Different communities living together
Montenegro borders Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Albania. Like the other countries of the former Yugoslavia, Montenegro is a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional country. In addition to Montenegrins and Serbs, there is a large minority of Albanian, Roma, Bosnian (Muslims from Bosnia) and small communities of Croats, Macedonians and Slovenes. In a word, all the peoples of the countries of the former Yugoslavia!
The distribution of these different communities within the Montenegrin population is difficult to assess accurately, as it has fluctuated a lot in recent years, partly because of the influx of refugees during the conflicts of the 1990s, and partly because each new country that emerged from the former Yugoslavia tries to present statistics that are favorable to its politics and its ethnic composition.
Thus, the presentation of the distribution of Serbs-Montenegrins has been very fluctuating over time, not so much because of population movements but because people can successively declare themselves Serbs or Montenegrins depending on their political options (sovereignist/federalist): according to supporters of the attachment of Montenegro to Serbia, Montenegrins are actually Serbs, according to pro-independence, Montenegrins are instead a people in their own right. In the 2011 census, 45 per cent of the population identified themselves as Montenegrins and 29 per cent as Serbs. Until now, the different ethnic groups in the country have lived together in relative harmony. The constitution adopted in 1992 and the 2007 constitution recognize special local provisions for minorities.
Muslim nationality: a religion recognized as a nation, a unique case in the world
The word "Muslim" with a capital M refers to the nationality created in the late 1960s by the then Yugoslav authorities to designate the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina whose ancestors had converted to Islam during the Turkish-Ottoman occupation.
The Muslim nationality was recognized in 1971 by Marshal Tito and this new nationality was then adopted by the Muslims of Serbia, Montenegro and Northern Macedonia (with the exception of those recognizing themselves as Albanians). Today, the Muslims of Montenegro are mostly found in the Sandjak region, an administrative district of the former Ottoman Empire, which today straddles Serbia and Montenegro. They have been considered a separate ethnic group since 1996 in Montenegro.
Minorities
Albanians. The number of Montenegrins of Albanian origin represents about 10% of the population. These "Albanians" of Montenegro are mainly settled in Tuzi (north of Podgorica), Ulcinj (a town annexed by Montenegro in 1881 at the expense of the Albanians), Plav, Gusinje and Rožaje. The region of Malesija, a plain surrounded by hills on the edge of Lake Skadar, has about 15,000 Albanians who represent 75% of the population of this region.
Finally, it should be noted that the Montenegrin government established Montenegro's first Albanian-language university department in 2004, specializing in teacher training.
Bosnians. The Bosnians (or Muslim Slavs, not to be confused with the term Bosnian, which refers to the inhabitants of Bosnia-Herzegovina) represent 9% of the population. They live mainly in the Montenegrin Sandjak region (near the border with Serbia and Kosovo). In Plav and Rožaje, they make up almost 90% of the population.
Roma. According to the 2011 census, the Roma were about 6,251. According to some experts, however, this figure is underestimated and the number of Roma in the country would be more like 20,000 (which would make them the fourth largest minority in the country). Most of this community is Muslim and lives in the central part of the country.
Others. Smaller minorities such as Croats, Macedonians and Slovenes are generally concentrated in the capital, Podgorica. According to the 2011 census, there are about 1,000 Russians living in Montenegro (this figure is also underestimated). Thirty thousand inhabitants (or 5% of the population) did not declare ethnic origins in the last census.
Languages spoken
The language spoken by Montenegrins and the official language of the country (since the Constitution adopted in 2007) is the Montenegrin language derived from the Iekavian dialect, i.e. a Montenegrin variant of Serbian. The construction of a new identity has brought the political debate in the linguistic field around the idea of "Montenegrin language". In 2004, the government changed the curriculum, using the term "mother tongue (Serbian, Montenegrin, Croatian, Bosnian)" instead of "Serbian language".
The difference between the language spoken by Montenegrins and the literary Serbian language is due to the alphabet, which includes two extra letters, but especially to the accentuation. The accents are not placed in the same places. However, it should be noted that this Montenegrin variant is at the heart of a political controversy. Sovereignists have obtained that the official language of the country is called "Montenegrin", while until now it was accepted that Montenegrins spoke the same language as Serbs.
However, according to the 2011 census, 43% of the population declare Serbian as their mother tongue and 37% as Montenegrin. The language spoken by Montenegrins and Serbs is closely related to Macedonian and Croatian, with which, before politics interfered, constituted a single language: Serbo-Croatian.
In reality, whether you speak Serbian, Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian or Montenegrin, it is the same language. The variants, forms and history are identical. In other words: all speak the same language in the Balkan region and it suits everyone economically! This common language is one of the last things that will bind them for a long time.
Two alphabets for one country
Montenegrins use the Cyrillic and Latin alphabets with equal ease. In the new Constitution of 2007, the two alphabets are considered equal. Created in the 9th century by disciples of Brother Cyril, a monk from Thessaloniki, Cyrillic is an alphabet inspired by the Greek alphabet. In addition to Serbian, it is used to transcribe Russian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian and a number of non-Slavic languages of the former USSR. One of its particularities is that it has thirty-three letters. Today, Latin characters are more widely used in business and media circles. Similarly, most road signs and street name signs are now in Latin letters. This obviously makes life easier for tourists, as Cyrillic is difficult to learn in just a few days.
