Montenegro, meaning "black mountain" is a small, mountainous state in south-west Balkans,

bordering Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania and the Adriatic Sea.
Periodically independent since the late Middle Ages, and an internationally recognized country
from 1878 until 1918, Montenegro was later a part of various incarnations of Yugoslavia and the
state union of Serbia and Montenegro.
Based on the results of a referendum, Montenegro declared independence on June 3, 2006, and
on June 28, 2006, it became the 192nd member state of the United Nations.
Montenegro avoided the ethnic strife that tore other areas of the Balkans apart in the 1990s,
arguably because of greater ethnic, religious, and linguistic homogeneity, and because
Montenegro remained united with Serbia during the 1990s wars. Serbs regard Montenegrins as
“Mountain Serbs,” while Montenegrins see themselves as Serb in origin. Both are Orthodox
Christians.
GEOGRAPHY
With a land area 5019 square miles (13,812 square kilometers), Montenegro is slightly smaller
than the U.S. state of Connecticut. Montenegro ranges from high peaks along its borders with
Serbia and Albania, a segment of the Karst of the western Balkan Peninsula, to a narrow coastal
plain that is one to four miles wide. The plain stops abruptly in the north, where Mount Lovćen
and Mount Orjen plunge abruptly into the inlet of the Bay of Kotor.
Montenegro's large Karst region lies at elevations of 3281 feet (1000 meters) above sea level.
Some parts rise to 6560 feet (2000 meters), such as Mount Orjen at 6214 feet (1894 meters), the
highest massif among the coastal limestone ranges. The Zeta River valley, at an elevation of
1640 feet (500 meters), is the lowest segment.
The mountains of Montenegro include some of the most rugged terrain in Europe. They
average more than 6560 feet (2000 meters) in elevation. One of the country's notable peaks is
Bobotov Kuk in the Durmitor mountains, which reaches a height of 8274 feet (2522 meters). The
Montenegrin mountain ranges were among the most ice-eroded parts of the Balkan Peninsula
during the last glacial period. Natural resources include bauxite and hydroelectricity.
Lower areas have a Mediterranean climate, with dry summers and mild, rainy winters.
Temperature varies with elevation. Podgorica, near sea level, has the warmest July (summer)
temperatures, averaging 81°F (27°C). Cetinje, in the Karst region at 2200 feet (670m), has an
average temperature that is 10°F (5°C) lower. Average January (winter) temperatures at Bar on

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the southern coast are 46°F (8°C). Annual precipitation at Crkvice, in the Karst, is nearly 200
inches (5100mm), during the cold part of the year. Snow cover is rare along the Montenegrin
coast, increasing to 120 days in the higher mountains.
Run-off in the north enters the Lim and Tara rivers, which flow into the Drina River, which
forms the border between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. In the south, streams flow toward
the Adriatic Sea. Drainage of the karst region travels in underground channels. Lake Scutari
(Skadarsko Jezero), at 25 miles (40km) long and 10 miles (16km) wide, is the country's largest
lake and extends into northern Albania. The mountains are noted for numerous smaller lakes.
One-third of Montenegro, mainly the high mountains, remains covered with broad-leaved
forest. The southern Karst zone, lacking soils, remained forested through classical times, with
oaks and cypresses predominating. Removal of forests for domestic fuel and construction led to
soil erosion and ultimately, to regeneration in Mediterranean scrub known as maquis.
Sparsely populated Montenegro has numerous mammals, including bears, deer, martens, and
wild pigs, as well as predatory wild animals, including wolves, foxes, and wildcats, along with a
rich variety of birds, reptiles, and fish.
Destructive earthquakes are the main natural hazard. Environmental issues relate to the
pollution of coastal waters from sewage outlets, especially in tourist-related areas such as Kotor.
Its capital and largest city is Podgorica, with a population in 2003 of 169,299. The location at
the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers, on the meeting point of fertile Zeta plain and
Bjelopavlići Valley, has made the city an attractive location for settlement. The city is situated
close to winter ski centers in the north and seaside resorts on Adriatic Sea. The municipality of
Podgorica accounts for 10.4 percent of Montenegro's territory and 27.3 percent of its population.
Besides being an administrative center, Podgorica is its economic, cultural and educational focal
point. Cetinje (population 20,307) is designated as Prijestonica. the old royal capital or seat of
the throne. Other cities and towns include Nikšić (104,706), Pljevlja (44,593), Bijelo Polje
(55,628), Herceg Novi (30,593, including Igalo), and Berane (49,953).
HISTORY
The lands that later became Montenegro were inhabited in the Paleolithic Age (Stone Age) by
cave dwellers over 100,000 years ago. The population increased in the Neolithic age (c. 8000
B.C.E.), marked by the rise of farming. People began to abandon caverns and settle in open
areas. The remains of a number of such settlements have been discovered in Montenegro.

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Stockbreeding people, who came from the east around the mid-3000s B.C.E. to the early 2000s
B.C.E., mixed with the indigenous peoples and thus created the Indo-European peoples of the
Balkans, believed to be the ancient Pelasgians mentioned frequently by ancient writers Homer,
Herodotus, and Thucydides.
Illyria
The Illyrians were Indo-European tribesmen who appeared in the western portion of the Balkan
Peninsula about 1000 B.C.E., a period coinciding with the beginning of the Iron Age. The
Illyrians occupied lands extending from the Danube, Sava, and Morava rivers to the Adriatic Sea
and the Sar Mountains.
Corinthian Greek settlers from Corfu established ports on the coast. The Illyrians resisted
Greek settlement, attacked coastal cities, and threatened Greek trading ships in the Adriatic Sea.
The Illyrian king, Bardyllis turned Illyria into a formidable local power in the fourth century
B.C.E., with its capital at Skadar (Albania).
In 358 B.C.E., Macedonia's Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great, defeated the Illyrians
and assumed control of their territory as far as Lake Ohrid. Alexander himself routed the forces
of the Illyrian chieftain Cleitus in 335 B.C.E., and Illyrian tribal leaders and soldiers
accompanied Alexander on his conquest of Persia.
Roman rule
Between 229 and 219 B.C.E., Rome overran the Illyrian settlements in the Neretva river valley
and suppressed the piracy that had made the Adriatic unsafe. The Romans defeated the last
Illyrian king Gentius at Scodra in 168 B.C.E., captured him, and brought him to Rome in 165
B.C.E. Rome finally subjugated recalcitrant Illyrian tribes in the western Balkans during the
reign of Emperor Tiberius in 9 C.E., and annexing them to the Roman province of Illyricum.
Parts of present-day Montenegro, Serbia, and Albania were known as the ancient Roman
province of Praevalitana. It was formed during the reign of emperor Diocletian (284-305) from
southeastern corner of the province of Dalmatia. "Doclea," the name of the region during the
early period of the Roman Empire, was named after an early Illyrian tribe - the Docleatae. The
city of Doclea (or Dioclea) was located at present-day Podgorica (and was throughout the Middle
Ages known as Ribnica).
For about four centuries, Roman rule ended fighting among local tribes, established numerous
military camps and colonies, latinized the coastal cities, and oversaw the construction of

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aqueducts and roads, including the extension of the Via Egnatia, an old Illyrian road and later a
famous military highway and trade route that led from Durrës through the Shkumbin River
valley to Macedonia and Byzantium.
The division of the Roman Empire between Roman and Byzantine rule – and subsequently
between the Latin and Greek churches – was marked by a line that ran northward from Skadar
through modern Montenegro, making this region a perpetual marginal zone between the
economic, cultural, and political worlds of the Mediterranean peoples and the Slavs.
As Roman power declined in the fifth century, this part of the Adriatic coast suffered from
intermittent ravages by various semi-nomadic invaders, especially the Goths in the late fifth
century, and the Avars during the sixth century.
Slavic invasion
Byzantine Emperor Heraclius (575–641) commissioned Slavic tribal groups to drive Avars
and Bulgars toward the east. Slavs settled the Balkans, and tribes known as the Serbs settled
inland of the Dalmatian coast in an area extending from eastern Herzegovina, across northern
Montenegro, and into southeastern Serbia. A chieftain named Vlastimir, founder of the House of
Vlastimirović, created the Serb state around 850, centered on an area in southern Serbia known
as Raška. That kingdom accepted the supremacy of Constantinople, the start of an on-going link
between the Serbian people and Orthodox Christianity. Byzantine emperor Michael III (840-867)
sent brothers Cyril and Methodius to evangelize the Slavs. Slavic people were organized along
tribal lines, each headed by a zupan (chieftain). From the time of the arrival of the Slavs to the
tenth century, the zupans entered into unstable alliances with larger states, notably Bulgaria,
Venice, and Byzantium.
Duklja
In the first half of the seventh century, Slavs formed the Principality of Doclea. The
population was a mixture of Slavic pagans and Latinized Romans along the Byzantine enclaves
of the coastline, with some Illyrian descendants. Around 753, the population was described as
Red Croats. Although independent, they attracted Serbian attention in the ninth century. The
tribes organized themselves into a semi-independent dukedom of Duklja(Doclea) by the tenth
century.
Prince Časlav Klominirović of the Serbian House of Vlastimirović dynasty extended his
influence over Duklja in the tenth century. After the fall of the Serbian Realm in 960, the people

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of Duklja faced a renewed Byzantine occupation through to the eleventh century. The local ruler,
Jovan Vladimir, whose cult remains in the Orthodox Christian tradition in Montenegro, struggled
to retain independence while he ruled Duklja from 990 to 1016, when he was assassinated. His
cousin, Stefan Vojislav, who ruled Duklja from 1034 to 1050, started an uprising against the
Byzantine domination and gained a victory against Byzantine forces in Tudjemili (Bar) in 1042,
which ended Byzantine influence over Duklja.
In the 1054 Great Schism, the people of Duklja sided with the Catholic Church. The city of
Bar became a Bishopric in 1067. In 1077, Pope Gregory VII recognized Duklja as an
independent state, acknowledging its King Mihailo (Michael, of the Vojisavljević dynasty) as
King of Duklja. Later on Mihailo sent his troops, led by his son Bodin, in 1072 to assist the
uprising of Slavs in Macedonia.
Duklja devastated
When Stefan Nemanja (1109-99) assumed the throne of Raška in 1168, he launched an
offensive against Duklja. He devastated coastal towns which subsequently never recovered,
burned churches and manuscripts, persecuted the heretical Bogomils, expelled the Greeks from
the area, and forced the population to convert to Orthodox Christianity. Duklja fell to the Serbs
in 1189.
In 1196, Nemanja abdicated, handing the crown to his son Stefan, who in 1217 was named by
Pope Honorius III the “King of Serbia, Dalmatia, and Bosnia.” The Nemanjic dynasty ruled for
200 years, helped by the collapse of the Byzantine Empire under the impact of the Fourth
Crusade (1204). During the reign of Emperor Dusan (1331-1355), the state incorporated
Thessaly, Epirus, Macedonia, all of modern Albania and Montenegro, a substantial part of
eastern Bosnia, and modern Serbia as far north as the Danube. On the death of Stefan Dušan in
1355, the Nemanjic empire was divided among Prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic (1329-1389) of
Serbia, the short-lived Bosnian state of Tvrtko I (reigned 1353–1391), and a semi-independent
chiefdom of Zeta under the house of Balša, with its capital at Skadar (Albania).
Ottoman invasion
In 1389, the forces of Ottoman Sultan Murad I defeated Prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic's Serbs
at the Battle of Kosovo. The northern Serbian territories were conquered in 1459 following the
siege of the "temporary" capital Smederevo. Bosnia fell a few years after Smederevo, and
Herzegovina in 1482. Most of Serbia was under Ottoman occupation between 1459 and 1804,

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despite three Austrian invasions and numerous rebellions (such as the Banat Uprising). The
Ottoman period was a defining one in the history of the country—Slavic, Byzantine, Arabic and
Turkish cultures combined.
The principality of Zeta
Zeta, named after the Zeta River, was first noted as a vassalaged part of Rascia, ruled by heirs to
the Serbian throne from the Nemanjić dynasty. Zeta gained independence from Rascia in 1356,
under the leadership of Balša I, and the House of Balšić ruled from the 1360s to 1421. Serb
resistance moved to Zabljak (south of Podgorica), where a chieftain named Stefan Crnojevic
(1426-1465) set up his capital.
His successor Ivan I Crnojevic, (who ruled from 1465-1490), sought to maintain good relations
with the Venetians and Turks. That way, he found favor with those two powerful countries for
his successor. Ivan's son Djuradj, who ruled the Principality of Zeta between 1490 and 1496,
built a monastery at Cetinje, founding there a bishopric, and imported from Venice a printing
press that produced after 1493 some of the earliest books in the Cyrillic script. He was well
known for his great education, and his knowledge of astronomy, geometry, and other sciences.
During the reign of Djuradj, Zeta became better known as Montenegro, which means Black
Mountain in Italian. It was succeeded by theocratic Montenegro and Ottoman-ruled Montenegro.
Venetians control coast
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476), the romanized Illyrians of the southern coast
of Dalmatia survived the barbarian invasions of the Avars and were only nominally under the
influence of the Slavs. These Romanized Illyrians started to develop their own neo-Latin
language, called Dalmatian language, around their small coastal villages that were growing with
maritime commerce.
The Republic of Venice dominated the coasts of today's Montenegro from 1420 to 1797. In
those four centuries the area around the Cattaro (Kotor) became part of the Venetian albania-
montenegro, called in those centuries Albania veneta. When the Turks started to conquer the
Balkans in the fifteenth century, many Christian Slavs and Albanians took refuge inside the
Venetian Dalmatia. Bar and Ulcinj were conquered by the Ottomans in the 1570s. The Venetian
language was the lingua franca of the Adriatic coast of Montenegro during those centuries. In the
area of Bay of Kotor there were Venetian speaking populations until the first half of the
twentieth century.

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 Theocratic Montenegro
In 1516, the secular prince Đurađ V Crnojević abdicated in favor of the Archbishop Vavil, who
then formed Montenegro into a theocratic state under the rule of the prince-bishop (vladika) of
Cetinje. The position of the vladika brought stability to Montenegro's leadership, since the link
between church and state elevated it in the eyes of the peasantry, it institutionalized a form of
succession, and avoided compromising alliances with the Ottomans. At that time, Montenegro
was at war with the Ottoman Empire. Cetinje was captured in 1623, in 1687, and in 1712.
Ottoman province of Montenegro
The Ottoman Province of Montenegro was created in 1514 from the remains of the Principality
of Zeta that belonged to the Province of Scutari. The first known governor of the province was
Skenderbeg Crnojević, son of Ivan Crnojević, who governed from 1514-1528. Although the
Ottoman Empire controlled the lands to the south and east from the fifteenth century, they were
unable to subdue Montenegro completely because of stubborn resistance by the population, the
inhospitable terrain, and use of diplomatic ties with Venice. The province disappeared when the
Montenegrins expelled the Ottomans in the Great Turkish War of 1683-1699 (also known as War
of the Holy League).
Principality to kingdom
The position of vladika was transmitted from 1697 by the Petrović-Njegoš family of the Riđani
(Serb) clan, from uncle to nephew as the bishops were not allowed to marry. Peter II became
vladika in 1830. A brief civil war was suppressed in 1847, a senate replaced the position of “civil
governor,” and progress was made suppressing blood feuding.
In 1851, Danilo II Petrović Njegoš became vladika, but in 1852 he married, left the
priesthood, assumed the title of knjaz (Prince), and transformed his land into a secular
principality. Danilo introduced a modernized legal code, and the first Montenegrin newspaper
appeared in 1871. After the assassination of Knjaz Danilo by Todor Kadic, on August 13, 1860,
Knjaz Nikola, the nephew of Knjaz Danilo, became the next ruler of Montenegro, which
officially confirmed its independence in 1878.
From 1861 to 1862, Nicholas engaged in an unsuccessful war against Turkey, with
Montenegro barely holding on to its independence. He was more successful in 1875. Following
the Herzegovinian Uprising, partly initiated by his clandestine activities, he again declared war
on Turkey. Serbia joined Montenegro, but both were defeated by Turkish forces in 1876, only to

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try again the following year after Russia decisively routed the Turks. Montenegro was victorious.
The results were decisive; 1900 square miles were added to Montenegro's territory by the Treaty
of Berlin, the port of Bar and all the waters of Montenegro were closed to all warships, and
coastal policing was placed in the hands of Austria. On August 28, 1910, Montenegro was
proclaimed a kingdom by Knjaz Nikola, who then became king.
Balkan Wars
The background to the two Balkan Wars in 1912–1913 lies in the incomplete emergence of
nation-states on the fringes of the Ottoman Empire during the nineteenth century. In October
1912, King Nicholas declared war on the Ottoman Empire. The Montenegrin army attacked the
Ottoman fortress city of Shkodër, and forced the empire to gather a large army in neighboring
Macedonia. The Ottoman army faced a pre-arranged attack by the forces of Greece, Serbia, and
Bulgaria. The Treaty of London in 1913 redefined borders in the Balkans. Montenegro doubled
in size, receiving half of the former Ottoman territory known as Sandžak, but without the city of
Shkodër, Montenegro's major goal in the war, which went to the independent country of Albania.
World War I
During World War I, although the Montenegrin army numbered only about 50,000 men, it
repulsed the first Austrian attack, resisted the second Austrians invasion of Serbia, and almost
succeeded in reaching Sarajevo in Bosnia. However, the Montenegrin army had to retreat before
greatly superior numbers of the third Austrian invasion. Austro-Hungarian and German armies
overran Serbia and invaded Montenegro in January 1916, and for the remainder of the war
remained in the possession of the Central Powers.
King Nicholas fled to Italy and then to France, and the government transferred to Bordeaux.
Eventually, Serbian forces liberated Montenegro from the Austrians. A newly-convened National
Assembly of Podgorica (Podgorička skupština), supervised by Serbian forces, accused the king
of seeking a separate peace with the enemy and deposed him, and banned his return. Montenegro
joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes on December 1, 1918, thus becoming the only
Allied nation to lose its independence after the war. Pro-independence Montenegrins revolted on
the Orthodox Christmas Day, January 7, 1919, against Serbia. The revolt was suppressed in
1924, although guerrilla resistance remained in the Highlands for years after.
Kingdom of Yugoslavia

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In the period between the two World Wars, King Alexander (1888-1934) dominated the
government, and the period was marked with internal strife, ethnic violence, and rebellions.
Although a grandson of Montenegro's king Nicholas, King Alexander worked against the ideas
of Montenegro as an independent state and of Montenegrins outside a wider Serb whole.

On January 6, 1929, in response to a political crisis triggered by the murder of Croatian

nationalist political leader Stjepan Radić, King Alexander abolished the constitution Kingdom of
Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, prorogued the parliament, and introduced a personal dictatorship. He
changed the name of the kingdom to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and changed the internal
divisions from the 33 oblasts to nine new banovinas. Montenegro became the Zeta Banovina, and
stayed as such until 1941. Untouched by investment or reform, by most economic indicators the
region was the most backward in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The Communist Party of
Yugoslavia thrived in the region. Alexander was assassinated on Tuesday October 9, 1934, in
Marseille.
World War II
During World War II, Italy occupied Montenegro in 1941 and annexed the area of Kotor,
where there was a small Roman population, to the Kingdom of Italy. An Independent State of
Montenegro was created under fascist control. Within a few months, communists and their
sympathizers and non-communist advocates of union with Serbia (bjelaši), began armed
resistance. Meanwhile, Montenegrin nationalists (zelenaši), supported the Italian administration.
Conflict in Montenegro merged with the wider Yugoslav struggle. The strength of the
communist party plus the area's remoteness and difficult terrain made it a refuge for Josip Broz
Tito's communist Partisan forces.
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Josip Broz Tito became the president of the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Creating one of the most dogmatic of the eastern European communist regimes, Tito and his
lieutenants abolished organized opposition, nationalized the means of production, distribution,
and exchange, and set up a central planning apparatus. Socialist Yugoslavia was established as a
federal state comprising six republics: Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Macedonia and Montenegro, and two autonomous regions within Serbia—Vojvodina and

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Kosovo and Metohija. The Serbs were both the most numerous and the most widely distributed
of the Yugoslav peoples.

The federal structure of communist Yugoslavia elevated Montenegro to the status of a republic,
thus securing Montenegrin loyalty. Montenegro received large quantities of federal aid, which
enabled it to embark for the first time on a process of industrialization. Montenegro became
economically stronger than ever. However, economic progress was hampered by difficult
communication with the federation. It was during this time that the present capital Podgorica was
renamed Titograd, after Tito.
A large number of Montenegrins sided with Soviet leader Josef Stalin in a dispute between the
Communist Information Bureau and the Yugoslav leadership in June 1948, when Yugoslavia
was expelled from the Cominform and boycotted by socialist countries. Those people paid for
their loyalty in subsequent purges.
Break-up of Yugoslavia
In 1980, after Tito's death, the presidency of the subsequent communist regime rotated between
representatives of each of the six republics and two provinces. This system contributed to
growing political instability, and the rapid decline of the Yugoslav economy, which in turn added
to widespread public dissatisfaction with the political system. A crisis in Kosovo, the emergence
of Serb nationalist Slobodan Milošević (1941-2006) in Serbia in 1986, and the manipulation of
nationalist feelings by politicians, further destabilized Yugoslav politics. Independent political
parties appeared in 1988. In 1989, Milosevic, with his vision of a "Greater Serbia" free of all
other ethnicities, won the presidency in Serbia. In 1990, multiparty elections were held in
Slovenia, Croatia, and in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Croatia and Slovenia's declarations of independence and the warfare that ensued left
Montenegro in a precarious position. The first multiparty elections in 1990 returned the reformed
League of Communists to power, confirming Montenegrin support for the disintegrating
federation. The republic therefore joined Serbia in fighting the secession of Slovenia and Croatia,
and in 1992 it acceded to the “third Yugoslavia,” a federal republic comprising only it and
Serbia.
In 1989, the remains of King Nicholas and other members of the former royal family were
returned to Montenegro to be reinterred with great ceremony in Cetinje. This sign of a sense of

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distinctive Montenegrin identity was matched by lively criticism of the conduct of the war in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, United Nations sanctions against Yugoslavia seriously
harmed Montenegro, especially by undermining its lucrative tourist trade. Their impact,
however, was somewhat softened by the opportunities created for smuggling.
Union with Serbia
n 1992, after the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, 95-96 percent of
votes cast, in a Montenegro referendum, were for remaining in a federation with Serbia. The
turnout was at 66 percent because of a boycott by the Muslim, Albanian, and Catholic minorities
as well as of pro-independence Montenegrins. The 1992 referendum was carried out during war
time, when propaganda from the state-controlled media favored federation, and was not
monitored.
During the Bosnian War and Croatian War (1991-1995), Montenegro participated with its
police and paramilitary forces in the attacks on Dubrovnik and Bosnian towns along with Serbian
troops. It conducted persecution against Bosniak refugees who were arrested by Montenegrin
police and transported to Serb camps in Foča, where they were executed.
Relations between Montenegro and Serbia began to unravel at the end of 1992, in a
disagreement over a dispute over Montenegro's frontier with Croatia, frustration with Serbia's
unequal use of power, impatience with Serbia's failure to address economic reform, and
disagreements over the conduct of the war in Bosnia and Croatia. In October 1997, the
Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, the ruling party, split into factions that either
supported or opposed Serbian President Slobodan Miloševic. Milorad Djukanovic defeated
Miloševic's protégé and close ally Momir Bulatovic in the republic's presidential elections.
Just turned 29 years of age, Đukanović was prime minister (1991-1998 and 2003-2006), the
youngest prime minister in Europe, and president (1998-2002) of the Republic of Montenegro. A
Montenegro-wide roundup of Muslim refugees from Bosnia and their subsequent handover to
forces of Bosnian Serbs happened while Đukanović was Prime Minister. In 2003, the
prosecutor's office in Naples named Đukanović as a linchpin in the illicit trade which used
Montenegro as a transit point for smuggling millions of cigarettes across the Adriatic sea into
Italy and into the hands of the Italian mafia for distribution across the EU.
Under Đukanović, Montenegro formed its own economic policy and adopted the Deutsche
Mark as its currency. It has since adopted the euro, though it is not formally part of the

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Eurozone. Subsequent governments of Montenegro carried out pro-independence policies,
originally restored by the Liberal Alliance of Montenegro, and political tensions with Serbia
simmered despite the political changes in Belgrade. Despite its pro-independence leanings, as the
port of Bar, communication facilities, and military targets were bombed by NATO forces during
Operation Allied Force in 1999.

Culture
The culture of Montenegro has been shaped by the Orthodox South Slavic, Central European,
and seafaring Adriatic cultures (notably parts of Italy, like the Republic of Venice). Important is
the ethical ideal of Čojstvo i Junaštvo, roughly translated as "humanity and bravery." This
unwritten code of chivalry, in the old days of battle, resulted in Montenegrins fighting to the
death since being captured was considered the greatest shame.
Architecture
Montenegro has a number of significant cultural and historical sites, including heritage sites from
the pre-Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque periods. The Montenegrin coastal region is especially
well known for its religious monuments, including the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Saint
Tryphon in Kotor, which was consecrated in 1166, the basilica of Saint Luke, Our Lady of the
Rock (Škrpjela), the Serb Orthodox Savina Monastery, near the city Herceg Novi, and others.
Montenegro's medieval monasteries contain thousands of square meters of frescos on their walls.
The Byzantine influence in architecture and in religious artwork is especially apparent in the
country's interior. The ancient city of Kotor is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Although Podgorica has become an industrial city, much of the architecture of the older part of
the city reflects the Turkish influence of the Ottoman Empire. During World War II, Podgorica
was extensively damaged, being bombed over 70 times. After the liberation, mass residential
blocks were erected, with basic design typical for countries of the Eastern bloc. Urban dwellers
mostly live in apartment buildings. In the country, most houses are modest buildings of wood,
brick, or stone.

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