Montenegro

(In detail)

• area: 13,812 km²
• population: 672,656 (2003), 650,575 (1991)
• capital: Podgorica
• currency: euro (evro)

The principal cities are the capital Podgorica (130,000 inhabitants), Nikšić (60,000) and Pljevlja (22,000). The former royal capital is Cetinje.

Ethnic issues

Ethnic composition according to the 2003 census:

• Montenegrins: 273366 (40,64%)
• Serbs: 201892 (30,01%)
• Bosniaks: 63272 (9,41%)
• Albanians: 47682 (7,09%)
• Muslims: 28714 (4,27%)
• Croats: 7062 (1,05%)
• Roma: 2875 (0,43%)
• other: 8376 (1,25%)
• undeclared: 27715 (4,12%)
• no data: 10532 (1,57%)

The Montenegrins are closely related to the Serbs in history, language, religion and ethnic origin, although they enjoyed a distinct state from other Serbs during the Ottoman occupation of the Balkans. Since 1945, a Montenegrin ethnic identity, distinct from the Serbs, has been fostered by the Communist régime in Yugoslavia. However, support for such an idea has been dropping in the last 50 years, from 90% in 1948 to 62% in 1991 to 40% in 2003.

This trend has since been taken over by independence-minded Montenegrins, who are supported by a large number of Muslim and Catholic minorities, because their links to the Orthodox Serbs are weak.

According to the constitution of Montenegro, the official language is Serbian of the Ijekavian standard. It is identical to the Serbian dialect spoken in Bosnia. As of 2003, 59,67% of the population declare Serbian their mother tongue, while 21,53% declare Montenegrin language. The Montenegrin language mostly favors Latin over Cyrillic alphabet and may include a slightly amended alphabet. The linguist Vojislav Nikčević has become the champion of a separate Montenegrin language and alphabet, but his ideas don't garner the majority support as he studied literature in Zagreb and prints his dictionaries in Croatia instead of Montenegro.

There's also attempts to split the Orthodox Montenegrin believers between Serb Orthodox Church and an autocephalous Montenegrin Orthodox Church.

Union with Serbia

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. 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, even questionable ones such as postponing 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 50,000 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' [1].

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 Djukanovic 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 Montenegrin government officials such as Djukanovic, Bozidar Vukcevic, the former state prosecutor and Misko Perovic a top Djukanovic party aid. Although the practice was known for years the true depth of the issue only began to surface in the last few years.

See also

• Serbia and Montenegro
• History of Montenegro
• History of Yugoslavia
• Transportation in Serbia and Montenegro

External links

• Republic of Montenegro official web site
• A page on politics and current events in Montenegro
• Voting irregularities in 1997 presidential elections which brought Djukanovic to power
• Orthodox Metropolitanate of Montenegro and the Littoral

Referenced By