Italian sources name the country of the black mountains 1348 for the first time by its name: Cerna Gora. At that time the now deforested mountains were covered with dense black forest. The first settlements are dated back to the Stone Age. Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans, Venetians and Turks: many people have left traces in this country. These trails are not only visible in the architecture; they are also obvious in culture and lifestyle. Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Muslims – they all live together peacefully in the smallest republic of the Balkans. The wars in the region during the last decades of the 20^th century spared Montenegro.

Nevertheless: this time had serious impact on the development of the economy. Tourism from western countries as the main source of income decreased almost to zero. The embargo of Yugoslavia took care of the rest. 

Scientists date the beginning of Montenegro back to the 7th century. Slavs formed the state Duklja near the current capital Podgorica. 1077 the kingdom “Zeta” was formed.  1185 soldiers of the Serbian state Raska conquered the country. In the second half of the 14^th century Zeta became independent again under the ruler ship of the Balsici and Crnojevici.  

When the Crnojevicis gained more and more influence, the Turks started to intrude the region. They forced the long-standing rulers to retreat to the rough mountains around Centinje. 1493 this place became the capital. The Turks overran the town three times, but they couldn’t keep it.  Starting from Cetinje the Montenegrins began to take their territory back. The Berlin Congress granted 1878 Montenegro total independence. 1910 the country declared itself a kingdom.

In World War I Montenegrin troops fought side by side with the Serbs.  Attempts in the peace negotiations 1918 to regain the independence failed and Montenegro became part of Yugoslavia.  In 1945 it became one of the six republics, forming under president Josip Broz Tito the federation of Yugoslavia. After the end of the Balkan wars during the 90s Montenegro stayed as the only republic in a Union with Serbia.