"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 joined 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 two-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. In 2017, Montenegro joined NATO and is currently completing its EU accession process, having officially applied to join the EU in December 2008."
"text":"<br>Knjiga svetskih činjenica, neophodan izvor osnovnih informacija. (Serbian)<br><br>Knjiga svjetskih činjenica, neophodan izvor osnovnih informacija. (Montenegrin/Bosnian)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"pollution of coastal waters from sewage outlets, especially in tourist-related areas such as Kotor; serious air pollution in Podgorica, Pljevlja and Niksie; air pollution in Pljevlja is caused by the nearby lignite power plant and the domestic use of coal and wood for household heating"
},
"Environment - international agreements":{
"party to":{
"text":"Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Heavy Metals, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands"
},
"signed, but not ratified":{
"text":"none of the selected agreements"
}
},
"Climate":{
"text":"Mediterranean climate, hot dry summers and autumns and relatively cold winters with heavy snowfalls inland"
"text":"People's Republic of Montenegro, Socialist Republic of Montenegro, Republic of Montenegro"
},
"etymology":{
"text":"the country's name locally as well as in most Western European languages means \"black mountain\" and refers to the dark coniferous forests on Mount Lovcen and the surrounding area"
}
},
"Government type":{
"text":"parliamentary republic"
},
"Capital":{
"name":{
"text":"Podgorica; note - Cetinje retains the status of \"Old Royal Capital\""
},
"geographic coordinates":{
"text":"42 26 N, 19 16 E"
},
"time difference":{
"text":"UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)"
},
"daylight saving time":{
"text":"+1 hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October"
"text":"the name translates as \"beneath Gorica\"; the meaning of Gorica is \"hillock\"; the reference is to the small hill named Gorica that the city is built around"
"text":"3 June 2006 (from the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro); notable earlier dates: 13 March 1852 (Principality of Montenegro established); 13 July 1878 (Congress of Berlin recognizes Montenegrin independence); 28 August 1910 (Kingdom of Montenegro established)"
"text":"Statehood 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 fascist occupiers and sided with the partisan communist movement)"
"text":"proposed by the president of Montenegro, by the government, or by at least 25 members of the Assembly; passage of draft proposals requires two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly, followed by a public hearing; passage of draft amendments requires two-thirds majority vote of the Assembly; changes to certain constitutional articles, such as sovereignty, state symbols, citizenship, and constitutional change procedures, require three-fifths majority vote in a referendum; amended 2013"
"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 19 March 2023 with a runoff on 2 April 2023 (next to be held in 2028); prime minister nominated by the president, approved by the Assembly"
"text":"<em><br>2023: </em>Jakov MILATOVIC elected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - Milo DUKANOVIC (DPS) 35.4%, Jakov MILATOVIC (Europe Now!) 28.9%, Andrija MANDIC (DF) 19.3%, Aleksa BECIC (DCG) 11.1%, other 5.3%; percent of vote in second round - Jakov MILATOVIC 58.9%, Milo DUKANOVIC 41.1%<em><br><br>2018:</em> Milo DJUKANOVIC elected president in first round; percent of vote - Milo DJUKANOVIC (DPS) 53.9%, Mladen BOJANIC (independent) 33.4%, Draginja VUKSANOVIC (SDP) 8.2%, Marko MILACIC (PRAVA) 2.8%, other 1.7%"
"text":"unicameral Assembly or Skupstina (81 seats; members directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)"
"text":"percent of vote by party/coalition - Europe Now! 25.5%, Together! 23.2%, For the Future of Montenegro 14.7%, Aleksa and Dritan - Count Bravely 12.5%, BP 7.1%, SNP-DEMOS 3.1%, Albanian Forum 1.9%, HGI 0.7%; seats by party/coalition Europe Now! 24, Together! 21, For the Future of Montenegro 13, Aleksa and Dritan - Count Bravely 11, BP 6, SNP-DEMOS 2, Albanian Forum 2, Albanian Alliance 1, HGI 1; composition - as of October 2023 - men 64, women 17, percent of women 21%"
"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 a 3-year term, other judges serve 9-year terms"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Administrative Courts; Appellate Court; Commercial Courts; High Courts; basic courts"
"text":"Albanian Alliance (electoral coalition includes FORCA, PD, DSCG)<br>Albanian Alternative or AA [Nik DELJOSAJ]<br>Albanian Democratic League or LDSH [Nicola CAMAJ]<br>Albanian Forum (electoral coalition includes AA, LDSH, UDSH)<br>Aleksa and Dritan - Count Bravely! [Aleksa BECIC] (electoral coalition includes Democrats, URA)<br>Bosniak Party or BS [Ervin IBRAHIMOVIC]<br>Civic Movement United Reform Action or United Reform Action or URA [Dritan ABAZOVIC]<br>Croatian Civic Initiative or HGI [Adrian VUKSANOVIC]<br>Democratic Alliance or DEMOS [Miodrag LEKIC]<br>Democratic League in Montenegro or DSCG [Mehmet BARDHI]<br>Democratic Montenegro or Democrats [Aleksa BECIC]<br>Democratic Party of Socialists or DPS [Danijel ZIVKOVIC, acting]<br>Democratic People's Party or DNP [Milan KNEZEVIC]<br>Democratic Union of Albanians or UDSH [Mehmet ZENKA]<br>Europe Now! [Milojko SPAJIC]<br>For the Future of Montenegro or ZBCG [Milan KNEZEVIC] (coalition includes NSD, DNP, RP)<br>Liberal Party or LP [Andrija POPOVIC]<br>New Democratic Power or FORCA [Nazif CUNGU]<br>New Serb Democracy or NSD or NOVA [Andrija MANDIC]<br>Social Democrats or SD [Damir SEHOVIC]<br>Socialist People's Party or SNP [Vladimir JOKOVIC]<br>Together! (electoral coalition includes DPS, SD, LP, UDSH)<br>United Montenegro or UCG [Goran DANILOVIC] (split from DEMOS)<br>Workers' Party or RP [Maksim VUCINIC]"
"note":"<strong><strong>note: </strong></strong>Montenegro is an EU candidate country whose satisfactory completion of accession criteria is required before being granted full EU membership"
"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 a symbol of episcopal authority and harkens back to the three and a half centuries when 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"
"text":"Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor (c); Durmitor National Park (n); Stećci Medieval Tombstones Graveyards (c); Fortified City of Kotor Venetian Defense Works (c)"
"text":"upper middle-income Balkan economy; unsanctioned euro user; controversial religious property ownership law; persistent corruption; major infrastructure investments and high expenditures; growing offshore banking destination"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> 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 intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental 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"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> Montenegro, which is neither an EU member state nor a party to a formal EU monetary agreement, uses the euro as its de facto currency"
"text":"a small telecom market supported by a population of only 623,000; fixed broadband services are available via a variety of technology platforms, though fiber is the dominant platform, accounting for almost 40% of connections; the growth of fiber has largely been at the expense of DSL as customers are migrated to fiber networks as these are built out progressively; mobile penetration is particularly high, though this is partly due to the significant number of tourists visiting the country seasonally, as also to the popularity of subscribers having multiple prepaid cards; in the wake of the pandemic and associated restrictions on travel, the number of mobile subscribers fell in 2020, as also in the first quarter of 2021, year-on-year; networks support a vibrant mobile broadband services sector, largely based on LTE; two of the MNOs began trialing 5G in May 2021, though commercial services will not gain traction until after the multi-spectrum auction is completed at the end of 2021; spectrum is available in the 694-790MHz and 3400-3800MHz ranges, as well as in the 26.5-27.5GHz range (2021)"
"text":"state-funded national radio-TV broadcaster operates 2 terrestrial TV networks, 1 satellite TV channel, and 2 radio networks; 4 local public TV stations and 14 private TV stations; 14 local public radio stations, 35 private radio stations, and several on-line media (2019)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
"text":"Army of Montenegro (Vojska Crne Gore or VCG): Ground Forces (Kopnene snage), Air Force (Vazduhoplovstvo), Navy (Mornarica) (2023)",
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> the National Police Force, which includes Border Police, is responsible for maintaining internal security; it is organized under the Police Administration within the Ministry of Interior and reports to the police director and, through the director, to the minister of interior and prime minister"
"text":"the military's inventory is small and consists mostly of Soviet-era equipment inherited from the former Yugoslavia military, with a limited mix of other imported systems from such countries as Austria, Turkey, and the US (2023)"
"text":"the Army of Montenegro is a small military focused on the defense of Montenegro’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, cooperating in international and multinational security, and assisting civil authorities during emergencies such as natural disasters; since Montenegro joined NATO in 2017, another focus has been integrating into the Alliance, including adapting NATO standards for planning and professionalization, structural reforms, and modernization by replacing its Soviet-era equipment; the Army trains and exercises with NATO partners and actively supports NATO missions and operations, committing small numbers of troops in Afghanistan, Kosovo, and NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence mission in Eastern Europe; a few personnel have also been deployed on EU- and UN-led operations<br><br>the combat units of the Ground Forces include an infantry battalion, plus artillery and special forces; there are two additional infantry battalions in reserve; the Air Force has ground air defense units but no combat aircraft; the Navy is a coastal defense force with a small inventory of coastal patrol craft and patrol boats, plus a marine/special forces detachment (2023)"
"text":"<p><em>Montenegro-Albania</em>: none identified</p> <p><em>Montenegro-Bosnia and Herzegovina</em>: the two countries signed a border agreement in August 2015; sovereignty of the disputed Sutorina territory was given to Montenegro</p> <p><em>Montenegro-Croatia</em>: the two countries in 2002 reached a temporary agreement designating the Prevlaka Peninsula as part of Croatia, in October 2020, a Montenegrin official resurrected the dormant dispute over the Prevlaka Peninsula by stating that Montenegro had a good chance of winning it through international arbitration</p> <p><em>Montenegro-Kosovo</em>: a 2015 border agreement was ratified by Montenegro in 2015 and by Kosovo in 2018, but the actual demarcation has not been completed</p> <p><em>Montenegro-Serbia</em>: Theformer republic boundary – when the two countries were one and called the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – servesas the boundary untila line isformallydelimited anddemarcated</p> <p></p>"
"text":"Tier 2 Watch List — Montenegro does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so; the government prosecuted more defendants and identified more trafficking victims, adopted the National Action Plan for 2022, and coordinating bodies met consistently; however, the government did not demonstrate overall increasing efforts, compared with the previous reporting period, to expand its anti-trafficking capacity; officials did not convict any traffickers and reorganized the police office dedicated to investigating trafficking, reducing its ability to conduct proactive investigations; the government did not act quickly to protect victims after experts published credible allegations of abuse by an employee with management duties for the government-funded NGO-run anti-trafficking shelter, including physical violence, intimidation, and blackmail; although civil society and international organizations ceased victim referrals to the shelter, the government did not suspend its license and funding, continued to refer two child victims, and funded the shelter until the grant ended in December 2022; afterwards, Montenegro did not renew the shelter’s grant and decided to start renovating a government-run shelter for child trafficking victims; the government attempted to organize accommodations for child victims in foster families, but it did not develop a plan to provide protection for adult victims; therefore, Montenegro was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List (2023)"
},
"trafficking profile":{
"text":"human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Montenegro, and Montenegrins abroad; traffickers are predominantly men between the ages of 25 and 49 and members of organized criminal groups that operate in the Western Balkans; victims in Montenegro are primarily women and girls from Montenegro, neighboring Balkan countries, and, to a lesser extent, other countries in Eastern Europe; traffickers exploit victims in the hospitality industry, including bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and cafes; children, particularly Romani, Ashkali, and Balkan Egyptian children, are forced to beg; Romani girls from Montenegro reportedly have been sold into marriages and forced into domestic servitude in Romani communities in Montenegro and, to a lesser extent, in Albania, Germany, and Kosovo; migrants from neighboring countries are vulnerable to forced labor, particularly during the summer tourism season; transnational organized criminal groups exploit some Montenegrin women and girls in sex trafficking in other Balkan countries (2023)"
"text":"<p>drug trafficking groups are major players in the procurement and transportation of of large quantities of cocaine destined for European markets</p>"
