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The Republic of Montenegro (Serbian: Црна Гора, Crna Gora, meaning "black mountain") is a small, mountainous republic on the Balkans, bordering the Adriatic Sea. Between 1945 and 2003 it was a republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia respectively; it is now one of two constituent parts of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro.
The principal cities are the capital Podgorica (139,100 inhabitants), Nikšić (57,600), Pljevlja (18,800) and Bijelo Polje (17,100). The former royal capital was Cetinje.
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| Official language | Serbian | ||||
| Capital | Podgorica | ||||
| Area - Total - % water | 13,812 km² n/a | ||||
| Population - Total (2003) - Density | 616,258 48.7/km² | ||||
| Ethnic groups | Montenegrins: 43% Serbs: 32% Bosniaks: 8% Albanians: 5% Others: 12% | ||||
| President | Filip Vujanović | ||||
| Prime Minister | Milo Đukanović | ||||
| Anthem (state) | Oj, svijetla majska zoro | ||||
| Anthem (country) | Hej Sloveni | ||||
| Time zone | UTC +1 | ||||
| Currency | Euro | ||||
Main article: Demographic history of Montenegro
Ethnic composition according to the 2003 census:
The status of Montenegrins as an ethnic group is a matter of some controversy.
According to the constitution of Montenegro, the official language is Serbian of the Ijekavian standard. As of 2003, over 60% of the population declare Serbian their mother tongue, while 21.53% declare Montenegrin language. The used dialects are the same, and very similar to those used by the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the difference is mostly in the naming.
The Serbs and Montenegrins are mostly Eastern Orthodox Christians. The main church is the Serb Orthodox Church, though there is also a splinter autocephalous Montenegrin Orthodox Church reconstituted in 1993. The faithful reportedly remain close to the Serb Orthodox Church regardless of the new church as can be witnessed by the attendance of sermons and booming monastic life at the Serb church none of which the other side can boast of.
On the last referendum on joining Serbia in 1992, some 96% of the votes were cast for the federation with Serbia, although the turnout was at 66% because of a boycott by the Muslim and Catholic minorities as well as some of the Montenegrins. The voting conditions at the time of that referendum were unfair, with people voting on the streets. Today, the political scene is more polarized over this issue.
Since 1996, Milo Đukanović's government de facto isolated Montenegro from Serbia (back then still under Milošević) in many regards. Montenegro formed its own economic policy and switched to the Deutsche Mark as its currency. It is currently using the Euro, though it is in fact not part of the Eurozone.
The government of Montenegro carries out pro-independence policies. They postponed the census twice, from 2001 to 2002 and then November 2003). They also postponed the independence referendum countless times, which caused many independence supporters losing faith in the government's will for independence and entrenched the pro-union coalition.
On January 13, 2002, following a ban on a celebration of the Julian calendar New Year's Eve, an estimated 11,000 people gathered in the capital Podgorica as a show of defiance to the government as well as support to the Serb national identity with the event being coined the 'Serbian New Year's Eve' .
In 2002, Serbia and Montenegro came to a new agreement regarding continued cooperation. In 2003, the name Yugoslavia was replaced in favor of Serbia and Montenegro and the possible referendum for Montenegro's independence was postponed until 2006.
The Đukanović government was further rocked by scandals involving cigarette smuggling as well as sex-slave trafficking (Moldovan girls). The Moldovan scandal, as it was dubbed in the Montenegrin media, involved high Montenegrin officials such as Zoran Piperovic, the deputy state prosecutor. He was initially arrested in the case, but the charges were later dropped in a cover-up attempt by the government. Although the practice was known for years the true depth of the issue only began to surface in the last few years.
The fate of the small Balkan country is going to be decided within the next two years when the three-year-set moratorium on an independence referendum ends.
Montenegro's parliament on July 12, 2004, adopted a new flag, national anthem and national day, as part of a push for the republic's independence from Serbia.
The flag of the former Montenegrin monarchy, shown above, was adopted as the official flag of Montenegro.
The national day of 13 July marks the date in 1878 when the Congress of Berlin recognised Montenegro as the 27th independent state in the world.
Parliament selected the popular "Oh Bright Dawn" as the national anthem.
The Flag of Montenegro, on July 12th 2004, was changed by the Parliament of Montenegro into the old monarchy flag: the gold coat of arms of the King Nikola on red field with a gold border. The initials NI of King Nikola, however, are left out.
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