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People
Cultural Legacy
The area of current Montengro, like all the Balkans, was colonized by waves of Slavs from the sixth and seventh centuries. Some schools of thought have argued that ethnic Montenegrins came from the area between the Baltic Sea and Hanover in Germany in the sixth century, while Serbs and Croats arrived in the seventh century.
By the tenth century, Slav tribes intermarried and intermixed with Illyrians (predecessors of the modern Albanians), Romans and Avars, effectively complicating the ethnic and cultural makeup of the Balkan region. Roman influence was most pronounced in the religious realm as pagan Montenegrins turned to Christianity.
The Montenegrins and the Serbs share strong political and cultural ties, including the Eastern Orthodox faith, the Cyrillic alphabet, the Serbian language (different dialects) and a history of bloody struggle against the Ottoman Turks. Many historians maintain that the Montenegrins are Serbs. This is a controversial view among some scholars who point to the view that ethnic Montenegrins arrived in the Balkans an entire century before the Serbians (as noted above).
That said, Montenegro's most renowned poet and ruler, the 19th century bishop-prince Petar Petrovi Njegos, considered himself a Serb; likewise, the founder of Serbia's medieval kingdom, Stefan I Nemanja, was born in Podgorica (now Titograd), capital of Montenegro.
Cultural Traditions and Identity
For centuries Montenegrin society was composed of patrilineally related extended families, organized into clans. The extended family tradition lasted well into the 20th century. Loyalty to kin and protection of family honor were the paramount values. Civic responsibility was a foreign notion and pragmatism a sign of weakness.
Scratching out a living in the remote, rocky hills, the Montenegrins stubbornly defended their independence against incursions by the Ottoman Turks. Personal tenacity and combat skills were the most valued male virtues; women tended the fields and livestock, maintained the home, nursed the wounded and nourished the next generation of warriors.
Stories of ancestral courage and honor were passed from one generation to the next by bards, who recited epic poems to the accompaniment of a gusle, a simple, single-string instrument. Practices such as bride theft and blood brotherhood were common, and blood vengeance survived late in the 20th century.
Nationalism
After World War I, political forces in Montenegro were deeply divided between the "Greens," who supported an independent Montenegro, and the "Whites," who advocated unification with Serbia. The Whites prevailed, and in censuses taken during the interwar period Montenegrins were classified as Serbs. Montenegrins played a significant role in the defense forces of the interwar Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
After the dissolution of the former Yugoslav federation in the 1990s, Montenegro remained bound to Serbia. The thrust for an independent Montenegrin state and idenity intensified despite the decision to remain a unitary state in 2003. In 2006, independent Montenegro was reborn with revivalism of national culture and identity.
Demography
Today, Montenegro has an estimated population of just under 700,000 people. About 61 percent of the population is urbanized. The population growth rate in Montenegro is less than one percent. Montenegrins account for approximately 43 percent of the population, Serbians - 32 percent, Bosniaks - eight percent, Albanians - five percent, and others (Roma, Croats among others) making up the remainder.
In terms of religious affiliation, the majority of the population belongs to the Eastern Orthodox church, however, Muslims, Roman Catholics and Protestants among several others are also represented in Montenegro.
For reasons of national identity, Montenegrin is regarded as the mother tongue. Some scholars have insisted that although Montenegrin has evolved from an ancient Slavic language and shares the same linguistic origins as the languages of the Sebs, Croats, and Bosnians, it has distinct lexical and phonetic characteristics. They also point to the fact that the language has 33 letters while Serbian has only 30 letters. That said, census data (prior to independence in 2006) suggested that the majority of Montenegrins regarded Serbian as the main language. As well, cultural and political ties with Serbia have meant that Serbian must nonetheless be regarded as a main language of Montenegro.
In politics, the language debate has found little resolution. The old constitution specifies that the country's language is Serbian, albeit with the Ijekavica pronunciation. However, a draft for the new constitution (set to be put forth in 2007) included a provision for Montenegrin as the official language -- a concept not universally accepted. One compromise option is for the language of the country to be Montenegrin-Serbian.
Meanwhile, Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian and Romany are also spoken by some of the citizenry. Human Development
In the realm of human development, life expectancy in Montenegro is around 70 years for males and 76 years for females. The literacy rate is averaged at 93 percent. Access to sanitation, water, and health care is considered to be generally good.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief, www.countrywatch.com; see Bibliography for research sources.
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