Montenegro

noun:

Montenegrin(s)

adjective:

Montenegrin

total:

41.1 years (2024 est.)

male:

39.5 years

female:

42.5 years

at birth:

1.04 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.78 male(s)/female

total population:

0.96 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

total:

3.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)

male:

2.7 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

3.7 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

78.2 years (2024 est.)

male:

75.8 years

female:

80.7 years

total:

9.91 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer:

3.83 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine:

2.68 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits:

3.22 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols:

0.16 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total:

31.4% (2020 est.)

male:

31.6% (2020 est.)

female:

31.1% (2020 est.)

women married by age 15:

1.9%

women married by age 18:

5.8%

men married by age 18:

3.2% (2018 est.)

• 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

urban population:

68.5% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

0.45% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

particulate matter emissions:

19.3 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions:

2.02 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions:

0.75 megatons (2020 est.)

municipal solid waste generated annually:

332,000 tons (2015 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually:

17,994 tons (2015 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled:

5.4% (2015 est.)

municipal:

100 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial:

60 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural:

1.7 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Montenegro

local long form:

none

local short form:

Crna Gora

former:

People's Republic of Montenegro, Socialist Republic of Montenegro, Republic of Montenegro

etymology:

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

name:

Podgorica; note - Cetinje retains the status of "Old Royal Capital"

geographic coordinates:

42 26 N, 19 16 E

time difference:

UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

daylight saving time:

+1 hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

etymology:

• 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

• 25 municipalities (opstine, singular - opstina);
• Andrijevica, Bar, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Budva, Cetinje, Danilovgrad, Gusinje, Herceg Novi, Kolasin, Kotor, Mojkovac, Niksic, Petnjica, Plav, Pljevlja, Pluzine, Podgorica, Rozaje, Savnik, Tivat, Tuzi, Ulcinj, Zabljak, Zeta

• 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)

history:

several previous; latest adopted 22 October 2007

amendments:

• 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

citizenship by birth:

no

citizenship by descent only:

at least one parent must be a citizen of Montenegro

dual citizenship recognized:

no

residency requirement for naturalization:

10 years

chief of state:

President Jakov MILATOVIC (since 20 May 2023)

head of government:

Prime Minister Milojko SPAJIC (since 31 October 2023)

cabinet:

ministers serve as the cabinet

elections/appointments:

• 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

election results:

• 2023: 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%

;

• 2018: 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%

description:

unicameral Assembly or Skupstina (81 seats; members directly elected in a single nationwide constituency by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms)

elections:

last held on 11 June 2023 (next to be held in June 2027)

election results:

• 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 - men 59, women 22, percentage women 27.2%

highest court(s):

• 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:

• 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:

• Administrative Courts;
• Appellate Court;
• Commercial Courts;
• High Courts;
• basic courts

• Albanian Alliance (electoral coalition includes FORCA, PD, DSCG)
• Albanian Alternative or AA
• Albanian Democratic League or LDSH
• Albanian Forum (electoral coalition includes AA, LDSH, UDSH)
• Aleksa and Dritan - Count Bravely! (electoral coalition includes Democrats, URA)
• Bosniak Party or BS
• Civic Movement United Reform Action or United Reform Action or URA
• Croatian Civic Initiative or HGI
• Democratic Alliance or DEMOS
• Democratic League in Montenegro or DSCG
• Democratic Montenegro or Democrats
• Democratic Party of Socialists or DPS
• Democratic People's Party or DNP
• Democratic Union of Albanians or UDSH
• Europe Now!
• For the Future of Montenegro or ZBCG (coalition includes NSD, DNP, RP)
• Liberal Party or LP
• New Democratic Power or FORCA
• New Serb Democracy or NSD or NOVA
• Social Democrats or SD
• Socialist People's Party or SNP
• Together! (electoral coalition includes DPS, SD, LP, UDSH)
• United Montenegro or UCG (split from DEMOS)
• Workers' Party or RP

chief of mission:

Ambassador Jovan MIRKOVIĆ (since 18 September 2024)

chancery:

1610 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20009

telephone:

[1] (202) 234-6108

FAX:

[1] (202) 234-6109

email address and website:

[email protected]; United States of America - Embassies and consulates of Montenegro and visa regimes for foreign citizens (www.gov.me)

consulate(s) general:

New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador Judy Rising REINKE (since 20 December 2018)

embassy:

Dzona Dzeksona 2, 81000 Podgorica

mailing address:

5570 Podgorica Place, Washington DC 20521-5570

telephone:

[382] (0) 20-410-500

FAX:

[382] (0) 20-241-358

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://me.usembassy.gov/

• 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

name:

"Oj, svijetla majska zoro" (Oh, Bright Dawn of May)

lyrics/music:

Sekula DRLJEVIC/unknown, arranged by Zarko MIKOVIC

note: adopted 2004; music based on a Montenegrin folk song

total World Heritage Sites:

4 (3 cultural, 1 natural)

selected World Heritage Site locales:

• 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)

• upper middle-income, small Balkan economy;
• uses euro as de facto currency;
• strong growth driven by tourism and consumption;
• new impetus for EU accession under Europe Now government;
• influx of affluent migrants from Russia and Ukraine;
• progress in fiscal position subject to risks from pension costs, debt service, and informal sector

agriculture:

5.6% (2023 est.)

industry:

11.9% (2023 est.)

services:

62.4% (2023 est.)

note: figures may not total 100% due to non-allocated consumption not captured in sector-reported data

total:

27.9% (2023 est.)

male:

29% (2023 est.)

female:

26.3% (2023 est.)

note: % of labor force ages 15-24 seeking employment

on food:

24.8% of household expenditures (2022 est.)

on alcohol and tobacco:

5.6% of household expenditures (2022 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.1% (2021 est.)

highest 10%:

24.7% (2021 est.)

note: % share of income accruing to lowest and highest 10% of population

production:

1.734 million metric tons (2022 est.)

consumption:

1.517 million metric tons (2022 est.)

exports:

234,000 metric tons (2022 est.)

imports:

2.8 metric tons (2022 est.)

proven reserves:

337 million metric tons (2022 est.)

general assessment:

• 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)

domestic:

fixed-line over 30 per 100 and mobile-cellular 178 per 100 persons (2021)

international:

country code - 382; 2 international switches connect the national system

• 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)

number of registered air carriers:

1 (2020); inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 4

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

565,522 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

130,000 (2018) mt-km

total:

250 km (2017)

standard gauge:

250 km (2017) 1.435-m gauge (224 km electrified)

total ports:

4 (2024)

large:

0

medium:

0

small:

1

very small:

3

ports with oil terminals:

1

key ports:

Bar, Kotor, Risan, Tivat

• the Army of Montenegro is a small, lightly armed 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 (2024)

refugees (country of origin):

65,105 (Ukraine) (as of 29 January 2024)

stateless persons:

468 (2022)

note: 34,511 estimated refugee and migrant arrivals (January 2015-March 2024)