"text":"The use of the name Crna Gora or Black Mountain (Montenegro) began in the 13th century in reference to a highland region in the Serbian province of Zeta. The later medieval state of Zeta maintained its existence until 1496 when Montenegro finally fell under Ottoman rule. Over subsequent centuries, Montenegro managed to maintain a level of autonomy within the Ottoman Empire. From the 16th to 19th centuries, Montenegro was a theocracy ruled by a series of bishop princes; in 1852, it transformed into a secular principality. Montenegro was recognized as an independent sovereign principality at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. After World War I, during which Montenegro fought on the side of the Allies, Montenegro was absorbed by the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, which became the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929; at the conclusion of World War II, it became a constituent republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. When the latter dissolved in 1992, Montenegro federated with Serbia, creating the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and, after 2003, shifting to a looser State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. In May 2006, Montenegro invoked its right under the Constitutional Charter of Serbia and Montenegro to hold a referendum on independence from the state union. The vote for severing ties with Serbia barely exceeded 55% - the threshold set by the EU - allowing Montenegro to formally restore its independence on 3 June 2006."
}
},
"Geography":{
"Location":{
"text":"Southeastern Europe, between the Adriatic Sea and Serbia"
"text":"3 June 2006 (from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro)"
},
"National holiday":{
"text":"National Day, 13 July (1878, the day the Berlin Congress recognized Montenegro as the 27th independent state in the world, and 1941, the day the Montenegrins staged an uprising against Nazi occupiers and sided with the partisan Communist movement)"
},
"Constitution":{
"text":"several previous; latest adopted 19 October 2007, promulagated 22 October 2007; amended 2013 (to strengthen independence of judiciary) (2015) (2015)"
},
"Legal system":{
"text":"civil law"
},
"International law organization participation":{
"text":"has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICC jurisdiction"
},
"Suffrage":{
"text":"18 years of age; universal"
},
"Executive branch":{
"chief of state":{
"text":"President Filip VUJANOVIC (since 6 April 2008)"
},
"head of government":{
"text":"Prime Minister Milo DJUKANOVIC (since 4 December 2012)"
},
"cabinet":{
"text":"Ministers act as cabinet"
},
"elections/appointments":{
"text":"president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 7 April 2013 (next to be held in 2018); prime minister nominated by the president, approved by the Assembly"
"text":"unicameral Assembly or Skupstina (81 seats; members directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 14 October 2012 (next to be held in October 2016)"
},
"election results":{
"text":"percent of vote by party/coalition - Coalition for European Montenegro 45.6%, Democratic Front 22.8%, SNP 11.1%, Positive Montenegro 8.2%, Bosniak Party 4.2%, other (including Albanian and Croatian minority parties) 8.1%; seats by party - Coalition for European Montenegro 39, Democratic Front 20, SNP 9, Positive Montenegro 7, Bosniak Party 3, Albanian and Croatian minority parties 3"
},
"note":{
"text":"seats by party/coaltion as of May 2015 - Coalition for European Montenegro 39, Democratic Front 20, SNP 9, Positive Montenegro 5, Bosniak Party 3, Albanian and Croatian minority parties 3, independent 2"
}
},
"Judicial branch":{
"highest court(s)":{
"text":"Supreme Court or Vrhovni Sud (consists of the court president, deputy president and 15 judges); Constitutional Court or Ustavni Sud (consists of the court president and 7 judges)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"Supreme Court president proposed by general session of the Supreme Court and elected by the Judicial Council, a 9-member body consisting of judges, lawyers designated by the Assembly, and the minister of judicial affairs; Supreme Court president elected for a single renewable, 5-year term; other judges elected by the Judicial Council for life; Constitutional Court judges - 2 proposed by the president of Montenegro and 5 by the Assembly, and elected by the Assembly; court president elected from among the court members; court president elected for 3 years, other judges 9 years"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Administrative Courts; Appellate Court; Commercial Courts; High Courts; basic courts"
"text":"Albanian Coalition (includes Democratic League in Montenegro or DSCG [Mehmet BARDHI], Democratic Party [Fatmir GJEKA], and Albanian Alternative or AA [Gjergj CAMAJ]) ++ Bosniak Party or BS [Rafet HUSOVIC] ++ Coalition for European Montenegro [Milo DJUKANOVIC] (includes Democratic Party of Socialists or DPS [Milo DJUKANOVIC], Liberal Party of Montenegro or LP [Andrija POPOVIC], and Social Democratic Party or SDP [Ranko KRIVOKAPIC]) ++ Coalition FORCA for Unity (includes FORCA [Nazif CUNGU] and Civic Initiative [Vaselj SINISTAJ]) ++ Croatian Civic Initiative or HGI [Marija VUCINOVIC] ++ Democratic Front or DF [Miodrag LEKIC] (includes New Serb Democracy or NOVA [Andrija MANDIC] and Movement for Change or PZP [Nebojsa MEDOJEVIC]) ++ Positive Montenegro [Darko PAJOVIC] ++ Socialist People's Party or SNP [Srdan MILIC]"
"text":"a red field bordered by a narrow golden-yellow stripe with the Montenegrin coat of arms centered; the arms consist of a double-headed golden eagle - symbolizing the unity of church and state - surmounted by a crown; the eagle holds a golden scepter in its right claw and a blue orb in its left; the breast shield over the eagle shows a golden lion passant on a green field in front of a blue sky; the lion is symbol of episcopal authority and harkens back to the three and a half centuries that Montenegro was ruled as a theocracy"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"double-headed eagle; national colors: red, gold"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Oj, svijetla majska zoro\" (Oh, Bright Dawn of May)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Sekula DRLJEVIC/unknown, arranged by Zarko MIKOVIC"
},
"note":{
"text":"adopted 2004; music based on a Montenegrin folk song"
}
}
},
"Economy":{
"Economy - overview":{
"text":"Montenegro's economy is transitioning to a market system. From the beginning of the privatization process in 1999 through to 2015, around 85% of Montenegrin state-owned companies have been privatized, including 100% of banking, telecommunications, and oil distribution. The government recognizes the need to remove impediments in order to remain competitive and open the economy to foreign investors. The biggest foreign investors in Montenegro are Italy, Norway, Austria, Russia, Hungary and Great Britain. Net foreign direct investment in 2014 reached $483 million and investment per capita is one of the highest in Europe. Montenegro uses the Euro as its domestic currency, though it is not an official member of the Euro-zone. In January 2007, Montenegro joined the World Bank and IMF, and in December 2011, the World Trade Organization. Montenegro began negotiations to join the EC in June, 2012, having met the conditions set down by the European Council, which called on Montenegro to take steps to fight corruption and organized crime. Tourism brings in twice as many visitors as Montenegro’s total population every year. Several new luxury tourism complexes are in various states of development along the coast, and a number are being offered in connection with nearby boating and yachting facilities. Montenegro is currently planning major overhauls of its road, rail networks, and possible expansions of its air transportation system. In 2014, the Government of Montenegro selected two Chinese companies to construct a 41 km-long section of the country’s highway system. Construction will cost around $1.1 billion. Montenegro first instituted value added tax (VAT) in April 2003, and introduced differentiated VAT rates of 17% and 7% (for tourism) in January 2006. In May 2013, the Montenegrin Government raised the higher level VAT rate to 19%."
"text":"59.5% of GDP (31 December 2014 est.) ++ 57.9% of GDP (2013 est.)",
"note":{
"text":"data cover general government debt, and includes debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions"
}
},
"Fiscal year":{
"text":"calendar year"
},
"Inflation rate (consumer prices)":{
"text":"-0.7% (2014 est.) ++ 3% (2013 est.)"
},
"Commercial bank prime lending rate":{
"text":"9.22% (31 December 2014 est.) ++ 9.36% (31 December 2013 est.)"
},
"Stock of narrow money":{
"text":"$749 million (31 December 2011 est.) ++ $783.3 million (31 December 2010 est.)"
},
"Stock of broad money":{
"text":"$1.982 billion (31 December 2011 est.) ++ $2.01 billion (31 December 2010 est.)"
},
"Stock of domestic credit":{
"text":"$2.63 billion (31 December 2014 est.) ++ $2.682 billion (31 December 2013 est.)"
},
"Market value of publicly traded shares":{
"text":"$7.532 billion (31 December 2014 est.) ++ $3.827 billion (31 December 2012) ++ $3.322 billion (31 December 2011 est.)"
},
"Current account balance":{
"text":"-$793 million (2014 est.) ++ -$1.927 billion (2011 est.)"
},
"Exports":{
"text":"$370.2 million (2014 est.) ++ $489.2 million (2012 est.)"
},
"Exports - partners":{
"text":"Croatia 22.7%, Serbia 22.7%, Slovenia 7.8% (2012 est.)"
"Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy":{
"text":"19.72 million Mt (2012 est.)"
}
},
"Communications":{
"Telephones - fixed lines":{
"total subscriptions":{
"text":"160,000"
},
"subscriptions per 100 inhabitants":{
"text":"25 (2014 est.)"
}
},
"Telephones - mobile cellular":{
"total":{
"text":"1 million"
},
"subscriptions per 100 inhabitants":{
"text":"156 (2014 est.)"
}
},
"Telephone system":{
"general assessment":{
"text":"modern telecommunications system with access to European satellites"
},
"domestic":{
"text":"GSM mobile-cellular service, available through multiple providers with national coverage, is growing"
},
"international":{
"text":"country code - 382; 2 international switches connect the national system (2011)"
}
},
"Broadcast media":{
"text":"state-funded national radio-TV broadcaster operates 2 terrestrial TV networks, 1 satellite TV channel, and 2 radio networks; 4 public TV stations and some 20 private TV stations; 14 local public radio stations and more than 40 private radio stations (2007)"
},
"Radio broadcast stations":{
"text":"31 (station frequency types NA) (2004)"
},
"Television broadcast stations":{
"text":"13 (2004)"
},
"Internet country code":{
"text":".me"
},
"Internet users":{
"total":{
"text":"381,700"
},
"percent of population":{
"text":"58.7% (2014 est.)"
}
}
},
"Transportation":{
"Airports":{
"text":"5 (2013)"
},
"Airports - with paved runways":{
"total":{
"text":"5"
},
"2,438 to 3,047 m":{
"text":"2"
},
"1,524 to 2,437 m":{
"text":"1"
},
"914 to 1,523 m":{
"text":"1"
},
"under 914 m":{
"text":"1 (2013)"
}
},
"Heliports":{
"text":"1 (2012)"
},
"Railways":{
"total":{
"text":"250 km"
},
"standard gauge":{
"text":"250 km 1.435-m gauge (169 km electrified) (2014)"
