Podgorica — Capital of Montenegro
Podgorica is the capital of Europe's youngest independent state, a country whose name — both in Slavic and Italian — means "Black Mountain." Montenegro punched above its weight to win independence in a nail-bitingly close 2006 referendum, and today it uses the euro without being in the Eurozone.
About Podgorica — Capital of Montenegro
Podgorica is the capital and largest city of Montenegro, a small Adriatic nation of around 600,000 people whose independence is one of the most recent in Europe. The country declared independence from the State of Serbia and Montenegro on June 3, 2006, following a referendum in which 55.5% of voters chose independence — just above the internationally required threshold of 55%. The slim margin made it one of the most closely watched referendums in post-Yugoslav history.
The country's name is one of the most poetically descriptive in Europe. "Montenegro" is the Italian translation of "Crna Gora" (the Slavic name), and both mean "Black Mountain" — a reference to the dark appearance of Mount Lovćen, the brooding peak that looms over the historic capital of Cetinje. Podgorica itself means "under the small mountain" in Serbian (pod = under, gora = mountain, ica = diminutive suffix). The city was known as Titograd from 1946 to 1992, named in honour of Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito.
Montenegro joined NATO in 2017 — completing the process that began after the dissolution of Yugoslavia — and has been an EU candidate since 2010, with accession negotiations opened in 2012. One of Montenegro's quirks is its use of the euro as its currency despite not being a member of the Eurozone. Montenegro adopted the euro unilaterally in 2002 (using the German mark before that), and the arrangement has remained in place.
Beyond the capital, Montenegro is defined by dramatic natural landscapes. The Tara River Canyon, at 1,300 metres deep, is the deepest canyon in Europe and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lake Skadar, shared with Albania, is the largest lake in the Balkans and a UNESCO-designated wetland of international importance. The Ostrog Monastery, carved directly into a sheer cliff face 900 metres above the valley floor in the 17th century, is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the entire Balkans. The former royal capital of Cetinje, smaller than Podgorica, remains Montenegro's cultural heart.