Montenegro

Montenegro (/ˌmɒntɪˈneɪɡroʊ, -ˈniːɡroʊ, -ˈnɛɡroʊ/ (listen); Montenegrin: Црна Гора / Crna Gora ) is a country in Southeast Europe on the Adriatic Sea. It borders Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest; Serbia and Kosovo to the east, Albania to the south and Croatia to the west. Montenegro has an area of 13,812 square kilometres and a population of 620,079 (2011 census). Its capital Podgorica is one of the twenty-three municipalities in the country. Cetinje is designated as the Old Royal Capital. During the Early Medieval period, three principalities were located on the territory of modern-day Montenegro: Duklja, roughly corresponding to the southern half; Travunia, the west; and Rascia proper, the north. In 1042, archon Stefan Vojislav led a revolt that resulted in the independence of Duklja from the Byzantine Empire and the establishment of the Vojislavljević dynasty. After being ruled by the Nemanjić dynasty for two centuries, the independent Principality of Zeta emerged in the 14th and 15th centuries, ruled by the House of Balšić between 1356 and 1421, and by the House of Crnojević between 1431 and 1498, when the name Montenegro started being used for the country. After falling under Ottoman rule, Montenegro regained de facto independence in 1697 under the rule of the House of Petrović-Njegoš, first under the theocratic rule of prince-bishops, before being transformed into a secular principality in 1852. Montenegro's de jure independence was recognised by the Great Powers at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, following the Montenegrin–Ottoman War. In 1905, the country became a kingdom. After World War I, it became part of Yugoslavia. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, the republics of Serbia and Montenegro together established a federation known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which was renamed to the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. On the basis of an independence referendum held in May 2006, Montenegro declared independence and the federation peacefully dissolved on 3 June of that year. Since 1990, the sovereign state of Montenegro has been governed by the Democratic Party of Socialists and its minor coalition partners. Classified by the World Bank as an upper middle-income country, Montenegro is a member of the UN, NATO, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and the Central European Free Trade Agreement. It is a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean. The country's name derives from Venetian and translates as 'Black Mountain', deriving from the appearance of Mount Lovćen when covered in dense evergreen forests.. In the monuments of Kotor, Montenegro was mentioned as Montenegro in 1397, as Monte Nigro in 1443 and as Crna Gora in 1435 and 1458, but there are much older papers of Latin sources where Montenegro is mentioned as Monte nigro. The first mention of Montenegro (as Monte nigro) dates to 9th November 1053 in a papal epistle and the others date to 1061, 1097, 1121, 1125, 1144, 1154, 1179 and 1189. The native name Crna Gora came to denote the majority of contemporary Montenegro in the 15th century. Originally, it had referred to only a small strip of land under the rule of the Paštrovići, but the name eventually came to be used for the wider mountainous region after the Crnojević noble family took power in Upper Zeta. The aforementioned region became known as Stara Crna Gora 'Old Montenegro' by the 19th century to distinguish the independent region from the neighbouring Ottoman-occupied Montenegrin territory of Brda '(The) Highlands'. Montenegro further increased its size several times by the 20th century, as the result of wars against the Ottoman Empire, which saw the annexation of Old Herzegovina and parts of Metohija and southern Raška. Its borders have changed little since then, losing Metohija and gaining the Bay of Kotor. After the second session of the AVNOJ during World War II in Yugoslavia, the modern state of Montenegro was founded as the Federal State of Montenegro (Montenegrin: Савезна држава Црне Горе / Savezna država Crne Gore) on 15 November 1943 within the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia by the ZAVNOCGB. After Democratic Federal Yugoslavia became the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (FPRY), the Federal State of Montenegro was renamed to the People's Republic of Montenegro (Montenegrin: Народна Република Црна Гора / Narodna Republika Crna Gora) on 29 November 1945. In 1963, the FPRY was renamed to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and coincidentally, the People's Republic of Montenegro was renamed to the Socialist Republic of Montenegro (Montenegrin: Социјалистичка Република Црна Гора / Socijalistička Republika Crna Gora). As the breakup of Yugoslavia occurred, the SRCG was renamed to the Republic of Montenegro (Montenegrin: Република Црна Гора / Republika Crna Gora) on 27 April 1992 within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia by removing the adjective 'socialist' from the republic's title. Since 22 October 2007, a year after its independence, the name of the country became simply known as Montenegro. The ISO Alpha-2 code for Montenegro is ME and the Alpha-3 Code is MNE.