Montenegro

Montenegro is a sovereign state in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east and Albania to the south-east. Its capital and largest city is Podgorica, while Cetinje is designated as the Prijestonica, meaning the former Royal Capital City.

In the 9th century, there were three principalities on the territory of Montenegro: Duklja, roughly corresponding to the southern half, Travunia, the west, and Rascia, the north. In 1042, archon Stefan Vojislav led a revolt that resulted in the independence of Duklja and the establishment of the Vojislavljevic dynasty. Duklja reached its zenith under Vojislav's son, Mihailo (1046–81), and his grandson Bodin (1081–1101). By the 13th century, Zeta had replaced Duklja when referring to the realm. In the late 14th century, southern Montenegro (Zeta) came under the rule of the Balsic noble family, then the Crnojevic noble family, and by the 15th century, Zeta was more often referred to as Crna Gora. Large portions fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire from 1496 to 1878 (Between 1454 (For Niksic) and 1878 for Old Herzegovina). Parts were controlled by Venice and the First French Empire and Austria-Hungary, its successors. From 1515 until 1851 the prince-bishops of Cetinje were the rulers. The House of Petrovic-Njegos ruled until 1918. From 1918, it was a part of Yugoslavia. On the basis of an independence referendum held on 21 May 2006, Montenegro declared independence on 3 June of that year.

Classified by the World Bank as an upper middle-income country, Montenegro is a member of the UN, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, the Central European Free Trade Agreement and a founding member of the Union for the Mediterranean. Montenegro is also a candidate negotiating to join the European Union and NATO. On 2 December 2015 Montenegro received an official invitation to join NATO, whereby it would be the 29th member country. This invitation was meant to start final accession talks.