* THE ECONOMY:
-- A former Yugoslav republic, Montenegro has posted growth of an average of eight percent a year since 2006 when it ended its union with Serbia. But in 2009, growth is expected to slow to five percent.
-- The World Bank said earlier this month that Montenegro should cut 2009 spending as its economy is expected to slow due to the impact of global financial turmoil.
-- However Vujica Lazovic, deputy prime minister for economic policy, said in November he still expected about five percent growth on the realization of planned investment projects.
-- One is a two-billion euro highway project connecting the border with Serbia with the Adriatic coast that acts as a magnet to summertime tourists. He said the results of a tender was on schedule to be concluded by January 15.
-- Montenegro, which already uses the euro despite not being an EU member, has seen strong economic growth in areas such as tourism and mining. Both sectors have already been affected worldwide by the economic downturn.
-- Lazovic also said he expected inflation of about 8.5 percent for 2008, falling to 6 percent in 2009. Unemployment was seen at around 10 percent and a bit lower in 2009.
* COUNTRY DETAILS:
POPULATION: 650,000:
ETHINCITY: 43.2 percent declare themselves as Montenegrin, between 25 and 30 percent Serb, 7.7 percent Bosnian, 5 percent Albanian. There are also smaller Croat and Roma minorities.
LANGUAGE: The official language is the Montenegro variant of Serbian, increasingly called Montenegrin, which has much in common with Bosnian and Croatian. Albanian is the second official language in areas where Albanians make up the majority of the population.
RELIGION: The Orthodox Church is predominant with 74 percent of people saying they belong, with Islam as the second religion at 18 percent.
GEOGRAPHY: At 13,812 sq km, Montenegro borders Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Albania and newly-independent Kosovo. Montenegro means "Black Mountain" and thick forest covers almost 55 percent of the land.
CAPITAL: Podgorica, formerly Titograd, is the administrative capital and biggest city. The official capital is Cetinje, the royal seat of the medieval state.
* SOME HISTORY:
-- The area of present-day Montenegro was populated by Slavs in the 6th century, evolving into a feudal state that went in and out of Byzantine, and later Ottoman, control. It developed a unique system of administration, combining the rule of prince-bishops and national and clan councils.
-- It proclaimed itself a kingdom in 1910 but was incorporated into Serbia after World War One. In 1945 it became one of six republics in the Federal Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia.
-- It stayed with Serbia when Slovenia, Macedonia, Croatia and Bosnia declared independence in the early 1990s in the bloody break-up of Yugoslavia. The rump Yugoslavia was renamed State Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003. Montenegro voted to leave the union in May 2006 and declared independence in June.
-- Montenegro signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union in October 2007 and last Thursday said it would apply for EU membership.
