Regional development strategy - RDA South

22.1REGIONAL PROFILEGeography, Topography, Natural Resources and Climate Conditions2.1 Geography, Topography,Natural Resources andClimate ConditionsREGIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR THE ECONOMIC REGION SOUTHThe Region South lies in the South-Western part of Kosovo. It bordersAlbania to the West, the FYR of Macedoniato the Southeast, the municipalitiesof Gjakovë/Ðakovica to the Northwest, Shtime/Štimlje to the Northeast and Shtërpcë/Štrpce to the East. The region has a totalarea of 2031 km2 (18.66% of the territory ofKosovo and consists of 6 municipalities: Prizren,Dragash/Dragaš, Suhareka/Suvareka,Malisheva/Mališevo, Rahovec/Orahovac andMamusha/Mamuša, that differ significantlyin size - from the largest one of 640 km 2 (Prizren)to the smallest one of 12.5 km 2 (Mamusha/Mamuša)with the remaining four municipalitiesof an average size (280-430 km 2 ) forKosovo.The topography is mixed and includes highmountains, rolling hills, valleys and plains.The land elevation ranges from about 400 to2.750 meters across the mountain areas (peaksof the Sharri Mountains). On the mountainsthere are extensive forestlands and some naturalgrazing lands with the abundance of wildanimal life and vegetation.While the climate features of the region aredominated by those that are characteristic tothe mid-continental climate (with cold wintersand hot summers), there is also a significantinfluence of milder Mediterranean climate.The maximum temperatures duringthe summer season reach an average of 24.6°C while the lowest temperatures in Januaryaverage -10 °C. The total rainfall ranges from511 mm to 1.108 mm per year. The climate conditionsin combination with relatively goodsoils make for good base for developing agriculture.Rolling hills with optimal sun exposuremake it possible to set up quality vineyards.The region is considered to have adequatesupply of water. None of the rivers is bigenough to organize navigation i.e. river transportationfor commercial use, but they couldWestEconomicRegionNorthEconomicSouthEconomicRegionCentralEconomicRegionEastEconomicRegionRahovec/OrahovacMalisheva/MališevoMamusha/Mamušabe used for tourism purposes orfishing. Majority of smaller riversand streams join the Drini iDragash/Bardhe River, which has the Dragašlength of 122 km and is located inthe Western part of the region. Thismakes it possible to irrigate goodportion of arable land. Consequently,a considerable part of agriculturalland in the region, over12.500 hectares, is covered by irrigationsystems. This compares with a total of about55.000 hectares under irrigation in the entireKosovo (about 23%). Kosovo has a nominal projectedcapacity for irrigation of 72.440 ha. Significantportion of that untapped potential isbelieved to be in the Economic Region South.Large proportion of land with good qualitysoils combined with possibilities of furtherprogress in irrigation (Economic Region Southalready has higher than the average area forKosovo of irrigated land) makes the region appropriatefor integrated agricultural development.Availability of graze land creates an opportunityfor expanding livestock productionand makes it feasible to improve the technologyand livestock quality. Good soils, adequateexposure combined with favorable climateconditions make the region suitable forPrizrenSuhareka/Suvareka8