Montenegro

Crna Gora or 'Montenegro' , republic on the western Balkan peninsula, since 1945 a republic of Yugoslavia. Some Montenegrins have, in recent years shown a desire to separate Montenegro from the federation. In 2002, Serbia and Montenegro came to a new agreement regarding continued federation, which, among other changes, promised to end the use of the name Yugoslavia in favor of Serbia and Montenegro.

Montenegro has an area of 13,812 sq. km. and a population of around 650,000. The principal cities are the capital Podgirica (formerly Titograd), with 130,000 inhabitants, Niksic (60,000) and Pljevlja (22,000).

Formerly tributary to the Byzantine Empire and the later medieval Serbian kingdom, the independent principality of Zeta (now Montenegro) asserted itelf towards 1360. Never fully conquered by the Ottoman Empire which controlled the lands to the south and east from the 15th century, Montenegro in 1516 came under the rule of the prince-bishop (vladika) of Cetinje, a position held from 1697 by the Petrovic family.

The reign of Nicholas I (1860-1918) saw the doubling of Montenegro's territory and international recognition of her independence (1878), the country's first constitution (1905), the ruler's elevation to the rank of King (1910), and further territorial gains following the Balkan Wars (1913), though the newly-captured city of Shkodër had to be given up for inclusion in Albania at the insistence of the great powers.

After Montenegro's entry into World War I on the side of Serbia (August 1914), her occupation by German and Austro-Hungarian forces (January 1916) forshadowed the end of independence: accused of seeking a separate peace with the enemy, Nicholas was deposed by the National Assembly after the country's liberation and union with Serbia proclaimed (Novemnber 29, 1918).

As a matter of trivia, the term 'Montenegro' derives from the Venetian "black mountain", the black appearance of Mount Lovcen inspiring early Venitian conquerors. The earlier term "Zeta" is the name of a river flowing near the capital and etymologically finds its root in an old-slavonic word for 'harvest'. The earliest known name from Montenegro was Doclea after an ancient Illyrian tribe. Under Roman rule, an "i" was added, creating "Dioclea".