1389 - Kosovo, traditionally part of Serbia, is captured by Ottoman Empire following Battle of Kosovo. Many Christian Serbs leave and are gradually replaced by those of Albanian ethnicity

1912 - Serbia wins Kosovo back

1913 - Treaty of London officially recognises Serbia's claim to Kosovo

1918 - Following collapse of Austro-Hungarian Empire after First World War, Kosovo becomes part of kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes

1941 - German army invades. Parts of Kosovo become part of a Greater Albania controlled by the Italians

1945 - Yugoslavia - including Kosovo - becomes a communist republic

1974 - Kosovo granted status of an autonomous republic within Yugoslavia

1981 - Albanian students riot over poor living conditions in the province. Yugoslav Army is sent in, leading to several deaths. Growing anti-Serb sentiments prompt some non-Albanians to leave the area

1987 - Slobodan Milosevic comes to power in Serbia

1989 - Kosovo, now some 90 percent Albanian, is stripped of its autonomy by Milosevic. Yugoslav army sent in to keep order

1990 - Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders declare independence from Yugoslavia in July. Belgrade reacts by dissolving the province's government. Two months later, a general strike is called in Kosovo after Belgrade sacks more than 100,000 ethnic Albanian workers

1991 - Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia secede from Yugoslavia and declare their independence

1992 - War breaks out in the Balkans

1995 - Dayton Agreement signed, bringing an end to the war in Bosnia

1997 - Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) is formed and begins to intimidate non-Albanian population - killing Serb policemen and "collaborators", and driving minorities from their homes

1998

Feb - Milosevic cracks down on KLA, killing a number of civilians in the process. Many civilians driven from their homes. Albanians refuse to continue talks to find a solution. KLA seizes more than a third of Kosovo before being forced back by Serb troops

Oct - NATO authorises use of air strikes against Serbia. Milosevic agrees to withdraw his troops. Situation deteriorates at the end of the year, when 36 KLA gunmen are killed by Serb troops, and six Serbs are murdered in reprisal

1999

Jan - Serb army kills 45 civilians in village of Racak

Mar - Internationally brokered peace deal rejected by Belgrade. NATO launches air strikes. Hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanian refugees pour into neighbouring countries

Jun - Air strikes suspended after Milosevic agrees to withdraw troops. NATO forces - dubbed KFOR - arrive in Kosovo. The KLA agrees to disarm. Serb civilians flee revenge attacks

2002 - Kosovan parliament elects Ibrahim Rugova as president

2003 - Kosovo Albanian and Serbian politicians meet for talks in October - the first such meeting since 1999. At the end of the year, the U.N. lays down conditions for final status talks, set for 2005

2004 - Wave of Albanian violence against Serbs leaves 19 dead and several Serb houses and places of worship in ruins. Former KLA commander Ramush Haradinaj elected prime minister of Kosovo in December

2005

Mar - Haradinaj indicted for war crimes by International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. He resigns and is succeeded by Bajram Kosumi

Jul - Series of bomb attacks in Pristina. Attacks against minority groups continue

Oct - U.N. Security Council gives go-ahead for final status talks to begin the following year

2006

Jan - Rugova dies of lung cancer and is succeeded by Fatmir Sejdiu

Feb - Talks on final status of Kosovo begin, brokered by U.N. special envoy Martti Ahtisaari

Mar - Kosumi resigns and is succeed by former KLA commander Agim Ceku

Jul - Talks in Vienna fail to produce breakthrough

Oct - Serbian voters approve a new constitution in a referendum that re-asserts Kosovo's status as an integral part of the country. Kosovo's Albanian majority boycotts the ballot and Serbia's opposition party alleges massive fraud at polling stations

2007

Feb - Ahtisaari presents a plan to set Kosovo on path to independence, welcomed by Kosovo Albanians but rejected by Serbia

Mar - Last-chance talks end in deadlock. Ahtisaari declares an end to the process, confirming it's now up to U.N. Security Council to decide whether to give the province independence

Jun - Russia makes clear it would veto a draft U.N. resolution circulated by Western powers. Days later, U.S. President Bush says it's time to make Kosovo independent

Aug - U.S., EU and Russian envoys open new round of talks, saying "all options are on the table"

Nov - Talks end with no compromise, and Albanian leaders say province will declare independence soon

Dec - U.N. deadline for a resolution passes

2008

Jan - Former guerrilla leader Hashmi Thaci becomes prime minister

Serbia's pro-Western President Boris Tadic narrowly wins re-election

Feb - Kosovo declares independence

Jun - Kosovo constitution enters into force. Hardline Serbs convene their own assembly in divided city of Mitrovica

Jul - International donors pledge 1.2bn euros to help rebuild Kosovo

Oct - U.N. assembly backs Serbia's request to ask International Court of Justice if Kosovo's secession is legal

Dec - EU police and justice mission (EULEX) deploys in Kosovo

2009

Jan - Kosovo's multi-ethnic Security Force is launched

May - Kosovo joins International Monetary Fund

Jun - Kosovo joins World Bank. NATO decides to cut its presence from 14,000 to 10,000 troops