10 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT MONTENEGRO.

Located on the Adriatic Sea in south eastern Europe is the beautiful country of Montenegro. Rugged mountains, medieval villages and beaches along it’s Adriatic coastlines are just some of Montenegro’s attractions. The country’s name ‘Montenegro’ literally translates to ‘Black Mountain’ in Venetian Italian. In the national language of Montenegrin, the country is called ‘Crna Gora’ which still means,’the black mountain’. The country’s name is gotten from the Mount Lovcen. There’s so much beauty and history packed in this small nation of 13,812 square kilometers and a population of 621,739.

Here are ten things you never knew about Montenegro, the Land of the Black Mountain.

1. IT IS ONE OF THE YOUNGEST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD.

Montenegro recently gained it’s independence in 2006 when it broke out from Serbia but its history dates back to the tenth century. Montenegro used to be an independent nation until it was unified with Serbia in 1918 and then became part of Yugoslavia in 1945. After the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991, Montenegro was still part of Serbia until 2006. Till date, Montenegro still has strong ties with Serbia and other formerly Yugoslavian countries. It is no surprise that Albanian, Croatian, Serbian, and Bosnian are all official languages in Montenegro. Serbians also account for about 27% of the population.

2. MONTENEGRO HAS A LOT OF BEACHES.

Montenegro has 117 beaches along its 293 kilometers of coastline. There are all kinds of beaches here and so, it will be a pretty much difficult task making a choice.

3. FOUR CLIMATIC ZONES

In addition to its beautiful mountains, beaches, forests, glacier lakes and deep canyons, Montenegro has four climatic zones. This means that you can bask in the sun on hot summer day and take a trip to the mountainous region and find it snowing there. So, basically you can enjoy summer and winter in one day. It also rains a lot in Montenegro, little wonder Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro is Europe’s wettest city receiving 1661 millimeters of rainfall a year.

4. THE MONTENEGRIN COMMANDMENTS

Montenegrins are known to be stress-free and relaxed people. They even have their own set of relaxing commandments to live by. Some of them are;

• Work causes illness. Do not pass away young.  
• There is salvation in shade. Nobody died from resting. 
• When you see people eating and drinking, approach them. When you see them working, turn back and do not trouble them.  
• Rest during the day, so you can sleep at night.  
• Love thy bed as you love thyself.  

Personally, I find some of them funny but it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try.

5. MONTENEGRINS ARE VERY TALL

The Average Montenegrin is 5ft 7.54 inches tall. Men in Montenegro are on average 178.27cm (5 feet 10.18 inches) tall. Women in Montenegro are on average 164.85cm (5 feet 4.90 inches) tall. In fact, together with the Dutch, Montenegrins are the tallest people in the world. The only way is really up for Montenegro.

6. MONTENEGRINS ARE VERY HOSPITABLE AND FRIENDLY.

Generally, Montenegrins are friendly and hospitable to foreigners. In fact, the farther you go into the mountainous region, the more hospitable and friendly the people become.

7. SMOKING EVERY WHERE YOU GO.

Well this fact is a bit of a minus point. Montenegrins smoke a lot with a consumption of 4,124 cigarettes a year per adult. That’s almost four times more than the average U.S. adult. Montenegrins smoke anywhere they find themselves, women even smoke in the maternity hospital.

Thankfully, in the month of August 2019, the government banned indoor smoking but if you are outside, be ready for your dose of secondhand cigarettes fresh from the fire.

8. MONTENEGRINS LOVE CHILDREN

Montenegrins love children a lot and can do anything to make them happy. Montenegrins can talk to a stranger’s child, ask them questions, give treats and even make jokes. In some cases, a person will be speaking in Serbian or Montenegrin while giving your child candy. If this happens, don’t be alarmed, they mean well.

9. BOYS OVER GIRLS

As much as Montenegrins love children, it is sad to say that people there, in general, prefer male children over female children. In Montenegro, the birth of a son is welcomed with much rejoicing and partying while the birth of a daughter isn’t a joyful news especially when the mother in question already has daughters. The situation is so serious that the government has ban the use of genetic science to determine a child’s sex before delivery so as to reduce the abortion of female babies. There’s also a highly imbalanced sex ratio. Obviously, Montenegro is a patriarchal country, and so, men and women aren’t treated equally.

10. MONTENEGRO HAS ONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST OLIVE TREES.

Montenegro is home to one of the oldest olive trees in the world. This tree is located near Stari Bar in Montenegro. Scientific analysis of the wood tissue was carried out in 2015, which showed that the olive tree has an age of 2240. It is still being argued if it is the oldest olive tree alive. One part of the tree is burnt and the locals can’t tell exactly what caused it. One popular folklore states that during a game of cards, one of the players accidentally threw a lit match and the tree caught fire. Another story says that it was a lightning strike. Since Montenegrins are such great smokers and jokers, the first story seems more plausible. Another surprising fact about this tree is that it still produces fruits. There are over 100,000 olive trees that are over 1000 years old in the city of Bar.

Hope you enjoyed reading this post. In general, Montenegro is a great and beautiful country to visit. And as a bonus fact, Montenegro has two capital cities ( Podgorica and Cetinje) and it is a bird watcher paradise. The Dalmatian Pelicans and flamingos are very popular.