Demographic history of Montenegro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 This article is part of the series: |
| See also: Portal:Politics |
This article presents the demographic history of Montenegro through census results and official documents which mention demographic composition. See Demographics of Montenegro for a more detailed overview of the current demographics of Montegro.
Contents |
[edit] Medieval
Montenegro was settled by Serbs in the 7th century.
Duklja, today's Montenegro, under Stefan Vojislav, was inhabited by Serbs.[1]
Various documents listed that the population of Medieval Doclea i. e. Zeta were not only Serbs, but also minor populations of Latins, Albanians and Vlachs. The language in usage was primarily the Serbian dialect Old Slavonic, while in the early stages Latin also had importance and Greek to an extent among the high-class members of the society.
Between the 15th and 17th century, Montenegro had a little history on paper, however it is said that the montenegrin population never exceeded 10 000. During these years, hundreds of Bosnian Serbs and Rascian Serbs sought refugee in the heights of Montenegro, together with Vlachs from the East and Albanians from Southern Balkans. The majority of Montenegrin medieval documents state that the Montenegrins were ethnic Serbs.
[edit] 1756
In a letter to Justinian Bert, Montenegrin chieftains said: "We are of the Orthodox Christian faith and law of the Eastern Church, of the honorable and glorious Slav-Serb kin.[2]
[edit] 1757
Jovan Stefanov Balevic of the Bratonozic clan, who later became a major in the Russian army wrote "A brief and objective description of the present state of Montenegro" in St. Petersburg in 1757, where it says:
- All inhabitants of Montenegro are ethnically Slav-Serbs and confessionally Serb Orthodox. As they are incompetent in some skills it is because of their lack of school, but they are naturally capable, especially with weapons. [3]
- The number of Montenegrin warriors who live free on the peaks of Montenegro, called by Turks disobedient, does not get over 5000. [4]
- Montenegrins count among themselves neighbouring Slav-Serbs of different provenience: Kuci, Bratonozici, Donji and Gornji Vasojevici, Piperi, Rovcani, Moracani, Bjelopavlici, who are Serb Orthodox but Ottoman citizens. They, also, count Roman Catholics: Hoti, Klimenti, Grudi, Tuzi, Skrivali, Huzi, Maltezi, Kastrati and others who outnumber Montenegrins.[5]
[edit] 1789
In June 1789, Montenegrin Chieftains, wrote to Russian Empress Katarina II, in the name of the entire Serb Montenegrin community: "We Serbs Montenegrins hope that we shall not be left without help" and "If we could have organization and munition, we would liberate our glorious Serb lands entirely from the Barbarian yoke (Ottoman Empire), together with our armed Serb brothers who aim to attack this enemy from all sides.
[edit] 1826
According to letters to Russia by Bishop Petar I Petrović Njegoš from March 5th, 1826, the people of Montenegro are Serb of Orthodox Christian faith.
[edit] 1855
According to "paragraph 92" in the code of Prince Danilo, established 1855:
"Although there is no other nationality in this land except Serb nationality and no other religion except Eastern Orthodoxy..."
about Serbdom:
"...of our homogenous Serb nation. the Montenegrin prince has, in his heart, carved sense of love and devotion not only towards his people, but towards entire Serbdom and everything named and called - Serb."[6]
[edit] 1882
Schwartz estimated in 1882 that the Princedom of Montenegro had 160,000 inhabitants. Although, a more usual estimate is that it was around 230,000 inhabitants.
[edit] 1895
The inhabitants of Montenegro was said to be "pure Serbs", who speak Serbian language and followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. There is a Catholic and Muhammedan minority.
[edit] 1900
In 1900, according to international sources, the Principality of Montenegro had 311,564 inhabitants. By religion:
- 293,527 Serbian Orthodox (94,21%)
- 12,493 Muslims (4,01%)
- 5,544 Roman Catholic (1,78%)
By literacy: - * 77% illiterate - * 71,528 (23%) literate
The Princedom had around 5,000 Albanians and a colony of 800 Romas.
[edit] 1905
This year there were 6,674 emigrants, mostly to the United States.
[edit] 1906
This year there were 4,346 emigrants, mostly to the United States.
[edit] 1907
It has been estimated that there were around 282,000 inhabitants in Montenegro this year.
[edit] 1909
Dark - Serbs; Light - Albanians
The 1909 official census was undertaken by the authorities of the Principality of Montenegro. Ethnicity was decided according to the mother tongue, the official language being the Serbian language:
Total: 317,856 inhabitants. By language:
By religion:
- Orthodox Christians: 94.38%
- others (mostly Muslims)
[edit] 1911
The official statistics of the Princedom of Montenegro estimated that there were 220,000 people in the realm in 1911.
In a geographic textbook for Montenegrin 3rd graders of elementary school, it was written that:
"In Montenegro live only true and pure Serbs who speak Serbian language... Besides Montenegro there are more Serb lands in which our Serb brothers are living... Some of them are free as we are and some subjugated to foreigners."
and
"Each Serb in Montenegro is obligated to love his entire Fatherland, all Serb lands - in which our free and unfree Serb brothers are living."[7]
[edit] 1914
The Cetinje government stated in the Code of Law in 1914 that there are around 500,000 citizens of Montenegro. It was declared that the term Montenegrin people can only refer to all citizens of the Kingdom of Montenegro, since a Montenegrin ethnicity doesn't exist and Montenegrins are ethnic Serbs.
[edit] 1921
In 1918 Montenegro entered the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In 1921 it organised a census which recorded the mother tongue and religion. A category called Serbian or Croatian was to include all respondents who termed their mother tongue as Serbian. In the counties Andrijevica, Bar, Kolasin, Niksic, Podgorica and Cetinje, which are categorized in official statistics as Montenegro, there were:
Total: 199,227 inhabitants Serbs: 181,989 (91.35%) Albanian: 16,838 (8.45%)
The counties Berane and Bijelo Polje, which are today in Montenegro, were considered counties of Old Serbia:
Berane, total 23,864 inhabitants, Serbs 23,561 or (98.73%) Bijelo Polje, total 26,147 inhabitants, Serbs 26,136 (99.96%)
Summed results:
Total: 249,238 inhabitants Serbs: 231,686 (92.96%) others mostly Albanians
Total population for the area of modern-day Montenegro in precise was 311,341.
[edit] 1931
The 1931 census was also taken by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia but was later processed in Communist Yugoslavia. Results within today's borders of Montenegro were:
Total: 360,044 inhabitants :Serbian Orthodox: 272,702 (80.88%) :Roman Catholics: 26,070 (7.24%) :Muslims 61,038 (16.96%)
:Serbian, Croatian, Slovenian and Macedonian language: 339,955 (90.13%) :Albanian language: 18,098 (5.03%)
[edit] 1948
In 1945, after the World War II, Communist Yugoslavia was formed, and Montenegro was proclaimed as one of its constituent republics. The 1948 and following censa were taken by the Republic of Montenegro.
Total: 377,189 inhabitants :Montenegrins: 342,009 (90.67%) :Albanians: 19,425 or (5.15%) :Croats: 6,808 or (1.8%) :Serbs: 6,707 or (1.78%) :Undecided Muslims: 387 (0.1%) :Others: 1860 or (0.52%) ::Slovenes: 484 ::Germans: 375 ::Russians: 277 ::Italians: 162 ::Roma: 162 ::Macedonians: 133 ::Czechs: 93 ::Hungarians: 62
The people who had in the former census declared themselves as having Serbian mother tongue now declared themselves Montenegrins, after Tito, the Yugoslav president, severed the Montenegrins from the Serbian ethnic group.
[edit] 1953
The 1953 census results:
Total: 419,873 inhabitants :Montenegrins: 363,686 (86.61%) :Albanians: 23,460 (5.58%) :Serbs: 13,864 (3.3%) :Croats: 9,814 (2.33%) :Yugoslavs: 6,424 (1.52%) :Others: 2,625 (0.66%)
This census witnesses the forming of the Yugoslav nation.
[edit] 1961
The 1961 census results:
Total: 471,894 inhabitants :Montenegrins: 383,988 (81.37%) :Muslims: 30,665 (6.5%) :Albanians: 25,803 (5.47%) :Serbs: 14,087 (2.99%) :Croats: 10,664 (2.26%) :Yugoslavs: 1,559 (0.33%)
In 1968 the Communist Yugoslav government introduced a new category, Muslims by nationality.
[edit] 1971
The 1971 census results:
Total 529,604 inhabitants :Montenegrins: 355,632 (67.15%) :Muslims: 70,236 (13.26%) :Serbs: 39,512 or (7.46%) :Albanians: 35,671 (6.74%) :Yugoslavs: 10,943 (2.07%) :Croats: 9,192 (1.74%)
[edit] 1981
The 1981 census results:
Total: 584,310 inhabitants :Montenegrins: 400,488 (68.54%) :Muslims: 78,080 (13.36%) :Albanians: 37,735 (6.46%) :Yugoslavs: 31,243 (5.35%) :Serbs: 19,407 (3.32%) :Croats: 6,904 (1.81%) :Roma: 1,471 (0.25%) :Macedonian: 875 (0.15%) :Slovenians: 564 (0.1%) :Hungarians: 238 (0.04%) :Germans: 107 (0.02%) :Russians: 96 (0.02%) :Italians: 45 (0.01%) :Other: 816 (0.14%) :No response: 301 (0.05%) :Regional affiliation: 1,602 (0.27%) :Unknown: 4,338 (0.74%)
[edit] 1991
The 1991 census results:
Total: 615,035 inhabitants :Montenegrins: 380,467 (61.86%) :Muslims: 89,614 (14.57%) :Serbs: 57,453 (9.34%) :Albanians: 40,415 (6.57%) :Yugoslavs: 26,159 (4.25%) :Croats: 6,244 (1.02%) :Roma: 3,282 (0.53%) :Macedonian: 1,072 (0.17%) :Slovenians: 369 (0.06%) :Hungarians: 205 (0.03%) :Germans: 124 (0.02%) :Russians: 118 (0.02%) :Italians: 58 (0.01%) :Other: 437 (0.07%) :No response: 1,944 (0.32%) :Regional affiliation: 998 (0.16%) :Unknown: 6,076 (0.99%)
[edit] Language
- Serbo-Croatian: 510,320
- Albanian: 43,907
- 40,008 Muslims declared their language to be a variant of the Serbian language, while the majority declared either Bosniak and Bosnian languages as their mother tongue.
[edit] Religion
- Eastern Orthodox - 425,133
- Montenegrins - 355,395
- Yugoslavs - 11,243
- Muslims - 118,016
- Albanians - 26,216
- Montenegrins - 2,492
- Yugoslavs - 1,856
- Catholic - 27,153
- Albanians - 12,772
- Yugoslavs - 4,149
- Montenegrins - 3,081
[edit] 2003
The 2003 census was undertaken by authorities in Montenegro, which at this time, together with Serbia, constituted Serbia and Montenegro.
Initial data:
Total: 672,656 inhabitants :Montenegrins: 273,366 or (40.64%) :Serbs: 201,892 or (30.01%) :Bosniaks: 63,272 (9.41%) :Albanians: 47,682 (7.09%) :Muslims: 28,714 (4.27%) :Croats: 7,062 (1.05%)
Corrected data:
Total: 620,145 :Montenegrins 267,669 (43.16%) :Serbs 198,414 (31.99%) :Bosniaks 48,184 (7.77%) :Albanians 31,163 (5.03%) :Muslims 24,625 (3.97%) :Croats 6,811 (1.1%) :Roma 2,601 (0.42%) :Yugoslavs - 1,860 (0.3%) :Macedonians - 819 (0.13%) :Slovenians - 415 (0.07%) :Hungarians - 362 (0.06%) :Russians - 240 (0.04%) :Egyptians - 225 (0.04%) :Italians - 127 (0.02%) :Germans - 118 (0.02%) :Others - 2,180 (0.35%) :No response - 26,906 (4.34%) :Regional affiliation - 1,258 (0.2%) :Unknown - 6,168 (0.99%)
This census witnessed the forming of the Bosniak nation; quite a few people still thought of themselves Muslims by nationality, however. Also, there are very few people left who consider themselves Yugoslavs. But the biggest difference with 1991 census is the re-awakening of the Serbian nation, which suffered great during the Socialist Yugoslavia.
[edit] Sources
- Montenegrin Census' from 1909 to 2003
- The Ethnic Structure of the Population in Montenegro
- "Petar I Petrovic' - DJELA" publisher CID Podgorica 1999 year, printed by "Vojna tamparija" - Beograd
- "Statistički Godišnjak 2006" - Statistical Office of Montenegro
[edit] References
- ^ The Early Medieval Balkans by John Van Antwerp Fine, 1983
- ^ Montenegrin Chieftains
- ^ http://www.njegos.org/past/balevicen.htm
- ^ http://www.njegos.org/past/balevicen.htm
- ^ http://www.njegos.org/past/balevicen.htm
- ^ Montenegrin Chieftains - Serbian Patriots
- ^ Education in Montenegro
|
|||||
