Dardania was a region encompassing the area of the modern-day southern Serbia, Kosovo, western Macedonia, and parts of northern Albania.
Its native Dardani people were a tribe of mixed Illyrians and Thracians. They seem to have often been a threat to the kingdom of Macedon. Dardania's largest towns were those of Naissus (Nis, Serbia), Scupi (Skopje, Macedonia), and their capital was Ulpiana (close to present day Pristina, Kosovo).
The area was conquered by the Romans in 28 BC and became part of the Roman province of Moesia, on the border with Illyricum. After AD 85 it was part of Moesia Superior. Emperor Diocletian later made Dardania into a special province with its capital at Naissus (Niš).
Today it is considered an ancient term for Kosovo, and there are even proposals to rename the province that way.
A Boue and von Hahn proposed that the name Dardania comes from the Albanian word dardha which means pear in Albanian. Dardhani or Dardhania in Albanian means land with pear trees. And it has been remarked that in the area pear-trees abound.
