Pristina is the capital of Kosovo and seat of Pristina Municipality and Pristina District. The largest city by area and population of Kosovo, Pristina is predominantly populated by Albanians of which it forms the second-largest Albanian-inhabited capital after Tirana, Albania.

Inhabited by humans since prehistoric times, the area of Pristina was home to several Illyrian peoples. King Bardyllis of the Dardanians brought various tribes together in the 4th century BC and established the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of the classical era is represented by the settlement of Ulpiana, which was considered as one of the most influental Roman cities in the Balkan Peninsula. After the Roman Empire was divided into a western and an eastern half, the area remained within the Byzantine Empire between the 5th and 9th centuries. Though in the middle of the 9th century, it was ceded to the First Bulgarian Empire, before falling again under Byzantine occupation in the early 11th century and eventually from the late 11th century in the Second Bulgarian Empire.

In the late Middle Ages, Pristina was an important town in Medieval Serbia constituting the royal estate of Serbian kings. Following the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans, Pristina became an important mining and trading center due to its strategic position near the rich mining town of Novo Brdo. The city was known for its trade fairs and items, such as goatskin and goat hair as well as gunpowder. The first mosque in Pristina was built in the late 14th century while under Serbian rule.

Pristina is the capital and the economic, financial, political and trade center of Kosovo, due to its location in the center of the country. It is the seat of power of the Government of Kosovo, the residences for work of the President and Prime Minister of Kosovo, and the Parliament of Kosovo. Pristina is also the most important transportation junction of Kosovo for air, rail, and roads. Pristina International Airport is the largest airport of the country and among the largest in the region. A range of expressways and motorways, such as the R 6 and R 7, radiate out the city and connect it to Albania and North Macedonia.

As the capital city of the Republic of Kosovo, it is the center of cultural and artistic development of all Albanians that live in Kosovo. Pristina is home to the largest cultural institutions of the country, such as the National Theatre of Kosovo, National Archaeology, Ethnography and Natural science Museum, National Art Gallery and the Ethnological Museum. The National Library of Kosovo has than 1.8 million books, periodicals, maps, atlases, microfilms and other library materials.

There are many foreign cultural institutions in Pristina, including the Albanian Albanological Institute, the French Alliance Française, the British Council, and the German Goethe-Institut and Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The Information Office of the Council of Europe was also established in Pristina.

The Clock Tower served as a means of informing the town in order to let people know when to pray as well as the traders closing their shops.

Starting in 1945, the Yugoslav authorities began constructing a modern Pristina with the idea of "destroy the old, build the new". This modernization led to major changes in the structure of the buildings, their function and their surrounding environment.

However, numerous types of monuments have been preserved, including four mosques, a restored orthodox church, an Ottoman bath, a public fountain, a clock tower, several traditional houses as well as European-influenced architecture buildings such as Kosovo Museum. These symbolize the historical and cultural character of Pristina as it was developed throughout centuries in the spirit of conquering empires (Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian).

The Hivzi Sylejmani library was founded 70 years ago and it is one of the largest libraries regarding the number of books in its inventory which is nearly 100.000. All of those books are in service for the library's registered readers.

The Hyjnesha ne Fron (The Goddess on the Throne) is an artifact that was found during some excavations in 1955 in the area of Ulpiana, a suburb of Pristina. It dates back to 3500 BC in the Neolithic Era and it is made of clay. In Pristina there is also "Hamami i Qytetit"(The City Bath) and the house of Emin Gjika which has been transformed to the Ethnographic Museum. Pristina also has its municipal archive which was established in the 1950s and holds all the records of the city, municipality and the region.