Government and society

Government

Montenegro is a parliamentary republic that gained full independence from Serbia in June 2006, following a referendum in May in which just over the required 55 percent of Montenegrins voted to secede from the federation. In 2007 Montenegro’s parliament adopted the country’s first constitution. Montenegro is governed by independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The president is the head of state, elected directly for a period of five years. The unicameral parliament of Montenegro is led by a prime minister. Its judicial branch includes a constitutional court composed of five judges with nine-year terms and a supreme court with justices that have life terms.

Local government

Montenegro’s local government has 20 communes that range in size from about 18 to more than 770 square miles (50 to 2,000 square km) and in population from 5,000 to more than 130,000.

Security

In August 2006, just two months after declaring independence from Serbia, Montenegro formally abolished conscription and transitioned to a fully professional military. The country maintains an army, navy, and air force, and all three branches are open to both men and women. In the second decade of the 21st century, women represented almost 10 percent of active-duty service members and more than 40 percent of reservists and auxiliaries. At that time, Montenegro’s military consisted of roughly 2,000 active-duty troops, with the army accounting for roughly three-fourths of that number. This total was bolstered by approximately 4,000 special police personnel and some 6,000 security officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In June 2017 Montenegro became the 29th member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Education

Eight years of primary education are compulsory in Montenegro, beginning at age seven. Four years of secondary education also are available, divided between two types of schools: general secondary schools, which prepare students for universities; and vocational schools, which offer training that usually leads to admission to two-year technical colleges. The University of Montenegro, located in Podgorica, was founded in 1974.

Daily life and social customs

Montenegro’s traditional culture revolves around clans, groups of patrilineally related families that at one time maintained tribal identities on their own traditional territories. Increasing integration into the Yugoslav state, including general provision of public education, brought an end to clan autonomy, but clans themselves remain an important element in Montenegrin social life. A continuing object of complaint has been rampant clan nepotism in the staffing of governmental bureaucracies.

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Faced with incessant threats from Ottoman armies and rival groups, clans traditionally emphasized personal courage in combat as a major virtue. This was reflected in the disproportionate role, before the republican secessions of the early 1990s, of Montenegrins in Yugoslavia’s armed forces. Montenegrins constituted a high proportion of noncommissioned and commissioned officers in the Yugoslav People’s Army, including about one-fifth of its generals. Another factor explaining this influence is the limited economic opportunities available in Montenegro itself.

The arts

Montenegro is perhaps best known to the outside world for its rich architectural heritage and medieval murals. Among the most notable structures are the Romanesque cathedral of St. Tryphon in Kotor, the 16th-century Husein-Pasha Mosque in Pljevlja, and the Baroque church of Our Lady of the Rocks on an islet in the Bay of Kotor. This region was recognized in 1979 by UNESCO as a World Heritage site. The old town of Budva was of particular importance until it was destroyed in an earthquake in 1979; since rebuilt, it now serves as a beach resort and amusement park.

Montenegro’s medieval murals date back to the 10th century. A 13th-century mural depicting the life of St. Elias, located in the Moraca monastery, is perhaps most notable. In subsequent centuries, Montenegrin artists sometimes showed the influence of western European styles such as the Baroque, but traditional art forms such as icon painting, wood carving, and textile weaving also continued unabated. By the turn of the 20th century, western European styles—generally inherited many years after their popularity in artistic capitals such as Paris—began to dominate. At mid-century Milo Milunović used aspects of Post-Impressionist technique to depict the landscape of Montenegro, while in the postwar period Petar Lubarda used Expressionist techniques to portray his homeland. In the late 20th century a younger generation of artists blended international trends and styles with Montenegrin imagery and political concerns. Beginning in the 1990s, new forums for exhibition, such as the Montenegro Cetinje Biennial, allowed work by Montenegrin artists to be seen by an increasingly large number of people.

Montenegrin literature has its roots in folk literature sung to the accompaniment of the gusla (a type of folk fiddle). As elsewhere in Europe, monasteries were the centres of literacy and, not surprisingly, religious leaders produced the first written works. Early manuscripts include Miroslavljevo jevandjelje (1186–90; “Miroslav’s Gospel”), transcribed from an earlier Macedonian text. Only a 17th-century Latin-language copy remains of the first written work of Montenegrin literature, Kraljevstvo Slovena (1177–89; “The Kingdom of the Slavs”), by Pop (Father) Dukljanin of Bar. Thirty-eight years after Johannes Gutenberg’s invention (in 1494), the first state-owned printing press was established in Cetinje. In that year the Ostoih (“Book of Psalms”) was printed; it is believed to be the first book printed in Cyrillic from the South Slavic region. Without question the greatest poet of the region is Petar Petrović Njegoš (Peter II), who also is celebrated widely among Serbs.

Music too has an ancient history in Montenegro. A bone whistle from the Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age) found in what is now Montenegro is the oldest musical instrument in all of Europe. Early church chants, as well as a number of organs built in the coastal region, testify to a lively tradition of church music. The above-mentioned Miroslavljevo jevandjelje gives the Old Slavic names of traveling musicians. Significant contemporary composers include Borislav Taminjzic (1933–92) and Zarko Mirkovic.

Along the Montenegrin coast there are several annual arts festivals each summer that cater to tourists. Perhaps most significant is a theatre festival in Budva. The Montenegrin National Theatre, with a recently enlarged and renovated building, operates in Podgorica.

Cultural institutions

Despite a relatively small population, Montenegro has developed a wide range of cultural institutions. These include theatres, art galleries, museums, and libraries, as well as an independent Academy of Arts and Sciences. Cetinje, the historical capital of Montenegro, boasts many historic buildings, including the five-complex National Museum of Montenegro, which maintains separate art, ethnographic, and historical museums. The city is also home to the Cetinje Monastery, which is the repository of an important collection of medieval manuscripts. The archives in Kotor contain historical documents that are of interest to researchers. There are also museums of note in Perast and Herceg Novi. Nikšić and Podgorica both house well-stocked art galleries, each of which is located in a historic castle.

Sports and recreation

The government emphasizes physical education and sports. Fishing and hunting are popular. The state also has set aside substantial areas for recreation, including three national parks: Durmitor, Biogradska Gora, and Lovćen. Durmitor National Park was named a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1980.

Media and publishing

Scores of newspapers, including Pobjeda (“Victory”), are published in Montenegro. Local presses publish a few hundred books each year. There are several radio stations and a television studio and transmitter in the country.