Country name: Republic of Montenegro
Location: Southeastern Europe, between the Adriatic Sea and Serbia
Area: 14,026 sq km
Population: 630,548 (2004)
Capital: Podgorica (administrative capital)
Language: Serbian (official; Ijekavian dialect), Bosnian, Albanian, Croatian
Natural resources:
Government type: republic
Legal system: based on civil law system
Currency: euro (EUR)
The Republic of Montenegro is a small country situated in southeastern Europe, in the west part of the Balkan Peninsula. The total area of the country is around 14,000 square kilometers with a population of approximately 625,000 people. The administrative capital of the country is Podgorica. The republic shares boundaries with five countries: with Croatia and Bosna and Herzegovina to the northwest, with Serbia to the northeast, and with Kosovo and Albania to the East. The country is located on the coast of Adriatic Sea. The relief of the country is diverse: from high limestone mountains to the East, narrow coastline to the South, plateaus, and high peaks to the North. Due to its diverse relief, temperatures vary greatly in different regions of the country. For example, the capital Podgorica has relatively high average summer temperatures of around 25 Celcius, while another city, Cetinije, has 5 degrees lower for the same period. The climate in the plain region is Mediterranean with dry, hot summers and winters that have a high level of precipitation and significant snowfall in the highly elevated regions of the country.
The history of Montenegro dates back to 15th century. It was the first time that this name had been used. The country was subsequently ruled by several bishop princes. After the WW I, Montenegro became part of the Kingdom of Slavs, Serbs and Croats which was known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After the WW II, Montenegro became part of the republic of Yugoslavia. When the socialist country broke up, Montenegro and Serbia united into one country called Serbia and Montenegro. On the 3rd of June 2006, after a referendum on independence, Montenegro was allowed to declare its independence.
The ethnic groups of which the country is formed are mainly Montenegrin, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian and others. Although, distinguishing between Montenegrin and Serbian is hard to make due to their common history, religion and traditions they still regard as different ethnic groups. Although, being closely related with Serbians, Montenegrins were not devoted to the Serbian Orthodox church but had their own metropolitan until they were absorbed by the Serbians to form Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The language is also different- Montenegrin pronunciation is different from that of the Serbians. The official language is Montenegrin, although Serbian, Croatian and Albanian are widely spoken due to the common history of those ethnic groups.
Montenegro is a parliamentary republic. The currency that is being used is Euro.
The economy of Montenegro separated from that of Serbia during the times when Milosevic was the president of the republic. They managed their own budget and had their own central bank. The monetary policy was of using the euro as official currency not dinar. A lot of observers has doubts whether Montenegro would be able to achieve any economic growth if independence was achieved by the state. The conclusion was that Montenegro and Serbia should be one country to sustain the economic growth. However, widely unexpected, after its independence the economy of Montenegro was in a prosperity. The real GDP growth for 2006 was around 6.5 % and the growth for 2007 was around 6%. Foreign Direct Investment has been increasing with high pace since 2005 where it reached record levels. The exports and imports significantly increased after the Independence Day. The economy has achieved significant success due to the introduction of flat corporate profit and flat personal income taxes. The unemployment rate of 14.5% for 2007 is a success having in mind that it was double in 2003. The inflation has been kept low, around 3%.
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