The Šarplaninac, Šarplaninec or Illyrian Sheepdog (in, meaning Illyrian Dog or Dog of Sharr;; Serbian Cyrillic alphabet: Шарпланинац, literal translation: [Dog] of the Šar Mountains or Šar Mountain Dog, also known as Sharplaninac/Sharplaninec or Yugoslav Shepherd Dog-Šarplanina The breed was initially recognized by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) in 1939 as the Illyrian Shepherd Dog, after the Ancient name of the region. In 1957, at the request of the Yugoslav Canine Federation (JKS), the FCI changed the name to Yugoslav Shepherd Dog-Šarplaninac, after the Šar Mountains (Šar Planina in South Slavic languages) where the breed is most common. and on the emblem of Dragaš, a town in southern Kosovo, located in the Šar Mountains region. The dog continues to live around the Šar mountains, and is found in Kosovo, Republic of Macedonia, and Albania.
