Montenegro

Montenegro is a nation located in the Southeastern European region. Bosnia and Herzegovina borders it to the northeast, while Serbia and Albania border it to the southeast. The Adriatic Sea and Croatia border it to the southwest. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea and is a part of the Balkans. Podgorica, Montenegro's capital and biggest city, occupies 10.4 percent of the country's total land area of 13,812 square kilometres (5,333 square miles) and is home to about 30 percent of the country's total population of 621,000 people.

During the Early Medieval era, three principalities were established on the area of modern-day Montenegro: Duklja, which approximately corresponded to the southern half of the country; Travunia, which corresponded to the western half; and Rascia proper, which corresponded to the northern half. The Principality of Zeta was established in the fourteenth and fifteenth century. The Venetian Republic controlled significant portions of southern Montenegro from the late 14th century until the late 18th century, and these territories were eventually integrated into Venetian Albania. During the late 15th century, the nation of Montenegro was given the name Montenegro for the first time. When Montenegro achieved independence from Ottoman control in 1696 under the leadership of the House of Petrovi-Njego, it did so first as a theocracy and then as a secular principality. At the Congress of Berlin in 1878, the Great Powers acknowledged Montenegro's independence as a sovereign state. The nation was elevated to the status of a kingdom in 1910.

Montenegro has an upper middle-income economy and is ranked 48th in the Human Development Index, which measures how well people are doing. It is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and the Central European Free Trade Agreement, among other organisations. Also a founder member of the Union for the Mediterranean, Montenegro is now through the process of becoming a member of the European Union.