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Montenegro is a small country in the south east corner of Europe.

Montenegro is bordered in the west by the Adriatic Sea. The Coast has several large inlets. The biggest is the Bay of Kotor. The inlet is about 28 kms long and tall mountains rise at each side. The area is a World Heritage Site.

The Tara River canyon is the deepest and longest in Europe.

The land is mountainous inland with high plateaus. The word Montenegro means black mountain.

The geographical coordinates for the centre of Montenegro, also known as lines of latitude and longitude, are:-
Latitude - 42 30N
Longitude - 19 18E

The capital of Montenegro is Podgorica.

Montenegro is now a parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of the government.

In elections everyone over the age of 18 can vote.

The currency in Montenegro is the euro. However, Montenegro is not a member of the European Union but has been granted candidate status. It is expected that they will join the EU by 2019.

Montenegrin is the official language although more people speak Serbian.

Check the weather in Podgorica now.

This is the time in Podgorica now

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The Montenegrin flag is a red background bordered by a narrow gold stripe. The Montenegrin coat of arms is placed in the centre. The coat of arms has a double-headed golden eagle, symbolising the unity of church and state, with a crown on top. The eagle holds a golden sceptre in its right claw and a blue orb in its left. There is a shield over the centre of the eagle which shows a lion on a green field in front of a blue sky.

Hear the National Anthem



These are the anthem words

The words ×

These are the words to the Montenegrin National Anthem called Oh, bright dawn of May. It was adopted in 2004 while Montenegro was still part of Serbia. This is a translation of the words.

If anthem fails to play click here

O the bright dawn of May, O the bright dawn of May
Montenegro our mother, Montenegro our mother 

We are sons of your rocks, we are sons of your rocks
And keepers of your honesty, and keepers of your honesty

We love you, the rocky hills and their eerie gorges deep
That had never to endure the shameful chains of slavery.

Montenegro our mother, Montenegro our mother

O the bright dawn of May, O the bright dawn of May
Montenegro our mother, Montenegro our mother 

While our unity gives wings, to our Lovcen cause
It shall brought the pride and glory to our beloved homeland.

The river of our waves, that enter the two seas,
Shall to ocean guide the voice, Montenegro is eternal.
Shall to ocean guide the voice, Montenegro is eternal.
Montenegro is eternal.

The Land
The People
Life and Death
Health, Energy and the Environment
Education and Work
Travel, Communication and the Media

The total land area of Montenegro is 13,452 sq kms which is the 36th largest in Europe.

Montenegro has lakes, rivers and canals which total 360 sq kms.

Montenegro has boundaries with 5 countries

• Bosnia 242 kms
• Albania 186 kms
• Serbia 157 kms
• Kosovo 76 kms
• Croatia 19 kms

Montenegro has a coastline of 293 kms which is the 22nd longest in Europe.

The highest point in Montenegro is Bobotov Kuk at 2,522 metres.

The pie chart below shows how the land is split between agricultural land (crops and pastures), forests and other, which can be towns, villages, desert or frozen waste called tundra.

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The total population of Montenegro is 644,978 people, making it the 36th largest country in Europe by population.

Of this number 323, 925 are females and 321,043 are males.

A person from Montenegro is called a Montenegrin.

To be a citizen of Montenegro, one of your parents must be a citizen of Montenegro. It is not sufficient to be born in Montenegro. You have to live in Montenegro for 10 years before you can begin to apply for citizenship.

The largest five cities in Montenegro, by population are:-

• Podgorica 136,473 people
• Niksic 58,212
• Herceq Novi 19,536
• Pljevlja 19,849
• Budva 18,000,651

For each country we will give you a diagram showing the population density. This is the average number of people for each square kilometre. Each little Owlbut is 1 person and the big yellow rectangle is 1 sq km. After a while you can compare countries and see which ones are the most crowded. Remember it is only an average as more people live closer together in towns and cities than in villages out in the country.



64.0% of the people live in cities or towns.

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The birth rate in Montenegro is 10.2 births per 1,000 of population

The death rate in Montenegro is 9.6 deaths per 1,000 people.

Check this against the birth rate. If the death rate is higher than the birth rate then the population will decrease unless immigrants arrive in the country.

We have no figures for deaths of new born babies.

The median age for females is 41.3 and for males is 39.3. The median age is that age which divides the population exactly in half so there are the same number of people above the median age as below it.

The average age of a woman when she has her first child is 26.3.

The elderly dependency ratio is 20.5. This is the number of elderly people (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64).

The potential support ratio is 4.9. This is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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Montenegro spends 6.4% of its total income on health care.

There are 2.11 doctors per 1,000 people.

There are 4.0 hospital beds per 1,000 people.

23.3% of the population are estimated as obese.

100% of the urban population and 99.2% of the rural population have drinking water that is either piped into their home or they have access to a public tap, a protected borehole, well, spring or protected rainwater collection facility.

98.0% of the urban population and 92.2% of the rural population have access to a flushing toilet that is connected to a sewer, a pit latrine (that is a permanent hole in the ground that is looked after) or a composting toilet.

Montenegro releases 18.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by burning fossil fuels in the process of producing and consuming energy. This puts it as the 27th highest in Europe.

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We have no figures for how much Montenegro spends of its total income on education.

Children usually start school at age 6 in Montenegro. Primary education is for nine years until age 15. Secondary education is not compulsory but can be followed by further education at a university or college.

Generally the school year starts in the first week of September and finishes in the middle of June. There is usually a 2 week break at Christmas.

98% of females and 99.55 of males are able to read and write by the age of 15.

37.7% of all people aged between 16 and 24 are not in work. Among females 34.5% are unemployed while with males 39.9% can't find work.

The total number of people available for work in Montenegro is 263,200.

They work in the following sectors.

• Agriculture includes farming, fishing and forestry work
• Industry includes mining, manufacturing, construction and energy workers
• Services is everything else

18.5% of the workforce are unemployed.

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There are 5 paved airports in Montenegro, which is the 35th highest number in Europe.


There are 250 kilometres of railways in Montenegro, which is the 37th longest in Europe.


There are 7,141 kilometres of roads in Montenegro, which means Montenegro is in 34th place for the most kilometres of roads in Europe.

There are 5 major national newspapers in Montenegro.

There are 1.00 million mobile phone users.

24% of the people have a fixed landline.



418,000 people have access to the internet at home via any device (computer or mobile).

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