Montenegro is a country in Southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. It is bordered by Bosnia and Herzegovina to the north, Serbia to the northeast, Kosovo to the east, Albania to the southeast, and Croatia and the Adriatic Sea to the northwest with a coastline of 293.5 km. Podgorica is the country's capital and its largest city; it covers 10.4% of Montenegro's territory of 13,812 square kilometres (5,333 sq mi), and is home to roughly 31% of its total population of 621,000. Cetinje is the former royal capital and cultural centre of Montenegro and is the location of several national institutions, including the official residence of the President of Montenegro.
The early written records of the history of Montenegro begin with Illyria and its various kingdoms until the Roman Republic incorporated the region into the province of Illyricum after the Illyro-Roman Wars.
Milo Đukanović is a Montenegrin politician who served as the President of Montenegro from 2018 to 2023, previously serving in the role from 1998 to 2002. He also served as the Prime Minister of Montenegro and was the long-term president of the Democratic Party of Socialists of Montenegro, originally the Montenegrin branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, which governed Montenegro alone or in a coalition from the introduction of multi-party politics in the early 1990s until its defeat in the 2020 parliamentary election. He is the longest-ruling contemporary politician in Europe, having held key positions in the country for over 33 years. However, he was defeated by the 36-year-old centrist former economy minister, Jakov Milatović, after the presidential run-off held on 2 April 2023.
Montenegrins are a South Slavic ethnic group that share a common ancestry, culture, history, and language, identified with the country of Montenegro.
Vasilije Petrović was the metropolitan bishop of Cetinje, ruling with Sava Petrović, his cousin. He was author of the History of Montenegro, published in 1754.
Podgorica City Stadium is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium in Podgorica, Montenegro. Its seating capacity changed over the years due to several renovations, as of 2019 it has 11,050 seats. The stadium is the home ground of the Montenegro national team and Budućnost.
Montenegro has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 12 times since its debut in 2007. Previously it had participated as part of Yugoslavia and as part of Serbia and Montenegro.
The culture of Montenegro is as pluralistic and diverse as its history and geographical position would suggest. Montenegro's culture has been influenced by the Serbian Empire, the Byzantine Empire, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, Christianity, the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Venice, Austria-Hungary, and Yugoslavia.
Serbia and Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005 with the song "Zauvijek moja" written by Milan Perić and Slaven Knezović. The song was performed by the band No Name. The union of public broadcasters of Serbia and Montenegro, Udruženje javnih radija i televizija (UJRT) organised the national final Evropesma-Europjesma 2005 in order to select the Serbian and Montenegrin entry for the 2005 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. The Serbian national broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS), and the Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) each submitted twelve entries from their respective selections Beovizija 2005 and Montevizija 2005 with twenty-four entries in total competing in the national final on 4 March 2005. "Zauvijek moja" performed by No Name was selected as the winner following the combination of votes from an eight-member jury panel and a public televote.
Nikola Vukčević is a Montenegrin film director. He is a stage and film director, an independent producer since 1995 and a member of the film board of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CANU). He is a professor at national Faculty of Dramatic Arts – Cetinje and has been the artistic director at City theatre Podgorica since 2004.
Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2013 with the song "Igranka" written by Đorđe Miljenović, Dejan Dedović and Mario Đorđević. The song was performed by the duo Who See, which were internally selected by the Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) to represent the nation at the 2013 contest in Malmö, Sweden. Who See was announced as the Montenegrin representative on 20 December 2012, while their song, "Igranka", was presented to the public in a television special titled Who See Igranka on 14 March 2013.
Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 with the song "Moj svijet" written by Sergej Ćetković and Emina Sandal. The song was performed by Sergej Ćetković, who was internally selected by the Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) to represent the nation at the 2014 contest in Copenhagen, Denmark. Sergej Ćetković was announced as the Montenegrin representative on 19 November 2013, while his song, "Moj svijet", was presented to the public at a press conference on 9 March 2014.
Montenegro debuted at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2014, which was held in Marsa, Malta. Prior to its debut as an independent nation, Montenegro participated at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2005 as part of Serbia and Montenegro. After taking part in the 2014 and 2015 contests, the nation has not returned to the contest.
Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Adio" written by Željko Joksimović, Marina Tucaković and Dejan Ivanović. The song was performed by Knez, who was internally selected by the Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) to represent the nation at the 2015 contest in Vienna, Austria. Songwriter Željko Joksimović represented Serbia and Montenegro in the Eurovision Song Contest 2004 with the song "Lane moje" and Serbia in the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 with the song "Nije ljubav stvar" where he respectively placed second and third in the grand final of the competition. Knez was announced as the Montenegrin representative on 31 October 2014, while his song, "Adio", was presented to the public on 17 March 2015.
Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 with the song "The Real Thing" written by Srđan Sekulović Skansi, Maro Market and Luka Vojvodić. The song was performed by the band Highway, which were internally selected by the Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) to represent the nation at the 2016 contest in Stockholm, Sweden. Highway was announced as the Montenegrin representative on 2 October 2015, while their song, "The Real Thing", was presented to the public in a television special titled U susret Eurosongu on 4 March 2016.
Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 with the song "Space" written by Adis Eminić, Iva Boršić and Momčilo Zeković. The song was performed by Slavko Kalezić, who was internally selected by the Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) to represent the nation at the 2017 contest in Kyiv, Ukraine. Slavko Kalezić was announced as the Montenegrin representative on 29 December 2016, while his song, "Space", was presented to the public on 10 March 2017.
Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2018 with the song "Inje" written and performed by Vanja Radovanović. The Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) organised the national final Montevizija 2018 in order to select the Montenegrin entry for the 2018 contest in Lisbon, Portugal. Five entries competed in the national final on 17 February 2018 where the winner was selected over two rounds of public televoting. In the first round, the top three entries advanced to the superfinal. In the superfinal, "Inje" performed by Vanja Radovanović was the winner after gaining 37% of the votes.
Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 with the song "Heaven" written by Dejan Božović and Adis Eminić. The song was performed by the group D mol. The Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) organised the national final Montevizija 2019 in order to select the Montenegrin entry for the 2019 contest in Tel Aviv, Israel. Five entries competed in the national final on 9 February 2019 where the winner was selected over two rounds of voting. In the first round, the top two entries advanced to the superfinal following the combination of the votes of an international jury, a Montenegrin jury, a radio jury and public televoting. In the superfinal, "Heaven" performed by D-moll was selected as the winner entirely by a public televote, gaining 62% of the votes. The group was later renamed as D mol for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Montenegro participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022 in Turin, Italy with the song "Breathe" written by Vladana Vučinić and Darko Dimitrov. The song was performed by Vučinić, who was internally selected by the Montenegrin broadcaster Radio i televizija Crne Gore (RTCG) to represent the nation at the 2022 contest. Vučinić was announced as the Montenegrin representative on 4 January 2022, while her song was presented to the public on 4 March 2022.
