, offices and restrooms, but complying with the original architectural concept.

Constructed mainly of stone with the wooden observation area and the roof covered in lead, the clock tower is unique of its kind.

The historic city of Gjakova, Kosovo, especially the Old Town, is the hub of many outdoor and indoor festivals, cultural events and street parades.