HISTORY
Montenegro emerged as a sovereign state after the withdrawal of more than 55% of the population from independence in the May 2006 referendum. The vote was the herald of the end of the former Serbia and Montenegro Association – itself just three years before the remnants of the former Yugoslavia.
The agreement mediated by the EU was made in order to stabilize the region by linking Montenegro’s demands for independence from Serbia and preventing further changes in the Balkan borders.
Montenegro, which means “Black Mountain”, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Serbia has borders with the separatist Kosovo and Albania. Approximately half is covered in thick forests. The small republic includes an Adriatic shoreline, plains and high mountain ranges. The Tara River canyon is Europe’s deepest and longest.