From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Montenegro (Serbian: Црна Гора or Crna Gora), officially the Republic of Montenegro (Република Црна Гора or Republika Crna Gora), is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south, and borders Croatia on the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina on the northwest, Serbia on the northeast and Albania on the southeast. Its de facto capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is designated as Prijestonica the old royal capital, or seat of the throne.
De facto independent from the late Middle Ages, and an internationally recognized country from 1878 until 1918, the country was later a part of various incarnations of Yugoslavia and the state union of Serbia and Montenegro. Based on the results of a referendum held on May 21, 2006, Montenegro declared independence on June 3, 2006. On June 28, Montenegro became the 192nd member state[3] of the United Nations and on May 11, 2007 the 47th member state of the Council of Europe.
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Montenegro ranges from high peaks along its borders with Kosovo and Albania, a segment of the Karst of the western Balkan Peninsula, to a narrow coastal plain that is only one to four miles wide. The plain stops abruptly in the north, where Mount Lovćen and Mount Orjen plunge abruptly into the inlet of the Bay of Kotor. Montenegro’s large Karst region lies generally at elevations of 1,000 metres (3,281 ft) above sea level; some parts, however, rise to 2,000 metres (6,560 ft), such as Mount Orjen (1,894 m / 6,214 ft), the highest massif among the coastal limestone ranges. The Zeta River valley, at an elevation of 500 meters (1,640 ft), is the lowest segment.
The mountains of Montenegro include some of the most rugged terrain in Europe. They average more than 2,000 metres (6,560 ft) in elevation. One of the country’s notable peaks is Bobotov Kuk in the Durmitor mountains, which reaches a height of 2,522 metres (8,274 ft). The Montenegrin mountain ranges were among the most ice-eroded parts of the Balkan Peninsula during the last glacial period.
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During the era of communism Montenegro experienced a rapid period of urbanization and industrialization. An industrial sector based on electricity generation, steel, aluminum, coal mining, forestry and wood processing, textiles and tobacco manufacture was built up, with trade, overseas shipping, and particularly tourism, increasingly important by the late 1980s.
The loss of previously guaranteed markets and suppliers after the break up of Yugoslavia left the Montenegrin industrial sector reeling as production was suspended and the privatization program, begun in 1989, was interrupted. The disintegration of the Yugoslav market, and the imposition of the UN sanctions in May 1992 were the causes of the greatest economic and financial crisis since World War II. During 1993, two thirds of the Montenegrin population lived below the poverty line, while frequent interruptions in relief supplies caused the health and environmental protection to drop below the minimum of international standards. The financial losses under the adverse effects of the UN sanctions on the overall economy of Montenegro are estimated to be approximately $6.39 billion. This period also experienced the second highest hyperinflation in history (3 million percent in January 1994) (The highest hyperinflation happened in Hungary after the end of World War II, when inflation there hit 4.19 x 1016 percent).
In 1997, Milo Đukanović took control over the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro (DPS) and began severing ties with Milosevic’ Serbia. He blamed the policies of Slobodan Milošević for the overall decline of the Montenegrin economy, as well as Milošević’s systematic persecution of non-Serbs. Montenegro introduced the German mark as response to again-growing inflation, and insisted on taking more control over its economic fate. This eventually resulted in creation of Serbia and Montenegro, a loose union in which Montenegro mostly took responsibility for its economic policies. This was followed by implementation of faster and more efficient privatization, passing of reform laws, introduction of VAT and usage of euro as Montenegro’s legal tender.
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The culture of Montenegro has been shaped by a variety of influences throughout history. The influence of Orthodox South Slavic, Central European, and seafaring Adriatic cultures (notably parts of Italy) have been the most important in recent centuries.
Montenegro has many significant cultural and historical sites, including heritage sites from the pre-Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque periods. The Montenegrin coastal region is especially well known for its religious monuments, including the Cathedral of Saint Tryphon, the basilica of St. Luke (over 800 years), Our Lady of the Rock (Škrpjela), the Savina Monastery and others. Montenegro’s medieval monasteries contain thousands of square metres of frescos on their walls. The traditional folk dance of the Montenegrins is the Oro, a circle dance that involves dancers standing on each other’s shoulders in a circle while one or two dancers are dancing in the middle.
The first literary works written in the region are ten centuries old, and the first Montenegrin book was printed five hundred years ago. The first state-owned printing press was located in Cetinje in 1494, where the first South Slavic book was printed the same year (Oktoih). Ancient manuscripts, dating from the thirteenth century, are kept in the Montenegrin monasteries. Montenegro’s capital Podgorica and the former royal capital of Cetinje are the two most important centers of culture and the arts in the country.
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