Demographic history of Montenegro

Montenegro

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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 Montenegro.

Medieval

Duklja, today's southern half of Montenegro, under Stefan Vojislav, was inhabited by Montenegrins.^[1]

Various documents listed that the inhabitants of Medieval Doclea or Zeta were Montenegrins, but also minor populations of Serbs, Latins, Albanians and Vlachs. The language in usage was primarily the 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 little history on paper. During these years, hundreds of families of Montenegrins moved to Rascia which Serbs left to sought refuge in Habsburg Monarchy.

1614

Mariano Bolizza of Kotor was a public servant of the Republic of Venice. The main objective of his 1614 report and description of the Sanjak of Shkodra was to provide information on the land routes which could best be utilized by local couriers conveying official correspondence from Venice to Constantinople and back, and to survey the military potential of the territory. He provided a very detailed overview of towns and villages in Montenegro and northern Albania in the early 17th century. The report concluded an ethnic Montenegrin majority, while an Albanian minority was present in the Shkodra region.^[2]

18th century

The ethnic composition in the 18th century was clear among the Slavs;

In a letter to Justinian Bert in 1756, Montenegrin chieftains said: "We are of the Orthodox Christian faith and law of the Eastern Church, of the honorable and glorious Slav-Serb kin".
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"^[3] in St. Petersburg in 1757, where it said: "All inhabitants of Montenegro are ethnically Serbs and confessionally Orthodox. As they are incompetent in some skills, because of their lack of school, they are naturally capable, especially with weapons."; "The number of Montenegrin warriors who live free on the peaks of Montenegro, called by Turks disobedient, does not exceed 5000."; "There are no artisans and schools in Montenegro except at the Cetinje monastery, within the archbishop's residence, where priests learn reading and writing in the Slav-Serb language, which is financed by the archbishop."; "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."^[3]
Metropolitan Sava called his people, the Montenegrins, by the "Serbian nation" (1766).^[4]
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.

19th century

According to letters to Russia from Bishop Petar I Petrović Njegoš from March 5, 1826, "the people of Montenegro are Serb of the Orthodox Christian faith".
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..." and 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."^[5]
Bernard 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.
In 1895, the inhabitants of Montenegro was said to be "pure Serbs" because who speak Serbian language and followers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. There was a Catholic and Muhammedan minority.

1900

In 1900, according to international sources, the Principality of Montenegro had 311,564 inhabitants. By religion:

293,527 Montenegrin 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 Romani.

1905

This year there were 6,674 emigrants, mostly to the United States.

1906

This year there were 4,346 emigrants, mostly to the United States.

1907

It has been estimated that there were around 282,000 inhabitants in Montenegro this year.

1909

Map from 1910
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 and religion, the official language being the Serbian language:

Total: 317,856 inhabitants. By language:

Montenegrins: ~95%
others mostly Albanian

By religion:

Orthodox Christians: 94.38%
others (mostly Muslims)

1911

In 1911, the population of Montenegro had risen to 211,909.^[6]

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[...] 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]

1914

Code of Law 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 were seen as ethnic Serbs.

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

Serbian or Croatian: 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 or Croats: 231,686 (92.96%)
others, mostly Albanians

Total population for the area of modern-day Montenegro in precise was 311,341.

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:

Inhabitants of Montenegro

Serbian Orthodox			272,702 (80.88%)
Roman Catholics			26,070 (7.24%)
Muslims			61,038 (16.96%)

Serbo-Croatian language			339,955 (90.13%)
Albanian language			18,098 (5.03%)
Total: 360,044 inhabitants

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.

Inhabitants of Montenegro, 1948 census

Montenegrins			342,009 (90.67%)
Albanians			19,425 (5.15%)
Croats			6,808 (1.8%)
Serbs			6,707 (1.78%)
Muslims			387 (0.1%)
Others			1860 (0.52%)
Total: 377,189 inhabitants. Group "Others" include Slovenes (484), Germans (375), Russians (277), Italians (162), Roma (162), Macedonians (133), Czechs (93) and Hungarians (62)

1953

Inhabitants of Montenegro, 1953 census

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%)
Total: 419,873 inhabitants

This census witnesses the forming of the Yugoslav nation.

1961

The 1961 census results:

Inhabitants of Montenegro, 1953 census

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%)
Total: 471,894 inhabitants

Ethnic structure of Montenegro by settlements 1961.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by settlements 1961.
Share of Montenegrins in Montenegro by settlements 1961.
Share of Serbs in Montenegro by settlements 1961.
Share of Muslims in Montenegro by settlements 1961.
Share of Albanians in Montenegro by settlements 1961.
Share of Croats in Montenegro by settlements 1961.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by municipalities 1961.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by municipalities 1961.

In 1968 the Communist Yugoslav government introduced a new category, Muslims by nationality.

1971

Inhabitants of Montenegro, 1971 census

Montenegrins			355,632 (67.15%)
Muslims			70,236 (13.26%)
Serbs			39,512 (7.46%)
Albanians			35,671 (6.74%)
Yugoslavs			10,943 (2.07%)
Croats			9,192 (1.74%)
Total: 529,604 inhabitants

Ethnic structure of Montenegro by settlements 1971.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by settlements 1971.
Share of Montenegrins in Montenegro by settlements 1971.
Share of Serbs in Montenegro by settlements 1971.
Share of Muslims in Montenegro by settlements 1971.
Share of Albanians in Montenegro by settlements 1971.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by municipalities 1971.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by municipalities 1971.

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%)
:Slovenes: 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%)

Ethnic structure of Montenegro by settlements 1981.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by settlements 1981.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by settlements 1981.
Share of Montenegrins in Montenegro by settlements 1981.
Share of Serbs in Montenegro by settlements 1981.
Share of Muslims in Montenegro by settlements 1981.
Share of Albanians in Montenegro by settlements 1981.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by municipalities 1981.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by municipalities 1981.

1991

The 1991 census results:

Total: 615,035 inhabitants

Ethnic structure

: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%)
:Slovenes: 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%)

Ethnic structure of Montenegro by settlements 1991.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by settlements 1991.
Share of Montenegrins in Montenegro by settlements 1991.
Share of Serbs in Montenegro by settlements 1991.
Share of Muslims in Montenegro by settlements 1991.
Share of Albanians in Montenegro by settlements 1991.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by municipalities 1991.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by municipalities 1991.
Ethnic structure of Montenegro by municipalities 1991.

Linguistic structure

Serbian: 510,320
Montenegrin: 144,838
Albanian: 43,907
40,008 Muslims declared their language to be Serbian, while most declared either Bosniak or Bosnian languages as their mother tongue

Religious structure

Eastern Orthodox - 425,133
- Montenegrins - 241,728
- Serbs - 196,333
Muslims - 118,016
- Albanians - 26,216
- Montenegrins - 82,492
- Yugoslavs - 1,856
Catholic - 27,153
- Albanians - 12,772
- Yugoslavs - 4,149
- Montenegrins - 3,081

Religious structure of Montenegro by settlements 1991.
Religious structure of Montenegro by municipalities 1991.