On the evidence of Sunday evening, when the England football team were given the sort of welcome usually reserved for long-lost brothers, British travellers visiting Kosovo can expect the red carpet treatment.

But what do you know about this most mysterious - and disputed - part of the Balkans? And why might you want to visit? The following nuggets of fact may shed some light...

1. It is a country, but also not a country

The short version of this segment - the version which does not go into the blood-stained history of Yugoslavia in the Nineties, and the Kosovo War of 1998-99 - begins by stating that Kosovo declared its independence on February 17 2008.

Specifically, it declared its independence from its neighbour - and recent military enemy - Serbia, directly to the north. Serbia did not - and has not - recognised this claim to sovereign status, and has repeatedly denied the formal existence of a Kosovan state.

In July 2012, as he prepared to take on the role of President of the United Nations General Assembly, the Serbian diplomat Vuk Jeremić announced that any attempt to give Kosovo membership of the UN during his presidency would be "an act of pointless provocation". "As long as Serbia presides over the UN, and that's for the next year," he continued, "this could only happen over my dead body."

However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have both recognised Kosovo as an independent entity (in July 2008 and June 2009 respectively), while the majority of UN member states see Kosovo as a country.

2. Britain gave an immediate thumbs up

Britain's role in helping Kosovo secure independence is the reason why UK travellers are so welcome, and we were one of eight countries to recognise its sovereignty straight away (or, at least, a day later, on February 18 2008, along with Afghanistan, the United States, Turkey, Costa Rica, Albania, France and Senegal).

This position has not wavered. Current Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advice on paying a visit warns travellers to steer clear of a chunk of northern Kosovo, where it pushes against the Serbian border - but otherwise says that trips should be relatively straight-forward.

"It's possible to travel from Serbia into Kosovo, and back again," it adds, but "you will probably encounter problems entering Serbia from Kosovo if your passport shows you entered Kosovo directly from anywhere else other than Serbia. If tensions rise in the north it's better to avoid border crossing Gates 1 and 31 (Leposavic and Zubin Potok)."

3. Flights are available from UK airports

Bear this advice in mind if you are intending to fly to Kosovo at the start of a wider tour of the Balkans. Which you can, directly, from the UK. The sole scheduled non-stop service from Britain - to Adem Jashari Airport in the capital Pristina - is operated by eastern Europe specialist Wizz Air (wizzair.com), which flies from its Luton hub up to four times a week.

4. It is the heart of the region (pretty much)

Even the quickest of glances at the map of the Balkans gives one indication as to why Kosovo's status is of such concern to some. While not enormous - at just 4,212 square miles, it is roughly the size of Jamaica - it is a central piece of the regional jigsaw. Its neighbours are Albania (to the west), North Macedonia (to the south) and Montenegro (to the north-west) - with Serbia looming above. In terms of geography, Pristina sits far closer to the Macedonian capital Skopje (53 miles) than to Serbian kingpin Belgrade (250 miles).

5. It's a fountain of youth

Although it is the Kosovan capital, Pristina is not a big city. It has a population of just 200,000 people. That said, this is a head-count which makes it the second largest Albanian-speaking city on the planet, behind the Albanian capital Tirana (and ahead of Albania's second city Durrës). It is a place of surprisingly youthful demographic, with an average age of just 25. This spills out into the ritual that is korza - the evening habit of strolling from cafe to cafe and bar to bar, without much in the way of plan, purpose or direction.

Rita Ora spent the first year of her life there

In the country as a whole, the average age is a slightly higher 27.8, lower than any other European nation. It is the continent's youngest country in more ways than one.

She is up to 6,000 years old

6. Pristina can claim a famous face

She is not 25 (she turns 29 next week), and she no longer lives there, but the pop star Rita Ora (she of The Voice coaching fame) hails from Pristina. Originally, anyway. She was born in the city on November 26 1990. Her family moved to London a year later.

7. The Goddess on the Throne is very old

One resident of Pristina who is also not 25 is the lady who lives in the Kosovo Museum (an elegant 1898 villa which was used by the Yugoslav army until 1975). The Goddess on the Throne - or Hyjnesha ne Fron, to use her Albanian name - is a terracotta figurine that was found at a spinning mill just outside the city in 1956. Archaeological research has suggested that she is up to 6,000 years old. The museum (more details here) also houses artefacts from the Illyrian, Roman and Ottoman eras.

8. One of the city's landmarks is very specific

Wander down the key Pristina avenue of Luan Haradinaj, then pause in front of the vast Pallati i Rinise dhe Sporteve (Palace of Youth and Sports), and you encounter one of the capital's most famous and evocative sites. The Newborn Monument is decidedly literal - seven three-metre-high capital letters spelling out a word (in English) which was particularly prescient when the installation was unveiled on February 17 2008. It has subsequently been redecorated on the same day every year. In 2013, it was adorned with the national flags of each country to have recognised Kosovo as a sovereign state.

9. The local currency is familiar

Despite not being a member of the European Union, the official currency of Kosovo is the Euro. Remarkably, this has been the case since 2002, six years before the (most recent) declaration of independence. This is partly a political statement, to distinguish Kosovo from Serbia, where the dinar is the cash king - but also a consequence of the Nineties, when the collapse of the currency (also the dinar) in war-torn Yugoslavia saw widespread use of foreign money, such as the US Dollar and the German Deutschemark. The Euro also goes a long way in Kosovo. A coffee in a Pristina cafe costs around €1.

The city of Prizren Credit: getty

10. You can drink Kosovan wine

It will probably not be troubling the claret connoisseurs of Bordeaux or the sommeliers of Paris in the immediate future, but Kosovan wine is slowly establishing itself as a niche viticultural concern. Most of the vineyards which help make its bottles of pinot noir, merlot and chardonnay are located around the town of Rahovec (also known as Orahovac), in the south-west. The industry is sufficiently established that wines are exported to Germany and the USA - and some of its wineries are open to the public for tours and tastings, including Stone Castle (stonecastlewine.com), the biggest producer.

11. You can ski at Brezovica

As with much of the Balkans, Kosovo has its mountainous peaks and troughs - and is sufficiently elevated in areas that downhill skiing is possible. The main resort area is Brezovica, in the south. It has 10 ski lifts, and some 10 miles of pistes, on north and northwest-facing slopes in Šar National Par - hitting a top height of 7,257ft (2,212m). It is not yet offered by mainstream tour operators, but it is close enough to Pristina airport (40 miles) to be accessible. Details at en-gb.facebook.com/brezovicaskiresort.

12. A river runs through it, in two directions

Kosovo's rocky contours give it a rare geographical quirk. It is home to Europe's only example of a "bifurcated" river - ie a river which flows into two seas. This is the Nerodimka, a 25-mile oddity which manages the unusual feat of draining into both the Aegean Sea (via the River Lepenac) and the Black Sea (ultimately via the Danube).

Its waters are not, of course, exclusively Kosovan in doing this - Kosovo has no coast. Macedonia and Greece take over in one direction, and Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania in the other. But it is Kosovo's 5,646 ft (1,721 m) Nerodimka mountain which provides the source.

13. Several tour operators will show you the sights

While still relatively unappreciated as a destination, Kosovo is not unknown to those who would sell you a holiday. Balklans specialist Regent Holidays (regent-holidays.co.uk) offers an eight-day "Essential Kosovo" tour which spends a good portion of its time in Pristina - from £1,100 per person, including flights, and Explore (01252 883 613; explore.co.uk) runs a semi-regular two-week "Undiscovered Balkans" group trip which also takes in Albania and Macedonia - from £1,385 a head, with flights.